Manufactured Home Safety Has Come A Long Way

The manufactured homes of today are much sturdier than they were in the past. Before HUD standards and regulations were established in 1976, the mobile homes of yesteryear had a reputation for not being as safe and secure as traditional site-built homes. Between high construction standards and modern technologies this has all changed, and now manufactured homes are safer than they’ve ever been. In fact, manufactured homes are built with 20 to 30 percent more materials than site-built homes in order to withstand transport and extreme weather, making them strong and resilient structures.¹ The intentional “sight-line” design and professional management of modern manufactured home communities make this lifestyle even more safe and secure.

Today’s manufactured homes are safe and nearly as secure as site-built homes, but there are still plenty of additional security precautions you can take to keep your family, home and valuables safe.

Some of the best ways to add security to your manufactured home include:

Check Windows for Warping

Windows and frames can become warped from heat or water exposure, weakening them and making them easier to compromise. Be sure to frequently check all the windows and doors in your home, making sure they fit into their frames snugly. It’s also important to check the frames themselves to confirm that there are no gaps or breaks in the construction. Any weakness in doors or windows could make it easier to break into the home, so if you find any damage you’ll want to get it fixed immediately.

Use Dowels in Sliding Doors & Windows

Putting wooden dowel rods, “jammers”, or blocks of any materials in all sliding doors and windows from the inside is always a good idea. This will keep anyone outside from being able to slide doors or windows open, even if the locks fail or aren’t engaged. The dowel or jammer you use should be almost as long as the door or window – just short enough that it will fit on the inside but not allow any movement of the door or window. 

Check Exterior Doors for Stability

If your manufactured home currently has a hollow exterior door, you may want to consider upgrading to a quality, solid exterior door. Hollow doors can be easier to break, but a solid wood or even aluminum door is a good investment since it will prevent anything or anyone from getting through the door itself. It’s also a good idea to occasionally check and make sure the door pins are upright and securely fit in place. Loose or uneven pins could make your entryway more vulnerable. Between a solid door and a sturdy pin, you should have no security issues with your exterior door.

Add Extra Locks

Deadbolt locks are a great idea to install on every exterior doorway to your home, even if you’re already taking the precautions listed above. Many pre-owned manufactured homes will already have these installed but if your home only has knob locks it is worth taking the extra time and money to add them. Think of this as a worthy investment that will give you peace of mind, and maybe even save you more money, for years to come. Additional specialized window locks can also be added, usually from the inside, if you wish to further secure the windows.

Invest in A Locking Safe

A combination or locking safe not only keeps your precious valuables safe in the event of a break-in, it can also deter criminal activity in the first place since thieves know they are unlikely to find anything valuable laying around outside of it. It’s a good idea to put any items of value in the safe when you leave the house, especially if you will be gone for more than a few hours or going on vacation. A small safe can be enough for valuables like jewelry, money and laptops, but if you have larger, more expensive possessions, you may want a larger safe that can fit more items. Home and office safes are available in many different sizes, with options for either combination and electronic keypad locking mechanisms. 

Use Light Timers Inside to Appear Home

Light timers can help you program lamps inside the home to come on at a certain time of day –  or at selected intervals- to give the appearance that someone is home even if you are out. Experts say having lights on in the evening or early morning can help deter criminal activity since criminals usually are looking to avoid being seen or caught in a confrontation. Setting timers on a TV can be helpful for the same reason, and many TVs already have this functionality already built in.

The best strategy for light timers is to set them so they mimic human activity. Maybe it goes on in the kitchen in the morning, off again for part of the day, turns on in the living room for a few hours in the evening, and then in a bedroom or office later on. It might seem a bit ridiculous to set so many different timers in different rooms, but some experts say that leaving lights on or setting timers too predictably or obviously can actually help burglars figure out you’re not home. So, be thoughtful about where you are and how you usually act in your evenings at home and set your timers to mirror that.

Install Motion Lights Outside

One of the best ways to discourage any criminals from coming near your home is to install motion sensor lights on the outside of the home. When any movement comes within range of the light it turns on, illuminating the area and scaring off the intruder. Whether the trespasser is a raccoon or a criminal, you’ll be able to see and report any foul play if you’re home. If not, motion lights can still easily trick wrongdoers into thinking someone is home and has flicked on the light. Another extra precaution to help keep your possessions and loved ones safe.

Install Home Alarms or an Alarm System

Full-blown alarm systems like ADT are great, but there are other more user-friendly and tech savvy options available nowadays like Ring, Nest and SimpliSafe. These options often give you control to monitor your home security from your smartphone and usually save records to the cloud.

Even low tech home alarms, like Doberman window sensors, can be affordable, effective and easy to install. Set up alarms on each door or window so that, when activated, a loud siren will sound if the window or door is tampered with. The alarm will startle the intruder(s) and typically scare them away, but you’ll also be made immediately aware that there could be a safety risk in the house. If you hear one of the alarms sound you should call 9-1-1 right away, even if the attackers appear to have fled.

Even just purchasing and displaying the security system sign can encourage criminals to pass by and target another home with less protection. Homes that don’t have any sign of security systems are about 3 times more likely to be broken into than those without, so it’s helpful to make it look like you have an alarm system even if you don’t.

Install a Video Surveillance Camera

If you’re really serious about home security and want to have documentation of any criminal activity, a video surveillance camera can provide the ultimate peace of mind. Some of these systems record video at all hours, while others have advanced features like motion sensors or recording timers. Cameras can help deter criminal activity to begin with since any lawbreakers will want to avoid being caught on tape. But, if any offenses or disputes occur, you will be more likely to help authorities catch the criminals or settle the issues thanks to the evidence captured on camera.

**Safety and Security Pro Tip: Consider a Community

Living in an organized manufactured home community is one of the best ways to ensure the safety and security of your home, family, and possessions. The close-knit nature of these communities also often creates a group of trusted friends and guardians, making illegal activity easier to detect and harder to get away with. Some communities may even have an organized Neighborhood Watch program or security patrol that can help monitor criminal activity and protect the community.

Manufactured home communities are also designed with ‘sight lines’ in mind, so neighbors have a direct view of the nearby homes. The physical layout of the neighborhood actually helps dramatically reduce the likelihood of crime on these properties. Communities with professional management can strictly enforce rules and even evict problematic neighbors that violate rules or threaten community safety.

Make Your Manufactured Home Safe and Secure

Nothing is more important than feeling safe and secure in your home, knowing that your family and possession are safe as well. When buying a manufactured home it’s important to make sure the home is already set up for safety, with quality windows, doors, and construction as they should be according to HUD code standards. Then, consider the extra security measures we’ve recommended above to make your manufactured home as safe as possible and keep your peace of mind. 

 

Sources:

1. 6 Busted Myths About Manufactured Housing
2. Should You Leave Your Lights On At Night?
3. How to Secure Your Mobile Home

 

Maintaining your manufactured home is important for many reasons. Good maintenance is the best way to keep the value of the home high to build equity for the future. It also helps ensure the safety and comfort of the home year-round. Maintenance isn’t necessarily always enjoyable or exciting, but it is an important responsibility as an owner or renter of a manufactured home.

Many of the tasks that are important for home maintenance only need to be done once a year, and others only twice. Yes, these actions take a little of our time each year, but they can go a long way toward preserving the comfort and quality of your home for years to come. If these tasks aren’t completed each year, the lack of maintenance on your home can build up and result in frustrating, expensive issues down the road.

This helpful Annual Maintenance Checklist for Manufactured Homes includes 8 items to review every year. If all of these areas are addressed annually, you can be certain you’re on the path of happy home ownership.

Annual Home Maintenance Checklist

These are the 8 items you should check and maintain yearly on your manufactured home:

Foundation

Make sure the home structure is solid and level.

Check your foundation or support structure for any cracks or imbalances caused by potential settling. This is one of the most important items to check each year, especially for the first few years of the home in a new location. Just like site-built homes, mobile homes can start to sink and settle over time. A manufactured home should be releveled on a semi-regular basis to account for shifting. Homes with more complicated or permanent foundations should be checked professionally at least once a year for the first few years to ensure that settling or shifting hasn’t occurred.¹

A cracked foundation or unlevel home can cause a whole host of other problems if not taken care of, such as doors and windows that won’t shut or seal properly, leaks or cracks in the walls, and drafts of air and humidity entering the home. Stress on one small part of the home structure can impact the entire home, causing it to age quicker and potentially even leading to warping or bowing. You can check to see if your home is level using a standard carpenter level or water level. In more permanent foundations such as crawl spaces, slab foundations, or basement foundations, visible cracking, sagging or shifting is usually the biggest indicator of damage.

Skirting

Look for holes, avoid excess moisture.

The skirting or perimeter enclosure around the bottom of your manufactured home is designed to keep unwanted moisture from getting into the underbelly of the home. Check regularly to make sure there are no holes or cracks in your solid skirting that might allow moisture (or even rodents!) to get into the home.

While you don’t want holes or damage to the solid portion of your skirting, you do still want to make sure the skirting is properly ventilated. Good skirting ventilation involves having approximately one square foot of venting for every 150 square feet of space under the home. Proper ventilation will help to avoid the collection of too much moisture beneath the home, which could lead to problems with uncomfortable humidity and difficulty regulating temperature. Too much moisture under the home, whether from holes in the skirting or from lack of ventilation, can even lead to issues with foundation and flooring.

Roof

Check for damage, reseal or recoat.

Check regularly, at least twice a year, to make sure there is no debris and no broken or missing shingles on the roof. You’ll also want to look over the flashing to make sure it is in good condition, and ensure there aren’t any cracks or soft spots in the roof caulking. Any imperfections or weaknesses in the roof could lead to moisture, air, and other problematic elements or even vermin getting into the roof cavity of the home.

Resealing or recoating the roof of your manufactured home every year is also a great idea – especially for flat roof manufactured homes. Roof coating is essential to keeping your indoor temperature regulated and keeping your home dry. The type of coating you need depends on the type of roof or roof cap installed on your home, so be sure you are using the right coating for your specific roof material. For example, asphalt and aluminum coatings cannot be used on PVC or rubber (EPDM) roofs. You should also be checking regularly for debris and broken or missing shingles. Check to see that the flashing is in good condition and there aren’t any.

Gutters

Clean them out regularly.

Checking and cleaning your gutters frequently is one of the easiest ways to prevent damages to the roof and exterior of your manufactured home. Having clogged gutters can end up causing leaks and water damage to the home. If ignored for too long clogged cutters can become heavy with debris and break or fall off the house, causing significant external damage to the home and property.

Even if you don’t live near large trees, debris like dirt, leaves, and even rocks can be carried through the air and deposited into your gutters. Cleaning out the gutters once a year is a great idea for any homeowner. For those living in areas where rain or snowfall or common this should be checked and cleaned at least twice every year, ideally once in the spring and once just before winter.

Siding

Clean it, don’t ignore it. 

Clean your siding regularly to avoid mold and mildew growing on the exterior paneling. Siding is one of the most commonly ignored parts of a manufactured home when it comes to maintenance, but it should definitely be on your list of items to address each year. If your manufactured home has vinyl siding, the most common type of siding, water with detergent is a very effective cleaning solution.

Mildew can sometimes be more difficult to remove, especially if it hasn’t been cleaned or scrubbed for some time, but a helpful tip is to mix a 1:3 solution of chlorine bleach and water. This is a very effective way to break down and get rid of mildew, but be cautious because mixing bleach with certain substances can be dangerous.

There are also many different special cleaning products designed to cut through mold and rust on the exterior of a home. Using a homemade or store-bought cleaning solution to scrub the outside siding of your home once a year is an excellent way to keep the home in good condition and avoid long-term exterior damage.

Window and Vent Caulking

Review, reseal, and repeat.

Checking the caulking around your windows and vents is always a good idea, but this is an especially important step before the winter months if you live somewhere with significant temperature changes. Extreme temperature changes can eventually cause caulking to shrink, split or break down, which can result in cracks, gaps, or warping in the seals that protect your home’s climate. When airflow enters through damaged seals around windows or vents, it makes your home less comfortable and your heating or cooling costs higher.

Many people think to check their window seals before wintertime but often forget about other seals around vents, ducts, and other systems that are sealed from outside exposure with caulking or sealant. Resealing once a year before cool weather hits can help to keep unwanted air and moisture out, keeping your energy bills lower and making your home more comfortable all year long.

Heating and HVAC Systems

Clean your filters frequently, vacuum annually.

Clean out your air ventilation and heating systems frequently, at least several times each year,  to improve the air quality in your manufactured home. Not only does changing your filters regularly help keep the home comfortable and in good condition, it can also help decrease the effects of allergies, asthma, and other breathing and skin problems.
Changing and cleaning filters is a great step towards air cleanliness and system maintenance, but it is still a good idea to fully vacuum out these air systems once each year. You can rent a heavy-duty vacuum to do this cleaning yourself, or have professionals come to clean out the entire air system and check your ducts, vents, etc. This type of maintenance also makes the heating, cooling and HVAC systems last longer, which can save you money in the long run. It can be expensive to replace an entire air system, so preventative maintenance and cleaning is the way to go.

Smart Cleaning Indoors

Use gentile products and solutions.

Wipe walls, surfaces and fixtures with a gentle detergent annually to avoid discoloration. Of course most of the cleaning done in your home happens more frequently than once a year, but no matter how frequently you’re cleaning it’s important to remember the downside of using abrasive cleaning products. The harsh chemicals in these products can actually cause certain items in the home to appear yellowed, faded, or discolored. You should avoid using abrasive solutions like pure bleach in the house whenever possible, especially on fiberglass fixtures like sinks, tubs and showers. Using corrosive chemicals for cleaning indoors can cause these features to become tarnished and appear older than they really are.

** Home Maintenance Pro Tips:

Watch out for warranties with maintenance requirements.

It’s not always the case, but some warranties may list specific maintenance or cleaning requirements that you must complete in order for the warranty to stay valid. For example, certain carpet manufacturers require a professional carpet cleaning at least once a year to keep the warranty in effect. You should review any warranties on your home, appliances, heating/cooling systems, carpet and furniture to make note of any warranties that depend on regular home maintenance in order to uphold the coverage.

Choose a manufactured home community that offers maintenance.

One of the many benefits of living in a manufactured home community is that they often provide certain aspects of maintenance included in their lot or home unit rental price. Depending on the community these offerings can range from yard maintenance only, to gutter cleaning and annual winterizing, to full plumbing and heating maintenance. Research the communities in your area to see what maintenance services might be included, as this could save you time, money, and headache each year when going through this maintenance checklist.

Maintain your Manufactured Home to Maintain Your Happiness

Manufactured home maintenance may seem like a lot, but keep in mind that site-built homes require even more expensive cleaning and maintenance to stay nice. It’s worth completing things each year in order to avoid disastrous circumstances in the future, and you’ll feel good knowing your home is in the best shape it can be. Creating a simple calendar that lays out maintenance tasks for the year ahead can be a great way to get organized and make sure you don’t miss out on these important annual activities. By taking these simple steps you avoid costly and stressful damages in the future, keeping your family comfortable and your home happy.

Sources:

1. Manufactured Homes Installation and Setup