Your Mobile Home: Energy and Repair Guide for Manufactured Housing, 5th Edition

This manual coupled with another one titled The Manual for Manufactured/Mobile Home Repair and Upgrade provide a very complete guide for any Do It Yourself person, and even many professionals could improve their weak areas.I knew I was taking over an abandoned home manufactured in 1981 and it was in sad shape, but with much potential. I got the "...Repair and Upgrade" book to see how to best tackle things like rebuilding the entire floor and how the walls are built and such. I also got this "...Energy and Repair..." book as an after thought but I am so glad I did.I basically learned how to save hundreds if not thousands each year in heating, AC, water usage and other things. I always had a bad impression of blown in insulation until the Energy parts of this book showed me where and how to use it correctly. I learned so much from this book.When I actually start using the Repair and Upgrade book for the actual rebuilding process, I will be looking to incorporate the great energy(money) saving ideas in this one as I go. I will replace ceiling tile and flooring so using the blown in insulation won't even require me to cut then patch holes to save myself big bucks each year. I suspect the energy savings will pay for the extra remodel costs with in 2-4 years.A third book normally sold with these(I won't name it) two was pretty useless.

I just purchased and read this book and I am not super impressed. It covers a lot of information without a lot of detail. It is definitely a good "reference" if you plan to re-insulate your home, since that seems to be the main focus of the book. I think the guy that wrote it must own, or know someone who owns, a blown insulation business because he seems to speak of it a lot. Not very good for "do-it-yourself" type things. It may be a good book to familiarize yourself with all the nuances of a mobile home. Not a complete waste of money. Explains moisture issues, insulation, how the homes are built and structured and basic environments in and around the mobile home. I purchased this book along with "The Manual for Maufactured/Mobile Home Repair and Upgrade" and that book, by far, outshines this one for a good, solid remodeling book. The guy that wrote that one does the repairs for a living and has some good advice and tips. I have posted a review for that book as well, and what subject matter it covers.

Y'know, I can't stand trailers, er, I mean, mobile homes. (My real estate lady insists I do not call them trailers.) Cheap, flimsy, plastic everything. I bought one for temporary housing and kept it as a rental.I learned to love some things about them after buying this book. They are very easy to maintain, and parts are cheap and easily available for mine. This book explained the structure of mobile homes so I know why some stuff is peculiar. I also learned what happens if I take all of the paneling off at once; the house will fall apart. The paneling is part of the structure. Underbelly - very important component!The book has been very helpful to me and my maintenance guy. Actually, since I got the book, I don't need the maintenance guy much. Even replacing the kitchen floor after a leak wasn't a big deal. I do not totally agree with the ideas for insulating the trai, mobile home from underneath, though. The authors are big on blown in insulation. However, I end up having to open the underbelly too often, so I doubled the fiberglass on mine instead.If you have a trailer, you must have this book.

This book is what I was hoping for. It explains how to work on Mobile Homes, including older models such as my 1965 Flamingo. It explains, for example, the difference between how a mobile home door hinges are installed, versus those in a normal home. I'm having doors replaced and was wondering why the exterior doors are so oddly attached. It also goes into great detail about methods of insulation, which I have to do, and tells which parts of the trailer (floor vs walls vs ceiling) receive the most benefit from insulation. Also, doing construction on a mobile home, such as changing out old windows, is something I have to face. Most carpenters I've spoken to have had doubts about how to go about this, and this book details out what they can expect.There are plenty of illustrations too. I'm really glad I bought the book. It will be an often-used resource.

As a new owner of an older 1990's Mobile Home, I am learning how standard items for homes do not fit in our mobile home. This book looks like it will help me understand the homes construction and allow me to make modifications if needed to bring it more up to date and more energy efficient. Love having a heat pump to supply heat and cooling for our home. Energy costs are much lower than others seem to be having in our park, even the single wides, and ours is double wide. Book seems to be ideal for homes build during the time frame ours was.

There was a lot of very good information but I did have questions that the book did not address. For general purposes it is a good reference. For a specific State or area of a State, I would find an expert in MH in your specific area. For earthquake regions, it depends more on what kind of soil you are on and how close to the bedrock you are as far as safely anchoring your MH. A permanent foundation is always best IMO...

This book is great!These are hard times, and the one place I could afford, call home sweet home, and save money with was a mobile home. My place is great, but it's 20 years old and needs major and minor remodeling. It also needs a tie-down and this book/author gave such a simple and thorough description and illustrations of what that involves. Thanks!!!! Now I know how to talk to contractors and make sense.By the way, I am a middle aged female and this book answers so many of my questions. Get this if you want to repair, buy, whatever, a mobile home! Thanks : )