mobilehomerepair.com

My wife and I have found a property in upstate New York. It's a mobile home that was built in 1989, had an addition put on in 1998 and a major renovation over the past 3 years.

No soft spots but please advise on crawl space photos. The owner does not believe in venting the crawl space and the result was a wet mess. Luckily, he has 2x 2" rigid insulation and then the original looked intact, so the wood looks to be OK.

Here are the property spec list:

- 15 Acres of land, bordering several thousand acres of state park
- 4 Bedroom, 2 Bath, approx. 1,800 sqft
- New 50 year steel roof
- Fully insulated, heated 2 car detached garage
- Wrap around deck
- 12x12 Cabin with electric and wood burning stove in woods

http://lh6.ggpht.com/gary.freelance.tec ... imgmax=720

http://lh3.ggpht.com/gary.freelance.tec ... imgmax=720

http://lh5.ggpht.com/gary.freelance.tec ... imgmax=512

http://lh5.ggpht.com/gary.freelance.tec ... imgmax=720

http://lh6.ggpht.com/gary.freelance.tec ... imgmax=720

Crawl space findings:

http://lh4.ggpht.com/gary.freelance.tec ... imgmax=720

http://lh3.ggpht.com/gary.freelance.tec ... imgmax=720

The crawl space has 2 screened, vented doors that have been covered by the insulation. The owner had the insulation installed a few years ago but does not believe in venting it out, which shocked me.

Anyways, what do you think? I would appreciate overall thoughts on the property and price, as well as thoughts and advice on the crawl space. Thank you for any help!

Hi,

I am going to move this to the Off Topic forum, this forum is reserved for repair questions only.

Thanks,

Yanita

Hi

On venting: A good rule of thumb is at least one square foot of open vent area per 150 square foor of floor area.

All that wetness downunder can't be good.

Harry

The method used to insulate the crawlspace is completely wrong, evidenced by the excessive moisture.

Like a house built on a stemwall foundation, when you insulate the perimeter walls and seal off all vents (they defeat the purpose of the insulation), the floor must then be UN-insulated. This essentialy makes the crawlspace a conditioned room, sometimes even requiring some floor openings being installed to facilitate air movement easily.

He has created a insulated 'room' below with no method of controling the environment. If you do decide to purchase, you should definitely vent the crawlspace since the floor looks to have excellent insulation.

Thanks for your insight!

I do plan on venting that crawl space right away after purchase.

The crawl space has been insulated like that for the past 3 years and had been vented previously.

Let me pose a different question: Does the excessive moisture underneath cause the steel frames to age (obviously, they show surface rust) more rapidly or would that not be significant?

I am considering bringing this issue up to the owner and possibly seeking to reduce our offer.

Absolutely!

A good home inspector will pay attention when he/she's down there investigating. Otherwise, a structural engineer will be the only person who can say whether the integrity has been compromised by the amount of rust.

If the rust is only on the surface though, I would simply coat the exposed metal with a good rust converter, then simply repaint.

To see if the problem runs deeper though, you may have to remove some/all of the polystyrene insulation because that moisture does look EXCESSIVE.

Upstate NY is a big area. In some places this could be a great deal, others could be a major rip off. I would contact a real estate proffessional in the area for their thoughts. Greg

The area is roughly 25 minutes NE of Ithaca. The Zillow estimate for the property (with my accurate details given) gives back an estimate of $149k but doesn't take in to account the land and the location, right up against state park land. I am willing to pay a slight premium for that.

Ok so that puts it in my back yard.
I would think 150- 160 range. Make an offer, the worst that happens is they say no. Greg

Looks cool... hope you buy a riding mower.

Update: The owner has seen the photos and within 12 hours had a contractor under the house, looking at possible water damage and how to resolve this (VENTING!). He is also having a structual engineer come out to check the steel.

I will post their findings.