Proper drainage is an essential part of preparing and maintaining a mobile home site. A properly prepared site directs rainwater and runoff away from the home via proper grading, gutters and downspouts, and channels.
When water collects around or beneath a manufactured home, it can lead to structural, foundational, moisture-related, and accessibility problems. It’s important to identify drainage problems early and have the site properly graded and prepared before placing your home on the site — otherwise, you could be dealing with extensive maintenance and repairs later on.
If you’re preparing to move your mobile home to a new site or are experiencing drainage problems with its current location, keep reading to learn how poor drainage can affect your mobile home, why it’s especially important when installing or relocating your home, some things to look out for, and what to do when your drainage system is causing issues.
How Poor Drainage Can Affect the Mobile Home
First, let’s go over how poor drainage can affect your mobile home.
Problems With the Ground and Support System
One of the biggest consequences of poor drainage is problems with the ground and support system. Stable, properly prepared ground is important for piers, footings, and other supports. When soil becomes saturated with rainwater, it may become unstable or lose its ability to properly support your home. Water can also erode soil around support areas.
Moisture Damage
Persistent moisture beneath your mobile home can contribute to mold, mildew, wood rot, and corrosion. It’s important to keep the crawl space area as dry as possible so that these issues don’t occur.
Foundation and Leveling Issues
Poor drainage can contribute to soil movement and changing conditions beneath the home. This movement may affect the home’s levelness, causing uneven floors, sticking doors, cracked drywall, or gaps around windows and doors.
Damage to Skirting
Water and saturated soil can damage or deteriorate the skirting materials. Damaged skirting isn’t just unattractive; it can allow additional moisture, pests, and debris to enter the space underneath the home. This means that maintaining proper drainage and intact skirting work together.
Why This Matters During Mobile Home Installation or Relocation
Drainage is especially important during mobile home installation or relocation. The site should be evaluated before your home is delivered or moved onto the property to determine what preparation needs to be performed in order to prevent issues. Grading, soil conditions, and water flow may need to be addressed before the home is positioned.
Common Signs of Drainage Problems
Be on the lookout for these common signs of drainage problems:
- Standing water around your home after rainfall
- Muddy or consistently saturated soil
- Water collecting underneath your home
- Erosion or channels forming in the soil
- Damp or musty conditions beneath your home
- Water flowing toward your home rather than away from it
- Cracks, shifting, or other changes around your home’s support areas
- Excess moisture or damage to skirting
How to Improve Drainage Around a Mobile Home
If you notice signs of poor drainage around your mobile home, the first thing you should do is determine the source of the issue. A professional inspection can help diagnose the problem, which may be caused by:
- Incorrect property grading
- Low areas where water naturally collects
- Heavy clay or poorly draining soil
- Downspouts releasing water too close to your home
- Improperly designed gutter systems
- Nearby slopes directing runoff toward your home
- Changes to the property caused by construction or landscaping
- Seasonal snowmelt and heavy rainfall
After determining the source of the issue, professional contractors can help you address problems by regrading areas where necessary to encourage water to flow away from the home, addressing low spots where water repeatedly collects, and implementing other appropriate solutions based on your property’s layout and soil. Just remember that all major grading and drainage work should be performed by qualified professionals.
However, there are some things you can do yourself to maintain proper drainage, such as buying and attaching a downspout extension that redirects water further away from your home. You can also keep gutters and pathways clear of debris, ensuring that water can flow freely.
Mobile Home Improvements with D&D Home Setters
Whatever improvements your mobile home needs — whether it’s drainage improvements, addressing moisture damage, replacing skirting, or releveling — the team at D&D Home Setters can help. We don’t just provide mobile home moving services; we’re also dedicated to helping you achieve a safe, stable, well-maintained mobile home site. Contact us today to get started!
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