Mobile home plumbing codes

[gear junkie]

Do they have their own? Why do they use different material than the local area? A trailer park I was doing volunteer work in used quest for water and abs for dwv(pvc is the majority here). Quest hasn't been used in this area since the 80's but the trailer I saw with it was about 5 years old. What gives?

[ToUtahNow]

Do they have their own? Why do they use different material than the local area? A trailer park I was doing volunteer work in used quest for water and abs for dwv(pvc is the majority here). Quest hasn't been used in this area since the 80's but the trailer I saw with it was about 5 years old. What gives?

In California they are regulated by a division of the Department of Motor Vehicles. We ran into the same thing when we use to set up portable classrooms at schools.

Mark

[Service Guy]

Same here. All mobile homes have abs drains with practically no pitch at all, and quest pipe everywhere.

Mobile home plumbing = PURE JUNK.:trash-him:

[Killertoiletspider]

I plumbed a bunch of trailers that were to be used as temporary classrooms for the Chicago Public School system, the manufacturer shipped them with no plumbing and the plumbing walls finish panels uninstalled so that we could plumb them on site with cast iron and copper waste and vent and copper water pipe to meet Chicago code.

[Service Guy]

I plumbed a bunch of trailers that were to be used as temporary classrooms for the Chicago Public School system, the manufacturer shipped them with no plumbing and the plumbing walls finish panels uninstalled so that we could plumb them on site with cast iron and copper waste and vent and copper water pipe to meet Chicago code.

I have NEVER seen that in a mobile home. Knowing how high-end your workmanship normally is KTS, I would bet they have some of the best trailer plumbing in the country.:way-to-go:

[NHMaster3015]

Yes, they do have their own codes and they go something like this.

1 - Use the cheapest, crap money can buy
2 - Have it installed by morons wacked out on dope.
3 - Plastic sinks, tubs and faucets are preferred over any
quality fixtures.
4 - Vents can either be 1 1/2 through the roof or use an
AEV, but not a good one. They prefer the non code
compliant boca valves.
5 - Water heaters can be installed in bedroom closets
in a space that is too small for it.
6 - 1 1/2" trap and stand pipe is fine for an ACW
7 - Quality is never an issue, neither is workmanship.
8 - The department of HUD regulates them so if you
don't like it, tough titty.

[ToUtahNow]

I plumbed a bunch of trailers that were to be used as temporary classrooms for the Chicago Public School system, the manufacturer shipped them with no plumbing and the plumbing walls finish panels uninstalled so that we could plumb them on site with cast iron and copper waste and vent and copper water pipe to meet Chicago code.

These all had a single hand sink which were pre-plumbed so we only had to tie them in. Then two of the buildings were Science Labs so we had to do all of the added plumbing on them as well. However, instead of the normal building department coming out for inspection it was a guy from 90-miles away.

Mark

[Killertoiletspider]

These all had a single hand sink which were pre-plumbed so we only had to tie them in. Then two of the buildings were Science Labs so we had to do all of the added plumbing on them as well. However, instead of the normal building department coming out for inspection it was a guy from 90-miles away.

Mark

It doesn't work that way in Chicago, the city is going to enforce their code, and they are also going to collect the inspection fee.

[Masterplumb]

Yes, they do have their own codes and they go something like this.

1 - Use the cheapest, crap money can buy
2 - Have it installed by morons wacked out on dope.
3 - Plastic sinks, tubs and faucets are preferred over any
quality fixtures.
4 - Vents can either be 1 1/2 through the roof or use an
AEV, but not a good one. They prefer the non code
compliant boca valves.
5 - Water heaters can be installed in bedroom closets
in a space that is too small for it.
6 - 1 1/2" trap and stand pipe is fine for an ACW
7 - Quality is never an issue, neither is workmanship.
8 - The department of HUD regulates them so if you
don't like it, tough titty.

:lmao:

[Masterplumb]

I have never seen a mobil home in person. Do people actually live year round in those things? Anyone have a picture of one....Im serious.

[Service Guy]

I have never seen a mobil home in person. Do people actually live year round in those things? Anyone have a picture of one....Im serious.

Unfortunately they are very common around here. On the plus side, few of them call me since they can't afford me. My niche is higher-end residential service.

[Service Guy]

They can be this bad...http://www.raincityguide.com/wp-content/photos/mobile_home.jpg

But most are more like this:

http://www.interlistings.com/67558FRONT.jpg

[Service Guy]

I don't want to offend anyone who owns a mobile home. Some are actually pretty nice. It is true though that even in the nice ones, the plumbing is usually terrible.

[cpw]

I have never seen a mobil home in person. Do people actually live year round in those things? Anyone have a picture of one....Im serious.
Most Westchester munis don't have them, because they had minimum structure size codes that eliminated them. Cortlandt didn't have them as early, so it has three of them one on 9A, which I pass to go to work. If you ever go up Route 9 to Poughkeepsie there are lots of them.

[boillerman]

What a coincidence you should ask this today. Just this morning I was telling Devine he could get into trailers since the plumbing code didn't apply.:rolleyes: Yesterday I turned down a side job that an aquaintence wanted
to have me do, a trailer he bought. Nice park. Bad pipe. Yuk. Crawl around under those things in the winter trying to thaw drain pipes sometime, you find yourself wondering why why why don't codes apply?
Service Guy, I broke out with a good belly laugh when I saw that pic.

[rick1643]

I don't want to offend anyone who owns a mobile home. Some are actually pretty nice. It is true though that even in the nice ones, the plumbing is usually terrible.


Having done mobile home repipes for 5 yrs. I know more than I ever wanted about them. You do have to register them with the DMV, but I don't know if you have to have them smogged:D The homeowners don't like it when you refer to them as coaches, even less when you call them trailers, and they "really" don't like it when you refer to them as "disposable homes"

[rick1643]

I don't want to offend anyone who owns a mobile home. Some are actually pretty nice. It is true though that even in the nice ones, the plumbing is usually terrible.


nice photos Carl, I really like the first one.

[gear junkie]

What a coincidence you should ask this today. Just this morning I was telling Devine he could get into trailers since the plumbing code didn't apply.:rolleyes: Yesterday I turned down a side job that an aquaintence wanted
to have me do, a trailer he bought. Nice park. Bad pipe. Yuk. Crawl around under those things in the winter trying to thaw drain pipes sometime, you find yourself wondering why why why don't codes apply?
Service Guy, I broke out with a good belly laugh when I saw that pic.
Did you think I thought of this thread all by myself? You don't have to be the smartest guy, just make sure you're in their company. I've done some time in the south and a mobile home is a way for quite a few to own a home they otherwise couldn't afford.

[PLUMBER RICK]

do they like the term "double wide":D

actually there is a mobile home park at the beginning of malibu, sitting on top of the hill overlooking pacific coast highway. you have a $50,000 home that is literally mixed with the multi million dollar homes of malibu and pacific palisades.

rick.

[DUNBAR]

Every time there's a bad storm and these trailers get blown all over the countryside because they are JUNK,


It's God's way of saying, "I hate you, provide a better life for you and family"



Kentucky is littered with them. If it ain't up on blocks like your truck....you ain't country!

[rick1643]

do they like the term "double wide":D

actually there is a mobile home park at the beginning of malibu, sitting on top of the hill overlooking pacific coast highway. you have a $50,000 home that is literally mixed with the multi million dollar homes of malibu and pacific palisades.

rick.

My grandparents used to live in a mobile home park on the coast in Pacific Palasades, it was a nice place, overlooking the ocean.

[Herk]

There are plenty of "manufactured homes" around here. Working on them can be nearly impossible. I've seen water lines run through the inside of heating ducts. It's amazing that these things sell for nearly the price of a new house. The actual cost of building can't be much more than half the cost of a stick-built house. Why would anyone buy something that deteriorates so badly? People say they can't afford a real house, but when things go wrong a real house is cheaper. Takes about five minutes from the time the curtains catch on fire for the entire heap to be reduced to a pile of ash.

[NHMaster3015]

Every time there's a bad storm and these trailers get blown all over the countryside because they are JUNK,


It's God's way of saying, "I hate you, provide a better life for you and family"



Kentucky is littered with them. If it ain't up on blocks like your truck....you ain't country!

You are such a compassionate guy. :D

[wrench spinner]

Every time there's a bad storm and these trailers get blown all over the countryside because they are JUNK,


It's God's way of saying, "I hate you, provide a better life for you and family"



:rotflmao::rotflmao1::rotflmao::rotflmao1:

[toolaholic]

MOBILE HOMES ARE KOOL. Just ask the folks in La. Did George really blow the dams?

[Tyman]

I work in N.E. Indiana which happens to hub for Trailer factories.

I work in many of these factories doing repairs.

These guys make good money. Making 50,000 your first year is not unreasonable for a guy with no skill and speed. When the arrive they are told how many "units" need produced. When they had produced the required units they get to go home with a full days pay. Most days they are off by 1:00.

They literally run, non stop, yelling, throwing nailer and ect. If you're not fast, you won't have a job. I have known several guys who take uppers just to keep up.

I would love to post a small video of these guys building a home. You guys would be shocked.

They usually can produce 7 homes in a day with all lines running.

[toolaholic]

Whats' an Ark. divorce, have in common with an Okie tornado?
Either one, You know someone's gonna loose a double wide

[Herk]

I worked in a Boise Cascade home plant for a couple of years. They were geared to production, but it wasn't quite like trailer houses. The only difference between those and a lot of stick-built homes was that the ceilings were lower to get under traffic lights. Otherwise, they used real tile on the tubs, and for a while they were using cast iron tubs but then changed to steel. They used copper pipe and ABS.

They had their own inspectors going around all day long doing quality checks.

All the above-floor pipes were installed, and all the copper, including that under the floor. The rest of the vents and drainage were installed on site by plumbers from that area. When I worked there, I just had a journeyman's license and I was the only one in the plant who did. They brought in an old, blind plumbing contractor to sign permits and once in a while he'd actually look at the houses.

Speed was expected. The ones who had been there the longest recorded their quickest time on a particular plan and then everyone was expected to meet it.

I had to join a carpenter's union to work there, and made good money and benefits. Major medical and 1/2 dental.

[DuckButter]

Having been to a frozen pipe call on a trailer with PVC water pipes installed in the open under the structure, I decided no more of these things.
I informed him that though the lines were thawed, he could expect this again, and again...and again.

There for 3 hours after hours on a Friday night, scrambling around on my hands & knee's.
Handed the homeowner a bill and had to wonder if my bill wasn't more than the material cost of all that cheap crap.

[plumberjr]

i have 7 torpedo heaters that make a ton of money in the winter at mobile trailers---pipes frozen is usually in our schedule 6-8 times a week if temp is below 30---owners just want them thawed and fixed if broken because if i heat tape and insulate the bill is usually more than the homes value:eek::D:grin:
if there is a break it is a disaster--they called me cuz the maintenance guy wont come over anymore cuz he has already used every type of pipe out there---i remember one trailer last jan.---in 8 feet, i found----
1.---pvc with male adapters, then
2. -- cpvc with fem. adapters,then
3. --- poly pipe with male adap., then
4 --- pex with fem adapters, then
5--- galvy nipple, then
6. - copper with sharkbite adapters-----
NO JOKE-----IF I DID THIS, ID EXPECT TO BE FIRED----ID SHOWED THE TRAILER RAT AND HE SAID, WHATS WRONG WITH THAT???-- IT WORKS, DONT IT???
I HATE TRAILERS---SINCE I TOOK OVER SERVICE DEPT--WE DONT WORK UNDER THEM ANYMORE --THEY USUALLY HAVE AN EXCUSE WHY THEY CANT PAY-----THEN YOU NEVER GET PAID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Service Guy]

The only check that ever bounced on me so far was from a trailer that I had to spend several hours on a sunday thawing out in sub-zero weather.

I hate them too. Buy a real house or move to an apartment!

[DuckButter]

The only check that ever bounced on me so far was from a trailer that I had to spend several hours on a sunday thawing out in sub-zero weather.

I hate them too. Buy a real house or move to an apartment!

I've only had two checks ever bounce.
The first guy actually drove to me in his embarrassment and gave me the cash.
The other was a trailor, I had to call him for a week, leaving messages.

Finally I called from my cell with my number blocked, he answered, I was a block away....got my lousy $300 and decided no new trailor customers.

[NHMaster3015]

Just get your big truck, hook on and re-po his trailer:winknudge: