How often does a manufactured home need releveling?

Most manufacturers recommend every three to five years. Check sooner if interior doors stop latching, the floor feels sloped or the skirting buckles. A relevel goes around every pier with a water level and hydraulic jacks, and a pro checking each one can catch a cracked block or sunken pad before it gets worse.

How much does it cost to level a double-wide?

National cost guides put a double-wide relevel at about $750 to $900, against $450 to $600 for a single-wide and $1,000 or more for a triple-wide. The price climbs when piers have to be added or rebuilt, when footings have sunk, or when skirting has to come off and go back on for access.

Who regulates manufactured home installation in Kansas?

HUD. Its installation standards, 24 CFR Part 3285, set the minimums for piers, footings and anchors, and Kansas has no state agency in the federal program, so HUD's Office of Manufactured Housing Programs handles Kansas complaints. For a problem, contact the retailer first, then the manufacturer, then HUD.

Mobile Home Leveling in Topeka, KS

Typical cost: national cost guides put releveling at $450 to $600 for a single-wide and $750 to $900 for a double-wide, about $700 on average.
How often: most manufacturers recommend releveling every 3 to 5 years.
Clearance: HUD's rules call for at least 12 inches between the main frame and the ground under the whole home.
Shims: 4 by 6 by 1 inch, set in pairs, never more than 1 inch tall.

Manufactured home owners reach a local contractor through Topeka Expert Foundation Repair, which sends the home's size, setup and symptoms to one leveling contractor at no charge. This page is about HUD-code manufactured homes set on block piers behind skirting. Floors that slope and doors that no longer line up are the usual first signs.

Mobile Home Leveling Work, From Shims to Skirting

Underside of a manufactured home on a skirted block foundation, a steel I-beam resting on a capped concrete block pier with a pair of wood shims driven tight between cap and beam

Re-Leveling Piers and Shims

A relevel goes along each steel I-beam with a water level, jacks the low spots back up with hydraulic jacks, and readjusts every pier. HUD's standard sets how the gap between the beam and the pier cap gets filled.

Shims: nominal 4 by 6 by 1 inch, used in pairs and driven tight, no more than 1 inch of height in total
Bigger gaps: hardwood plates no thicker than 2 inches, or 2- or 4-inch concrete block
Adjustable steel piers: risers extended no more than 2 inches when set

A stack of loose shingles or scrap wood on top of a pier is what a relevel is supposed to replace.

Galvanized steel strap running at an angle from a manufactured home's steel frame down to a ground anchor head screwed into clay soil, with a stabilizer plate beside it

Tie-Downs and Ground Anchors

Under HUD's rules, a home is secured against wind after it has been blocked and leveled, with ground anchors and straps or an engineered foundation. Lifting the frame changes the angle and tension on those straps, so ask for every strap to be checked and re-tensioned before the skirting goes back on. Anchors sold for this use are tested to a working load of 3,150 pounds and an ultimate load of 4,725 pounds. The home's installation manual sets the spacing and angles.

Row of concrete block piers under a manufactured home, one pier cracked and leaning on a sunken footing pad, a new double-stacked block pier being built beside it

Replacing Failed Block Piers and Pads

Shims can't fix a pier that has cracked or a pad that has sunk. Then the pier gets rebuilt to HUD's minimums.

Blocks: at least 8 by 8 by 16 inches, hollow cells vertical, capped with 4 inches of solid concrete or masonry
Under 36 inches tall: a single stack of block is allowed
36 to 67 inches, and corner piers over three blocks: double, interlocked block
Over 67 inches: designed by an engineer or architect
Capacity: about 8,000 pounds for a single stack, 16,000 for a double

Every pier sits on a footing, and conventional footings go below the frost line; Topeka's frost depth is on the homepage.

Vinyl skirting along a single-wide manufactured home with one access panel removed, showing block piers and a level clay crawl space beneath

Skirted Block Foundations

Skirting hides the piers, so most of the work starts by pulling panels off. Cost guides count skirting removal and replacement as part of the job. Ask whether it's in the quote. While the skirting is off, look for standing water or wet soil under the home, since cost guides name soil erosion and moisture as reasons the ground under a home gives way. HUD also wants that 12-inch clearance between the frame and the ground everywhere under the home.

Laser level on a tripod in an unfinished basement, a gloved hand holding a measuring rod and a stair-step crack in the block wall behind

Why Topeka homeowners and property owners call Topeka Expert Foundation Repair

The call and the inspection request cost you nothing
Your details go to one Topeka contractor, never a lead list
Ask for piers, anchors and price on paper before any digging
Method explained first: piers, anchors, straps or mudjacking

Mobile Home Leveling Rules in Kansas

HUD's Model Manufactured Home Installation Standards, 24 CFR Part 3285, cover piers, footings and anchors for homes built to the HUD code. Kansas has no state administrative agency in the federal manufactured housing program; HUD's Office of Manufactured Housing Programs handles the state. Your home's own installation manual adds detail, such as pier spacing for its I-beam and width, so ask the contractor to work from it and keep a copy.

Sagging floors and failed posts under a site-built house are a different job, covered on crawl space repair.

See house leveling if the building is a site-built house on a crawl space or basement rather than a manufactured home.