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PaperclipPerfector  1yr ago (text post)   3329 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for November 10, 2023

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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We've bought an aging manufactured home, and are trying to figure what maintenance we should do. Unfortunately, if I, as a naive person who doesn't know that much yet, try searching for information online, I just get a bunch of contractor sites telling us to hire them to do work that won't result in a clear end state that we'd be in a position to evaluate. Things like "re-level" it every three years or something (there wouldn't be much evidence whether this had been done properly or not). The only thing I've found that's clearly measurable by me at this point is "wait for the house to fall apart in some obvious way, replace it with an entirely new structure."

Are there good sources of information to help a homeowner figure out what to even hire someone to do, and how to tell if they did in fact do a good job of it?

I have been reading through the international building code which my local city and county defer to, with amendments.

try searching for information online, Ask ChatGPT.

I’ll give it a try, though the anecdote above about it staunchly insisting the ISS is larger than the moon wasn’t reassuring.

Adding: I did try asking Chat GPT, and it gave a bit of advice, but mostly recommends finding and evaluating a structural engineer. I suppose I could ask either the organization we bought it though (a local non-profit who are still holding the mortgage, and therefore invested in it retaining value) or some friends who are doing contractor and handyman work.

Man, don't ask chat GPT. Doesn't know dick about shit. Try getting it to say anything deeper than buzzfeed for your area of expertise for a laugh.

Speaking of not knowing dick, mobile homes are a closed book to me. I assume you are in a community of such; if they have a managment office they'll probably know. Failing that, probably normal house shit needs done in addition to mobile home shit.

EG, check your roof, check your door sweeps and insulation, change the anode in your water heater if it's gone, clean the filters in your range hood and furnace, flush your water heater, etc.

Haha.

I assume you are in a community of such; if they have a managment office they'll probably know

No, this is just how they do semi-rural houses out here. We have it because the land it's on is very nice for a variety of reasons, and the house itself is... a house, which provides shelter, and is large enough. It has a metal roof, which is nice.

change the anode in your water heater if it's gone, clean the filters in your range hood and furnace, flush your water heater, etc.

I'll look into this, thanks. I hadn't heard of an anode before, and had to look it up. We do have very hard water -- mountain spring water, so at least it's nice to drink, but is pretty hard on appliances.

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