Removing a wall in a double wide home

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freeplayinc
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Oct 04, 2010 1:16 am

I removed a wall a month ago in my 1979 double wide to expand a extra room into a game room and when looking for funace repair help I found this site, after reading some of the post here I'm starting to wonder if I should not have removed it. It's been ok so far and as far I a knew it was not load berring but again now I wonder if it was(only because of some of the post I read here) and If I should rebuild it or maybe just some of it?

There are no signs of cracking or saging, there were two lags going into the floor in the wall I removed, I asumed that they held the two trailers together so I replaced them with shorter ones as there was a block of wood they went through so I removed the block and replaced with equal depth lags after block was removed. If this was a loadbearing wall would I have figued this out when I was removing it or is this something I will discover later when problem arise?

There was an outlet in the wall I removed so I pushed the wire up into the false celing and put a outlet in the false celing right by the wire drop, when I cut the celing for the electical box I look at the cross meber and it looked like a 1X3 running across so I figured that this was not load bearing but a 3 inch hole to look through does not show much also the false celing tile was between the wall and member so it looked like the wall was added after all the celing tile was install so again I asummed this was not loadbearing but I thought I would ask now before I find out it was the hard way.

Any tips on what I should be looking for or if all is well now should I not worry? Any advice is
appreciated.
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Greg
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Posts: 5696
Joined: Wed Feb 28, 2007 8:01 pm
Location: Weedsport, NY

Hi & welcome. In a double wide the center (marriage) wall is always a loaded wall, the center of the roof is supported by it. If that is the wall you "Modified" you may or may not be OK. At the very least you may want to add a support post or two depending on how much was removed. I am not a structural engineer so I am just guessing on this. You may want to contact one, it may be money well spent. Others may add their thoughts as well. Greg
"If I can't fix it, I can screw it up so bad no one else can either."
freeplayinc
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Oct 04, 2010 1:16 am

Ok I feel better now, I had a 12 foot wall that attached from the outside wall to the Marriage wall and seperated a bedroom from what I believe is called a formal dining area. I removed 3/4 of the length (9 feet) leaving a 3 foot wall attached to the marriage wall for support, I also reinforced this wall by adding a 2X3 in the wall closest to the marriage wall and removed the 1/8" paneling on the dining area side and used a 1/2 sheet of plywood ataching it with 2"screws to the marraige wall and all other studs in the 3 foot wall then I placed the 1/8 paneling I removed back over the plywood for looks, I left the 1/8" paneling on the bedroom side so it could be easyly removed if needed to access the 2 Lag bolts in the wall on the floor that hold the two trailers together. I guess the only worry I had is if I should have reinforced the outside wall as there in nothing attached to it (where the wall was) since I removed the 9 feet of wall but I think all is ok as there is another wall atached to is about 10 away and 9 feet long.

Thanks so much for reasuring me that the marriage wall is the loaded wall, I was 99% sure of that before I removed the wall but it almost sounded like there was more to it then that in some of the other post I read but then again maybe I misread them:)

I saw something about a book but I don't seem to see how to order it or what is cost for that mater, sounds like a sound investment to me, can you post a link to this thread so I can review and order it? Thanks again!!
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JD
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Posts: 2696
Joined: Sun Feb 25, 2007 11:57 pm
Location: Fresno, CA
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Here is the link to review and purchase the Mobile Home Repair Manual.

http://www.mobilehomerepair.com/manual.htm

Sounds like you will be alright with taking out that wall. Just keep an eye out for any curving of the ceiling and/or roof in this area.

JD
☯JD♫
Today is PERFECT!

All information and advice given is for entertainment and informational purposes only. The person doing the work is solely responsible to insure that their work complies with their local building code and OSHA safety regulations.
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