Manufactured homes can be a wonderful home if you are prepared for what you are getting. The homes can be extremely efficient, even more so than a stick built home. But they do have some issues that should be carefully watched.
The roofs of many manufactured homes are relatively low slope and the interior ceilings are often vaulted. Both of these conditions add up to shorter than average roof life. Failure to the roofing materials and leaks can be chased and individually repaired if they can be located. Without an accessible attic space finding and fixing leaks can be tricky. Enter thermal imaging.
The other day I had the benefit of doing a Pest and Dry rot inspection here in Salem, Oregon after a different inspector had done most of a home inspection. Apparently his client had decided to end the inspection right before he inspected the crawlspace. I did get to see the other report and did not see any issues called on the roof. During my inspection I found three different issues with the roof. Right away I noted a very cool spot in the dining room. Surprise, surprise the cool spot was wet. At this point the leak could be repaired with minimal damage to the related building components.
This is just another example of the wonderful world that Thermography/infrared exposes.
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