Mobile Home Ductwork blowing air from under home

Q. I believe my heating ducts have come apart in a couple areas of my
manufactured home. I have two separate units. The furnace is inside, the ac is outside. The house is cold, and I thought I felt some warm air
blowing out from underneath. It is possible some of the neighborhood
creatures may have caused them to come apart. This has been a minor issue
since I moved here, but this winter became major. What would be the
estimate for this type of repair by some of your people? I'm on a very
fixed income and one estimate I heard was over $5,000. Help.


A. $5000 What! By what you told me there should be only one piece of duct under the home, this will be the crossover duct. Over time they will break down and get loose from the "boots", invading critters don't help the problem either by tearing holes in it. This probably needs to be looked at and/or replaced. Call some a/c companies and some mobile home sales and some moving/ setup businesses to see who you can get to repair or replace the crossover duct. I would only do this at first to see if it helps your problem, don't get talked into anything else at this point. Is there a handy type person around you that you could consider and trust to do this? The flex duct can be purchased at places like Lowes you will need 12", 14"(usually) or maybe even 16" diameter duct, this will have to be determined when the old duct is looked at and don't forget to get some "quality" duct tape and tie straps.

Update:  Thank you for your input. You were right. 

The crossover was damaged. 
Total repair to include service on the ac unit was $219.

Thank you again for your information.

Visit http://mobilehomemanufacturedhomes.com for more information. 

Critters in the Duct Work

Q. Hello, I have a 1995 singlewide mobile home, and a critter got into the ductwork, is it possible? I would like to know what the ductwork is made of and how a critter could get into it.

A. Yes, anything is possible. If it is the original duct it will more than likely be made of aluminum. Now with that being said I will tell you this. Lots of different critters can chew through aluminum, squirrels for one can do it. On some homes the end runs sometimes are flex duct that will continue on to the last duct at the end of the home. You can take off the register cover and see if it is flex. This flex duct is usually plastic and looks like dryer vent duct. I had a mouse chew through one of the plastic ducts and get in. I replaced it with metal duct. If you have a critter living in the duct work you need to get it out if for nothing else sanitary reasons. After the critter extraction be sure to repair any damaged duct work. I suggest you call your local animal control people to see if they can help. If not you may have to call a critter removal service. Some pest control companies do this type of service.

Heating and A/C

Q. My husband and I are purchasing a 14 year old single wide mobile home. When we purchased it we had to pull up all the carpets, but the floor under them was ok , so we put down laminate flooring. We are sealing the roof this fall and replacing a few walls that have gotten soft. MY question is this, are heating and air unit does not cool properly at all. When we inspected the ducts, there are several that have eroded and leaking air under the trailer. My husband called a heating and air company for prices on a new unit and duct work. They told him that the way trailers are built they can not put new duct work in. Is this correct? Because if it is there is no reason to get a new unit if the air is going to leak under the house. We need help, we do not know what to do.

A. Yes, it can be done. I did my double wide mobile home. Same as a single except it has two troughs. It requires removing the existing trough (the long metal duct that runs the length of the home) or simply cutting it out where the boot goes through the floor at the existng registers and installing new boots, flex duct and a return vent. You could also consider a mini-split unit that requires no duct work. I turned the cubby hole where the inside unit was to a linen closet. Look here for mini split info http://ac-world.com/multizones.php , http://www.air-n-water.com/splitac.htm , http://www.mini-split.com/ and they heat and cool. The compressor sits outside and freon lines are run to the individual units inside. No duct work required and no air leaks. Some units look like a painting hanging on the wall if you like to camouflage it, pretty cool idea. The mini split is very efficient and I think the prices will just about balance out. With multiple units if one was to go out you still have heat or a/c with the other one, something to think about. Prices you will have to get locally. Get several estimates, an informed shopper is a happy customer.