Hello and I hope everyone is enjoying the start of Summer. School is out and most are planning their vacations. Hope you have a safe and fun summer.
Now on to the question at hand. I stopped by a real estate office the other day while out in the Anza area to check in with the local agents. Been working up there for about 20 years so I like to check in with the agents and brokers to find out their take on the rural market in Anza and Aguanga. During one of those stop overs I had an interesting question posed to me about FHA and roofs on manufactured housing. Now almost 26 years into this process, never had this question come up nor had I seen this type of situation. The question from the Broker was how many layers of composition shingle roof can there be on a manufactured home. My first thought was one layer not multiple layers due to roof load requirements. But in Speaking with FHA Santa Ana office yesterday, they indicated that they don’t have a requirement for the number of layers, only if the roof is serviceable and has at least two years of life expectancy. Also any signs of failure require an inspection. So I asked the logical question so if they have 3 layers is that okay. Then that question led us down the path of was the last roof covering Permitted by local building department agency. If not permitted then the roof layers need to be removed and replaced with new level. Or there is the possibility of a request for a structural engineering letter indicating the roof load is permissible for the structural roof supports for that unit. The other question is what roof load is indicated in the HUD Certificate of Compliance letter that should be located in the home. This 8 1/2 x 11 inch sheet of paper with a small US Map on it, will provide you with some basic information on wind and roof load. You can usually find it in a bathroom, laundry or kitchen cabinet. If this unit was built for the California, Arizona or Florida and does not include a higher level of roof load for snow, then I would tell if you it this is your listing or you represent the buyer, you should be careful. The assumption is that the home was built for a warm weather climate, not for winter snow. If that roof will not support a heavy snow load then adding 2 or 3 layers to the roof MAY exceed its structural integrity. Remember Composition Shingle Roof comes in varying levels of 20, 30 or 40 lb which gives it a longer usable life, the bigger the number typically the heavier the shingle and underlayment felt will be. So if you have multiple layers on a manufactured homes’ roof, then there could be an issue. I would think it is better to be safe than sorry, and make sure that either the roof is replaced or that a structural engineer be brought into the picture to confirm if there is an issue or not. If the roof was permitted and the final inspection sign off was completed, then that should provide evidence of the work done and the load factors involved. Hope this post was helpful.
If you have any questions or need to request a proposal for an assignment here in the Temecula Valley, SW Riverside County or the rural areas around us, please feel free to contact me on my mobile phone at (909) 262-3434 or by email bradbassi@yahoo.com. Thank you and hope you enjoy your Summer Time.