# Ventilation on a double wide



## SC sawdaddy (Oct 15, 2008)

I got a call Thursday from a guy who has a moisture problem in his DW. Checked it out and in his closets you can feel condensation up at the top of the walls. Not every closet, the bigger walk in was dry but the small bedroom closes definitely have moisture on the walls. All of these closets are located in the center of the trailer. When you put your hand on the wall to feel the moisture there is a noticeable difference in the temperature.
Now 
1. He had the AC cranked up inside (about 70 or so) and its been very hot/humid here the last few weeks.

2. Vaulted ceilings throughout so very little dead space between ceiling and roof. Plus this would be the place where heat is going to naturally accumulate.

3. He has a porch built on front and back that eliminates about 65 ft of soffit ventilation.

4. He has three small vents on top of the house but they look like they may be after market. Maybe installed by the same guy that built the porches. I thought they were thermostat controlled fan vents at first but I didn't see a fan inside and no sound of a motor running. If they are fan vents they don't work.

He thought when I first talked to him that it was a roof leak that had wet the insulation in the center wall and it was soaking through the paneling. I doubted that since we haven't had any rain in a while but I looked at his ridge caps and they look all right. I also explained that there was probably not any insulation in the center wall just the outside walls and ceiling.

I'm thinking that there is a lack of ventilation in the roof causing a heat build up, therefore condensation in the smaller less circulated rooms. I suggested installing a ridge vent down the entire double wide and also the ridges on both porches. I know it will help with heat dissipation at the porches but I've never done any roof work on a double wide and I'm not sure what I'll find when I pull the caps off. 

Am I on the right track here?


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## SLSTech (Sep 13, 2008)

Probably not - you will more than likely run into the center beams, but you might want to pull the caps in the affected area & see what is happening there

I would also check the roof carefully where they attached their lights & wiring, half the time they just drive the screw in and never seal it - guarnteed leak


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## bhock (Feb 17, 2009)

Ridgevent will not work on a Double wide as SLS stated the center beam is solid, there should be roof vents on both sides of the roof. Standard on new double wides is 4-5 per side.


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## SC sawdaddy (Oct 15, 2008)

Thanks guys. Thats what I was wondering. I wasn't sure how much air would get through where it was put together. I'll think more on additional roof vents, all the existing vents are on the back side and not evenly spaced. Not sure why they were placed that way.


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## SC sawdaddy (Oct 15, 2008)

OK just for the record, a double wide (this one anyway) has about a 3" gap between the ribbon that the rafters are nailed to. 

I pulled the ridge caps, cut back the shingles and installed the ridge vent over said gap. recapped the vent, got up the tools picked up the scrap and spent about 2 hours shooting the sh!t with the h/o.

Hes a pretty good old knot. 
Got pistols rifles and shotguns in every room of the house and loved showing them off as much as I loved looking at them. Gave me a good lead on where to get some inexpensive but decent quality ammo. Told me to come back and do some hunting with him. Wants me to come back and do some more work on a rental house. Paid my bill in Ben Franklins and then handed me a 50 and said "Good job, Take your wife out to eat somewhere nice.

Life is good today.


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## wizendwizard (Nov 11, 2007)

SC sawdaddy said:


> . Paid my bill in Ben Franklins and then handed me a 50 and said "Good job, Take your wife out to eat somewhere nice.
> 
> Life is good today.


Not a bad deal.....sounds like my first ever contract. Old fellow paid ($5000) with all hundreds, serial numbers in series (1986) wrapped in aluminum foil.

Ended up doing 3 other contract jobs for him over a few years, it was a sad day when he passed.


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