Trim the dog's nails. Every other week or so. After cutting them you need to file the sharp edges the cutter leaves to round them slightly. If you hear them clicking on the floor they are long. Cherry would rate as very soft for flooring applications. If you write on a single piece of paper on a cherry table using a ball point pen you may be able to read the writing in the damage to the table surface.

I just found this forum and can't resist joining in. We (emptynesters DH and I) lived in 2 singlewides while waiting to build our home on a pretty 4-acre hill, and we really learned to appreciate both of them--except for 15-degree winds sweeping under the second one where it was parked temporarily. Now we're in a stickbuilt on the hill but have recently purchased a small singlewide on a canal in Florida, and I think we both like that at least as much in its own way. The big house simply doesn't compare as well as it should given its cost and upkeep, although I do love my kitchen. The little Florida SW was built in 1962 and never refurbished, so is OLD, and the original part is about 50' long and only about 10' wide inside. It reminds me of Lucy and Desi's long, long trailer. The saving grace is a sideways extension to the living room. Talk about synergy! Simply doubling the original tiny 10x13 living/dining area creates a large room that always surprises visitors, and us, because it feels and lives much larger than just twice the width. The other rooms are tiny but we don't feel cramped because the entire SW benefits from the feeling of spaciousness that one room gives. Another synergy that I have loved in all 3 SWs is the feeling of much larger size that the long hall gives, another reason we don't feel cramped. Our master bed is 40 feet away from front areas, after all, so no surprise that I never woke up when friends dropped by late the other evening. We call that the north wing. Our kitchen is half of a 7x7' square, sliced diagonally, and could be bigger. :) But it works better than I thought it would, and doing sit-down Thanksgiving for the whole family is a project I could pass on to someone else in favor of maintaining an open fridge with salads and sandwiches the rest of the time. An old, cracked covered patio looking out at the canal needs screening if we're to use it in the warmer months, and we have to find another place for the washer and dryer sitting out there for me to be happy with it, but the big negative is the second "bedroom." Like others mentioned, it's like a tiny train sleeper with a single bed, unusable for most friends who might visit, and it's too cramped and dark for us to imagine wanting to use it for anything but storage. Our fun with this little thing gets a big boost, of course, from the fact that we live in a considerably larger home most of the time, but we learned to really appreciate the larger SW we picked up for $2 while building and don't at all appreciate the mortgage we had to take out on the stickbuilt when construction costs ran over expectations. Selling right now is out of the question, but I'm already fantasizing about the possibility of someday ditching it in favor of a larger singlewide (maybe 14 feet wide even!) in a cool-summer area and keeping the winter one in Florida as long as nature allows it to remain in place (zoning probably wouldn't allow us to replace it if it were swept away). I do know I'd want a singlewide again, with views and sunshine from the windows on each side, but in my fantasies it's actually 1 normal-size unit plus 1 or 2 smaller ones joined around a patio with a pergola and beautiful views. Then our 40-foot walk to bed could even be 100. Or maybe not. :) The 13x13 living room in one of the SWs turned out to be one of my favorites ever, so I'd like to copy it for a sitting room. Cozy and terrific for conversation. And, of course, I'd be here getting tips on how to make it even more wonderful.

Insurance--if you would have contacted them as soon as the water problem/slide would have happened they would have helped--would have had you move the mh or move it and fix the problems--retaining wall/french drain/drywell.maybe pour a concrete pad under mh--then move it back--but now--if you call your insurance agent--they will cancel the policy--is this a lost cause?? well no but will cost to fix so do you have the money to fix or cheaper to move---where to start--rats you are infested get professional help,they can be in the roof/walls/floors/duct work fix the moisture problem,dig out slide,retaining walls,a lg french drain all around the mh,put a vapor barrier then tackle on room at a time--remove the floor/ wall covering, clean out rats/bad insulation,remove mold the seal up the bottom of mh and the underpinning and replace the insulation/plywood/drywall--find out what is feeding the rats--outside dogs,their food will draw in rats and other critters--this job is a lot of work but very DIY and cost hard to say--we are doing a total gut of a mh and the drywall is running @ $ 6 sheet,plywood 10-12.insulation @9 bundle,add paint and trim--a 12 x 12 room avg 200 more or less depending on how many windows--a great time to replace windows with real house windows vs mh--look for deals window manufactures in our area have windows for 70 each for all sizes--it is easy to put other size windows in a mh --we just did it here is our current project,photos are out of order we could not replace the mh with a newer model due to zoning laws,if we removed them we could not replace here is the album http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=739392009803%3A541222773&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail--Share--Photos-_-Sharee Good Luck

The days of seeing gains like those in the above posts where an $80,000 purchase sells for many times that years later are over for at least 10 years. Don't expect any major real estate boom any time soon; real estate is going to return to what it's supposed to be for, a place to live and call home, rather then a slot machine that pays out. With that said, I got a super deal on a manufactured home built in 2003 with new 2 car detached garage on a .65 acre lot for under $40k. The modular homes in a new subdivision being built start around $100k and that's with no garage included and they are still selling! They don't look that much different, they have the same or less square footage, yet they are selling for more then double the price. I guess it depends on what you need. Do you need a basement? The manufactured homes around here will qualify for a traditional mortgage as long as they are anchored on a frost free foundation. Surrender the title and they become real property, treated as such. Why pay more for less in an environment where real estate is going to go down adjusted for inflation going forward? If you can find a good deal, go for it. A house is a place to live, a place to call home, that's the important thing.. not bling bling, unless that's your style.