I got it! Sorry, just saw this thread... Loved the series, hated the movies (well, hated the first one and decided I wouldn't waste my time & $$ on the others.) I think I started watching it when Leonard Nimoy was on...not sure. I do know I only saw the Barbara Bain/Martin Landau ones in syndication...(I've probably got you beat in the age thing...I'm always the oldest...at the kids' schools, etc. At least those who know how old I am always gasp w/surprise telling me I don't look that old...even if they don't mean it, it feels good to hear it!) Anyway... Congrats on finally getting there! Once it's all done all the angst will be forgotten and you'll be able to revel in your "new" home! Your DH must really love you if he saw what it was doing to you and put his resistance aside for you! Congratulations on that as well!! :-)

Believe you me, I know all about hot flashes, lol! :-) Yes, visqueen is a brand name, and it sounds like what you got is the same thing. It also sounds like you used the correct type of tape, so I'm surprised some of it came undone. On that mcgarryandmadsen.com site, you probably read their recommended method for patching, using both staples and the tape. It sounds like a lot of work, especially in the heat and under the house! I agree with you, though, I'd rather be under the house with the visqueen down than on the bare dirt. I also think you're right about the AC and the condensation being a contributing factor to your problem area. I just have a window unit in the living room, so I haven't had to deal with that. I'm hopefully putting in a mini split system next fall, and that eliminates the need for ducts, and I can't wait! You might be able to get a free mold inspection through your state and/or county. It would be worth a couple of phone calls and an internet search to find out. Your state and county also might be able to help with mold removal if any bad stuff is found. I hear you about affordability--everything is just so darn expensive! I got this house (14x64 SW) last January almost for free ($2,000). My daughter and I moved in on March 1 and the previous owners, who are good friends, were still here. Unfortunately, my friend has a shopping addiction and is a hoarder. The MH was falling down around them and they either couldn't see the problems, because they were buried underneath the hoard, or they didn't think it was important, like not thinking a fan in the bathroom needs to be kept in working order, or they "could 't afford" to fix it, like the furnace which they lived through three winters without! Yet, she could afford to spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars every month on clothes, make up, shoes, handbags, etc., 80% of which still have price tags on them. Anyway, when my daughter Joy and I finally got the house cleaned out of the gigantic piles of hoarded stuff, and got the house as clean as we could by ourselves, we were able to see the extent of the damage--and it's bad. Really bad. There's like 4-5 really major projects that all need to be immediately if we hope to salvage the structural integrity of the home...but I am not a wealthy woman by any stretch of the imagination. So it has to be one project at a time, as money becomes available. So I've spent literally over one hundred hours researching every aspect of manufactured homes. This site has been a treasure trove of information! Last October, when I agreed to buy this house from my friend, I actually read through every single thread on this forum! It was like taking a class in MH101. I've also read all the blog entries on MHs on the mcgarryandmadsen site. mobilehomeliving.org is another good one. Joy and I figured out that we spent about 300 hours between the two of us cleaning out the massive hoard they left here and cleaning. That didn't even include the regular home cleaning and maintenance of our own stuff! There are a few things I can't do because I have pretty severe rheumatoid arthritis. The range was one of those things. I managed to get the stove top pretty clean and put in new burner bowls, but there was no way I could have scrubbed the hood, under the stove top, the oven, or underneath the oven where we found all kinds of used, greasy paper plates! Last night, a young couple I hired from craigslist came over and it took them two solid hours, so four work hours, to get it clean! It was definitely worth the $60 I paid them. Well, good luck with your mildew problem...I hope you can fix it without too much expense or too much time crawling around under the house! :-) Sincerely, Debbie

People frequently say they are working with Pros when they are DIYing and are not. Because of the deserved heat level associated with not hiring a pro when they needed to. An electrical engineer, or a roofer is not a structural construction specialist, despite engineers thinking they know enough to remuddle the world. And then, they go on to describe situations that no construction Pro would ever allow to happen. Which betrays their incompetency to do the job. Or the total incompetency of the supposed pro involved. An architect would have handled the aesthetic and structural questions raised by the thought of the project. Trusses are not stick framed rafters, and cannot be thought of as stick framing. It’s an engineered whole system that must be linked together to work together for proper support. Those “drywall supports” linking the bottom chords are structural in a truss system that is meant to be covered with drywall. They lend required lateral bracing to increase rigidity to the support system. Trusses meant to be exposed have to be originally designed to have the strength and rigidity to be an exposed structure. There is no such thing as “just” removing the drywall and braces and having that be a viable structure long term. And that is just one of the telltales that indicate no professional involvement. Or, incompetent professional involvement.

It was originally supposed to be 14 feet long but somewhere between the design plans and foundation it got messed up. Right now it’s 11’ 2”. I‘ll include a photo of the original house plan. I had it modified slightly to make the kitchen wider and had it flipped. The designer did make the kitchen wider but cut the length. The foundation further cut the length. I should have paid more attention to the final plan but I trusted it was done how I asked. Love and learn I guess.