How should I winterize my double wide mobile home and what is the purpose of a pipe filled with water underneath?
Asked by Elizabeth Wood 
7 months ago
Last Updated: May 1, 2024
Hey everyone! So, my fiancé and I recently purchased a double wide and we’re in the process of getting it ready for winter. We were under the home trying to find the shut off valve for the outside hose when we came across a pipe filled with water. Should I be worried about this? Any idea what this pipe is for? Also, if anyone has tips on winterizing a mobile/modular home, I would really appreciate the advice. Thanks in advance!
That big pipe is likely a protective sleeve installed to find and safeguard the pipe. It shouldn’t be filled with water. Water might be seeping in from outside or the pipe could be leaking.
We originally thought the water might be from rain, but it could also be a leak.
Why not give it a try and vacuum out the water to see what happens tomorrow?
Thanks for the suggestion, . We will give it a shot!
Make sure to insulate that spot really well because the pipe is so close to the outside.
Do you plan to stay in the trailer during winter? Or are you getting it ready to sit empty during the season? We recently purchased a property with a trailer that won’t be used. We used an air compressor to blow out all the water from the pipes.
Hey Russell, we plan to live in it during the winter.
The top way to protect a trailer for winter is to insulate the pipes and ensure the entire perimeter is enclosed.
That’s a new one for me. I live in a double wide and my water line was simply laid in a 2ft deep ditch and covered. I’ve never seen anyone use a pipe as a sleeve, but it does make me wonder. If it’s sleeved all the way to the meter, there’s a possibility that the entire pipe is full of water because at two feet down, there would have to be a 90-degree turn to align the pipe horizontally to the meter. So I’m curious if at the bottom of the pipe you mentioned, there’s another 90-degree fitting connecting the water line.
Not all manufactured homes have a separate shut off for the outside lines. This is because you should have freeze-proof shut offs for the outside faucets, as shown in the photo. You should also have heat tape from your shut off for the water line coming out of that pipe with the water (the red handle is the shutoff), up to where it enters the home. The water in the pipe is likely a problem and may be leaking. If you live in a Manufactured Home park, it seems like the park’s responsibility. If the home is on a private lot, it could be your responsibility to repair.
Gave some great advice, thanks!
I’ve been living in My double wide for 23 years now, and working as a handyman for 15 of those years. We have 350 units here in Northern Illinois. I’ve been under a lot of homes in my park. Around half of the homes were placed here after 1990. All of those have a concrete platform. If they poured the platform after knowing which home was going in, they were able to get the water line pretty close to where it needed to be connected under the home. All of those homes have a large pipe sleeve with a cap on top. If there’s no shut off inside the house, you have to remove the cap to shut off the water. I believe that further south, where the ground doesn’t usually freeze in winter, the water lines aren’t buried as deep. Our water lines are below the frost line, which is about 3 ft, so the pipe is buried at least 4 feet down. Making sure the heat tape is in working order is a top priority each fall.
We have a mobile home with a pipe like this too. It actually makes it easier to access the water line for applying heat tape. The large pipe is filled with fiberglass insulation, which helps with insulation.