Can mobile home tie down straps be too tight?

Can mobile home tie down straps be too tight?

I had additional straps installed to meet code when I purchased my 5 year old double wide home. Now I am seeing multiple cracks in wall corners and gaps in the molding where the wall and ceiling meet.

Remote failure analysis is always suspect. There are too many different issues involved especially on something like this to hazard even a guess as to possibility of the tension on the straps being wrong in this situation.

With that said I may be possible to have them too tight but it is very unlikely. In most cases the tension required is only enough to remove the slack. Adding too much tension will compromise the performance of the straps.

Since you are concerned about the cause for the gaps in the molding and cracks in your walls you should contact a competent local building inspector to determine what is happening in this situation.

Niel Leon
Community Developer – Engineering.com