Living in a park home during your retirement years has become an ideal option for many. But like all properties, a park home will require some regular upkeep to keep it in good condition. Nowadays park homes are built to last which means that park homes can last for 70 to 80 years with regular checks and maintenance. Maintaining a park home can also be a rewarding and enjoyable experience.
In this guide, we will offer some tips on maintaining your home and look at typical issues you can generally expect to come across . What’s more, we’ll compare it to everyday property maintenance, too. This way, you can always be sure of what to expect before you move in!
1. Your Park Home Chassis
The one area of your home that is going to require regular attention is its chassis or underbody. This is a framework, normally made of galvanised steel. It anchors your home to the ground and helps to support your whole property.
However, as with most metal, even galvanised steel can corrode and rust. Therefore, it’s a good idea to protect your chassis throughout the year. There are corrosion-resistant paints available which can protect it for up to five years at a time. It’s particularly worth buying this paint if, for example, you live close to the sea where the air is salty.
As well as protection, the chassis may require further insulation or new axle stands (or jacks). All this can be investigated and reported on by a skilled trade specific workman.
2. Park Home Gutters and Facias
Part of your maintenance should be looking after your park home gutters and fascias. Newer park homes usually have a dual pitch roof, with UPVC gutters and downpipes. It is usual for park homes and holiday homes to have rainwater downpipes that discharge onto the ground only. This can cause problems, and we recommend that wherever possible, the gutters should flow into soakaways.
The fascia boards on older park homes are made from timber boarding, with newer homes having protective UPVC boards The picture depicts a common situation with gutters not having a soakaway, it can cause the following issues:
- Slip hazard, especially in winter
- Undermines landscaping
- Cause damp to the skirt – which can spread to the structure of the home
- Water to collect and pool on the base, this can lead to damp musty smells forming within the floors of the home internally.The second picture depicts a traditional timber fascia board, these boards are susceptible to damp and rot, this can then spread to other areas of the timber structure.
Prevention is always the best way for any type of maintenance and looking after your park home gutters and fascias is no different. So we recommend installing soakaways to the downpipes and UPVC fascia boards to replace the timber boards. These are maintenance-free and will not rot or distort. Another important job for maintaining your park home is to clean the gutters on a regular basis, this will allow water to run-off.
3. Check exposed wires and pipes
This really concerns buyers of pre-loved park homes. Having uninsulated pipes can be bad news if there’s a serious freeze during the winter. If a pipe freezes you can be left without water you can also run the risk of a pipe bursting which can mean serious repairs – both to the pipe and the house from water damage. Checking your pipes before the cold weather sets in will save you time and money in the long run.
4. Doors and Windows
One of the most common causes of heat loss in a park home is via doors and windows. Before winter sets in, you should make sure that you’ve checked all the seals on these. Check the weather stripping around all the windows in the home, and in all the door frames. Replace them if necessary – your heating bill will thank you later.
You can seal doors and windows weak spots by using caulk. Sometimes doors can let in drafts and you can’t seal it up without sealing off the door. If this is the case you should think about purchasing a draft excluder. If you have a newly built park home, you shouldn’t have too much of a problem with drafts.
5. Think about Hiring a Professional
Although you may think that you can check things out by yourself with no problem, this may not always be the case. Even a routine service by a licenced professional can help save your heating equipment. By getting this done in the autumn, before the cold sets in, you can save yourself a lot of hassle later down the line.
That way, if there is a problem you can have it fixed before you really need to use it. There’s nothing worse than your boiler or central heating breaking during the coldest months of the year and having to live through a few days or week of freezing temperatures while you wait for it to be fixed.
6. Keep your Garden in Check
With a park home you can grow a really lovely garden. Before the winter months come around you need to make sure that you have prepped your garden properly, as well as your house. Trim any bushes, hedges or trees in your garden. It is especially important to trim the hedges and bushes near your house.
The reason for this is to decrease the risk of power problems and property damage. In the winter, the likelihood of storms and strong winds increase. If this is the case, hedges and trees can fall or be moved and if they fall against the house they can cause serious damage. Prevent this by making sure the ones nearest to your house are cut down to a manageable size.
What About Maintaining Older Homes?
Older park homes and mobile properties will need a little extra care. For example, after 10 to 20 years, you may need to re-roof your property. You may also need to think about new cladding and inspections of the chassis. Naturally, the older a property gets, the more maintenance and TLC it is likely to need.
We therefore always recommend you arrange a professional survey if you are buying that is more than ten years old. You’ll still save money maintaining this type of property compared to a traditional house; however, it is still a good idea to know if anything needs fixing or updating.