Expert: Bruce E. Johnson - 1/24/2009

Question
Hi,
My wife and I have a 1982 14x70 mobile home, I remodeled the kitchen and master bath . It is on our own land  next to our lot my aunt has an old house approximately 60-80 years old it is on blocks and has been vacant for about 22 years. the house is still very solid although it needs some work. It was given to me and I am considering trying to move it to my property and merging it into our mobile home. The house is 30x40 about 1200 square feet  but has no kitchen , is it possible to butt it up against the trailer and extend the roof over the trailer? if so how do I join the two structures together at the floor and seal it all? Any help would be appreciated. I plan to do most of the work myself.

Answer
Hi CARL, this is complicated question without having any real information about the house or the mobile.  Simply put you find an elevation and location to butt the two buildings together so that the floors line up.  Then you cut a doorway into both buildings to provide access.  You cover the floor at the doorway opening with a threshold of some sort.  Seal and close up the sides where the two buildings are attached.  As far as the roof goes, if the house wall is higher than the mobile roof you can build what is called a "cricket" from the house wall over the mobile roof.  This is merely a slanted section of roof built so as to shed water away from the higher wall.  At this point this is the best answer I can give you.  I hope this information helps feel free to write again regarding this or other matters, sincerely bruce e johnson..bejohnsonconsulting.com