I would like your opinion concerning my rehabbing an old mobile home, a 1976 Bendix 14 x 70. no one has lived in it for last 6 years. i got sick last fall, hospital stay cost me $60k, im looking for a cheap place to live. mice definately have been in the house, unsure of how long and how many, ive cleaned up inside twice and its not in too bad of shape, put out traps, only caught 4 in last 6 weeks (im still mostly recovering from being in the hospital) anyways i can smell a pretty funky smell now and again think it is coming from furnace and possible heating ducts... do you think it would be worth my time and efforts to either 1) replace furnace and have ducts cleaned professionally so i can use the trailer to live in or 2) remove furnace and ducting underneath trailer, seal off as many holes i can find and use the trailer for cold storage or 3) burn the trailer down for the insurance money (there is no insurance, just a joke) thanks for your help
Furnace = yes, it is possible. Duct = maybe, but from what has been stated, probably not. Mobile home ducts are flimsy aluminum that does not hold up well and often comes with holes/openings or they arrive within a year. Often times, due to this and extended damage, the thoroughness of cleaning that would be required would destroy the duct in doing so. So, it would depend on the duct, the nastiness involved and who did the cleaning. If in the end, it didn't work and it probably would not in this case, you would be out the money and back at starting line. With that said, unless unsafe to use from mechanical standpoint, I would have an hvac company clean/service the furnace. Then, if able or hire someone to make up new duct trunkline(s) (one for single wide, two for doublewide), wrap in moisture barrier covered insulation and install below the underbelly as in conventional home. Remove old duct, thoroughly insulate water lines and reseal the underbelly tight. Wrap new duct insulation/moisture barrier with thick chicken wire to help protect it from mice. Be sure to strap it up or support it also. Make up the new duct to correct duct size for home and not old mobile home duct sizes. This will greatly enhance the airflow and will avoid future need for a MH duct rated blower motor motor.
The first thing that you need to do is have the system inspected. They can run a camera into the duct work and locate any issues that are present. The mice are probably not the issue because they like close spaces with bedding. Most likely the smell is coming from the heat exchanger being dirty. You need to be sure that you are not dealing with Hanta Virus from the mice. This would be fatal. Hanta is something that is hard to deal with and if you are cleaning mouse droppings out of the trailer then they must be dealt with as a hazmat.
