The Most Frustrating Part of Mobile Home Makeovers: Plumbing
If we had to choose one thing that annoys us most during our mobile home makeover projects, plumbing has got to be it. Compression fittings for mobile homes is a great solution to this struggle.
Older (pre-2000) mobile homes often have water lines that are strangely configured, made of plastic tubing, and—worst of all—lack shut-off valves at the source. No shut-off valves? Why does that make sense, especially when so many mobile home bathrooms have carpet in them?
Actually… maybe that is our #1 annoyance. Who decided that carpet belongs in a room with water sources and wafer board flooring? If your bathroom still has carpet, we have two things to say: “Good luck!” and “Get it out—NOW!”
Maybe you have an opinion about this too—feel free to share it in the comments below.
But we digress…
Back to Plumbing: Our Latest Remodel Projects
Our recent home plumbing projects included:
- Installing a standard residential tub and surround (it’s beautiful!)
- Adding a new sink, vanity, and toilet
- Upgrading to a larger self-cleaning water heater and new pressure tank for our well
In all of these projects, our biggest fear wasn’t leaks—it was getting the fittings right. The plastic tubing used in older mobile homes is easy to cut, which is both good and bad.
Good because you can use a carpet knife instead of a hacksaw.
Bad because if you accidentally nick a closed tube… you’ve got yourself a geyser. Right, honey?
Confession: we once used a RADA kitchen knife to cut sewer line in a pinch. It still sliced tomatoes perfectly afterward!
*Disclaimer- this is not a sanctioned use for kitchen knives of any kind, so if you do this, you do so at your own risk. We are not responsible for your poor choices.
The Nightmare of Fittings and Clamps
The real headache with old mobile home plumbing comes when trying to add metal fittings to plastic tubing. Getting them tight enough is tough. Then you must clamp them, and often, no matter how careful you are, there’s still a drip hiding somewhere behind the wall or under the sink.
Water messes galore have sprung from the backs of tubs, under sinks, and behind toilets. Clearly, this is no way to do plumbing.
Discovering Quick-Connect Compression Fittings
Thankfully, some wonderful family members convinced us that we could use real home fixtures in our mobile home. And the secret? Compression Fittings!
These fittings come in brass and plastic, and we’ve had fantastic results using plastic for all our projects so far. We can’t express how much easier they make the job:
- No soldering
- Practically no tools*
- Leak-proof and reusable
- Available in tons of configurations
*While they don’t require a lot of tools, we do love this little gem: SharkBite 3/8 Inch to 1 Inch Pro Push to Connect Disconnect Tool. This is a big help if (when) you aren’t confident you got the fitting on just right so you can take it off easily and try again.
Each fitting simply slides onto the tubing or water line, and with a quick tug, it’s snug and watertight.
We’ve used several brands for remodels and updates and SharkBites are very popular and readily available at your big box stores. We bought ours at Lowe’s, all under $8 each. (While we don’t recall the specific brand, the fittings shown in the video below are identical to the ones we used.)
Check out the many configurations that are available here. Even if you don’t use SharkBite brand, you can begin to plan your project just by seeing what’s available.
Why We’ll Never Go Back
Compression fittings allowed us to take our existing plumbing, make it better, and finally add no-leak fittings with built-in shut-off valves. They’ve saved us time, headaches, and possibly our marriage.
It’s safe to say we’ll be using them again for our upcoming kitchen remodel.
Have You Tried Quick-Connect Fittings in Your Mobile Home?
We’re curious—have you used quick-connect fittings in your mobile or manufactured home plumbing projects?
Share your experiences, good or bad, in the comments below. We’d love to hear what’s worked (or not worked) for you.
Happy Remodeling!
From The McGees
Compression fittings allowed us to take the existing plumbing and make it even better by adding no-leak fittings with shut-off valves. There was no soldering and practically no tools involved. Each fitting slides onto the end of existing tubing or water line and with an easy tug they are snug and leak-proof.
I need someone in middle the to take a tube shower combo out of Mobil home bathroom and replace it with a walk in shower it is off the master bathroom and not that big of a bathroom please can you help
Hi, Jackie.
I'm sorry I don't know anyone in your area who can help with that project. We did the same in our home and had great success. We did most of this job ourselves.
If you can find a local manufactured or mobile home store, they may be able to help you find someone who does that kind of work specifically. Good luck with your project.
I'm new to MH…in fact….contemplating a MH purchase. Are more recent MH manufactured with shut off valves at water outlets?
Thanks for commenting Cynthia.
We also owned a 2003 double wide for a year in FL and that home did have shut off valves. I think it may have been a standard upgrade requirement after the HUD updates in 1995. The double wide we've lived in since 1995 unfortunately was not built before these standards were changed for homes built the following year, so we did not have shut offs. We had to install them for every fixture. It's really not difficult, especially if you use compression fittings. You simply turn the water off at the main source, cut the line where you want the shut off, install a compression fitting with shut off on it and you're good to go. This makes any repairs or upgrades so much easier since you can shut the water off at the point of service rather than at the source. We've had repairs that have gone wrong where we've had no way to shut the water off at the fixture and needed to wait a day to get the parts. This means we've needed to shut the water off at the main source and live without water until the repair is made. No fun. Good luck with your search for a mobile home. Our home doesn't look much like a mobile home anymore, since we've done so many upgrades, but we sure love that it's paid off and we're likely going to live here for the rest of our lives. Best to you…Beth
Retired C-36 Calif contractor unbelievable what the inspectors pass as pro plumbing. Law of physics tells me 1/2in vent pipe for entire b-room is a joke. To make right would be very costly. Plungers ahoy! I added a pressure regulator,plastic plumbing could not handle 100P,S.I. No house shutoff accessable for my wife for emergencies,installed ball valve,W.H. a joke Is thhere no plumbing union or small lobby to make the code for homeowner. Its all about builders building on the cheap. I am retired and still doing plumbing work,Or. regulations are a necessity Not nazi Germany!
Thanks for your comment, Paul, and for visiting our site.
Yes, we have been really surprised at how shoddy the plumbing has been in our manufactured home. We've installed all new fixtures and behind the fixture plumbing setups. The only thing we haven't done is to replace the water line. It is my dream to do this! But, alas, we are getting too….how shall I say?…old :-) to do this job on our own. We just spent the weekend on our knees installing our own hard wood floor, I'm not sure how ready either of us are to climb under the house for days to install new lines, and we're too cheap to have someone else do that job. Oh well.
We love the compression fittings (so quick and easy!) and have also installed shut off valves at every water outlet in the house. We can't even believe they built these homes without them!
When it comes to skimping on building materials, the manufactured home industry has been very guilty of that.
I am just about to do some plumbing in my second bathroom. I'm SO grateful I saw this first. Off to Lowe's I go.
Anyone ever replaced a 32 x 74 door with a standard exterior door? I've read on the internet that it's fairly easy to cut down a standard door to fit the smaller opening. Just wondering if anyone has attempted this?
Great Content,Great Website. I will bookmark your page for future reference to this topic.
Great website and great information. You are very knowledgeable about this topic and i can't wait until we come back and visit your website again!