Clayton Homes: One Year of Ownership - The #1 Flaw!

We've officially been in our home for a year now, and a few more problems have developed since we made the video about our Clayton Homes experience. There is one major issue that needs to be addressed, and we're exposing the problem for you.

Thanks to our Patrons, Tere'sa Timmons and Lisa!

[richardfredericks]

A couple of things. A) your switches & outlets inside are pressed together. Your GFI's are normal, but you don't have normal electrical boxes like in a custom home. You can easily upgrade these using old work boxes. B) buy silicone caulk and caulk the bottom corners of the windows, the joints in my 09 Blue Ridge Z-Crest were not sealed and leaked. (Sub floor rot), also upgrade your patio sliding door, it too leaks. You can easily buy a really good one from a building supply company like 84 Lumber. C) Your outside porch lamps will leak and short your switches on the outside wall. Replace with solid outside electrical boxes that the siding fits behind. (Electrical Supply Co., not lowes will have them) D) Clayton uses PEX plumbing, but uses dirt cheap cut-off valves and faucets. If your husband is any good with plumbing, you can easily switch these out with normal 1/2" PEX cut-off valves from Home Depot. Then buy normal 3/8 to 1/2" flexible water supply from hardware store. E) Your subfloor is Engineered board 19/32" thick, not 3/4 tongue and Grove. This wood does not handle water very well, but you can buy plywood that thick at Lowes if you need to....otherwise, the homes are solid and haven't had too much problem 😉. I'm a handyman/flooring installer so I can do much of my own work

[douglaswhittamore]

I had a mobile home in the rural area of Kentucky and had quite a few field mice get in. The only way I found to stop them was to put steel wool down inside those holes and then spray it closed with STUFF expanding foam. Apparently the mice don’t like chewing through the tinsel of the steel wool I was told. But it worked fantastically.

[kenyates-bdhj]

I built mobile homes for 35 years. Clayton has 36 plants in the U.S. They have to hire anyone needing a job. and trust me, they wll work the hell of their employees. their plants pump out anywhere from 5 to 25 floors a day. production comes first, not quality. I've worked for Clayton. twice. they have way too many people with degree and zero experience in this business. there is no such thing as quality in this business. if you want to buy a mobile home, take someone with you that has built them for a living. trust me on this

[KymmieTC]

I am considering a Clayton home right now. These kinds of videos scare me so much which is why I have been watching so many different videos about different experiences with different manufactures. It seems to me that they all have their issues. Thank you for sharing your story.

[serg]

Thanks for the tip about the No-video-making clause. I want no part of censorship, so they are out! Thanks for doing an excellent job on your videos!

[DigitalBrain]

We too bought a clayton higher-end model Jan 2021. It took over a year from order to delivery. Did you know the factory here in North East Texas builds 3 homes start to finish every 24hours.
When our home arrived it was missing all window blinds, ceiling fans, 5ft electric fireplace, ring video doorbell. The original contract included the skirting in the price. When it arrived they raised the price of the home $10k and made us pay for the skirting. Our salesman was let-go and a new Manager was brought in. They made no mention of the missing items, perhaps hoping we wouldn't notice. The kitchen drawers have so many staples in them they wobble side to side. The bathtubs do not have an overflow drain. There are no towel bars or toilet paper holders. We have a living room window that drips from the top when it rains despite having the service manager resealing 10ft of the outside wall in all directions. There are lumps in the vinyl sheet flooring. the service manager slices the lump with a razorblade and pulls out a piece of electrical wiring cable, then seals it up with some glue. So the floors are not swept before laying the sheet vinyl. On very windy days our vinyl floor in the living room billows up about an inch. Door frames are not level and plumb so they rattle and there are gaps at the top. The shower is tiled but the tiles are willy nilly in that there is no grout line in some and 1/4 inch in others, the tile edges are sharp not bull nosed. There is no trim at the top edge just drywall mud. The power outlet for the range was mounted too high on the wall so the oven could not be pushed all the way back to the back wall.

And finally the mouse issue. The pipes in the cabinets do have plastic trim rings stapled to the floor of the cabinet. But the mice are getting in through the holes that are in the floor under the cabinets, the holes are big enough to put my hand through. The other problem is the kickplates under the cabinets do not go all the way from the floor up to the underside of the cabinet. so the plastic pipe plates will keep rodents out of your kitchen sink cabinet but below that is is open.

Last thing, the kitchen sink drains were not screwed on tightly from underneath so it was leaking.

I just think that quality control is forsaken in the interest of building units as fast as possible. They put tremendous pressure on the Service Manager and the detail crews to make it all look pretty.

We too went round and round with setting up the financing, despite great credit. A lender will not fund until the home is delivered but Clayton will not deliver until it is funded, so we were at a catch22 and were forced to accept substandard terms and had to go with Vanderbilt Mortgage (A Clayton partner).

All in all it was not a pleasant experience. I too considered making a video to post all of the issues.

Word of advice...
Be sure to get a detailed sales agreement in writing signed by yourself and the salesman, include manager if possible.
When the house is done the factory delivers it to the dealers lot, you can inspect it at their lot, do a thorough inspection. The detail crew does a real miracle job fixing all of the issues that transport has caused.

[wowitskevin]

I guess I got lucky, or maybe things were better pre-pandemic but I've lived in a Pride model by Clayton since 2019 and I have not had one single issue. Not one. I love my house.

[carlospinamorales]

well good thing yall have been posting this. i was looking into clayton. but not anymore.

[kenmessinger]

Spray foam is a super quick fix and cheap. Also it helps keep cold air from entering through those areas.

[chuckfinley]

Learned q whole new profession owning a mobile home. Had my home for 35 years. Replaced nearly all the subfloor. And, done a lot of work on other folks homes for the last 25 years. Im now the go to guy for mobile home repair.

[MistyRoads]

We had the same issue with the crazy 12 inch plumbing cut outs left open. Luckily our home was still under warranty so our maintenance guy came out and patched every opening with metal sheets. No more mice! We also had a lot of loose strips that go between each sheetrock panel and the corner strips. We went around tapping them and nailed every section that had loose spots. The a/c coil unit inside was leaking so they had to replace that. We found a crack in our bathroom sink, so they brought out two new sinks which were so much nicer! Our kitchen sink was leaking underneath so they had to fix that.
Two years now and the cheap vinyl strips around the outside windows are curling up on the edges. We will have to fix that since our warranty is now expired. Our maintenance guy had warned us to look closely at everything and report problems as quickly as possible, which we did. Get it fixed while the warranty is still good.

[stephenlindenfelser]

Doesn't matter if it's a manufactured home or a stick built home. So many home builders slap up these cookie cutter homes a fast and as cheap as they can, not at all concerned about the quality.

After doing much research, I've decided I'm just going to build 90% of my new home with my own two hands, and only contract out the things I absolutely cannot do on my own. That way, if it's not right, it's my own fault, while I can make sure the quality is right in the important things that must be done right.

[sportandfitness]

All homes will have their own inconveniences doesn’t matter it it’s old or new companies want to sell fast just like auto makers it’s just matter to take action and fix the things you don’t like after all it’s your home and I believe we should do what needs to be done in order to prolong its life and make it durable, wish you guys luck I also hope I will one day own my manufactured home

[montehawver]

Your home’s pad was not properly prepared. No compacted gravel, just dirt. You did not have a decent plastic barrier put down and I’m betting your skirting was not properly installed also. I have lived in the country most of my 68 years. If you want to keep critters out, you have to put a great deal of time into your foundation, crawlspace, and skirting.

[calvinreichelderfer]

If you purchase any home please make sure you have a contract which includes a payout schedule as the work is done. Make sure that you and your lender has to approve each payment.
I would have 30% of the total purchase price for a final payment after the home is completed and don’t pay the final payment until you are satisfied.
They will be much more responsive to fix any issues when they don’t have all up your money

[geeorgeeous]

Wow 😮 🤦🏽‍♀️. The first week we were in our home, I noticed torn up tissue under the master bath sink. Turns out it was a mouse smh. I had no idea this was a common Clayton Homes thing smh. Our maintenance man is our favorite person also 😂. He seems very knowledgeable about fixing the issues and he seems to care a lot about keeping things together.

[GMCTIM]

Bought a Norris Double Wide in 1992 still looking and going Great today sure I've done maintance threw those years but Anything would need that ! 😁✌

[McRod-]

Rodent block expanding foam all the holes. Can do it from the top or from underneath. Sold at your home box stores. We actually sealed the underbelly of our mobile home with roofing metal. Put the bait boxes around the outside of your home. Not under it. It will attract and kill them under your house. Keep lots of cats. Feed the cats 1 x per day. Keep water for them outside. They will find rodent food. When we bought a brand new stick built home in 2006, we had squirrels getting in the walls. They jumped from trees to the roof and came in under the eaves. Not uncommon. And not indicative of the manufacturer. Good luck!

[nancymarie]

I’m looking at a Clayton to put on a basement foundation. Thank you so much for sharing your honesty because there’s no such thing as perfect, but the truth is so important.

[ronwilliams]

I really appreciate 🙏🏿 this update on the warranty purchase 😢this is very important 😮I'm leaning towards a Dear Valley well built, so sorry for u guys I thank y'all for information God bless you 🙏🏿