Thread: Mobile Home Roof Protrusions

I do not see too many mobile homes in my inspections, but I was checking one out for a friend, after doing some research on this site. One thing that caught me by surprise was the number of things sticking up through the rubber roof on this 35 yr old home. I could easily identify the exhaust vents for the furnace and water heater, and then the vents for the two bath fans and one kitchen fan. But then there were also 3 or 4 little plastic "vents" and 3 or 4 little metal "vents". I quickly looked around at the other trailers in the vicinity, and none of them had these "vents", including those with similar roofs. I popped off one of the covers to one of the plastic things. There were some deposits there, and before anyone asks what they tasted like, it smelled like sewage. So I am guessing they might be individual pumbing vents for the sinks, washer, etc. The locations roughly corresponded. But I do not know what the metal things are. Are they some king of roof vent? They were not evenly dispersed at all, and did not seem to correspond to anything inside. (The one photo shows a metal "vent", a plastic one is farther back in the second photo. )

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My guess would be ventilation for the attic area.

LOOKS LIKE A FLAT (BOW) ROOF. NO ATTIC SPACE TO VENT.
MY GUESS IS PLUMBING VENTS LIKE THE ONES ON MY MOTOR HOME, TO KEEP DEBRIS OUT OF THE PIPE.

WHERE IS THE SNOW?? I THOUGHT WISC. WAS THE FROZEN TUNDRA.

The first one is a plumbing vent, and the second one is probably an exhaust vent. The pipe is inside the jack and the flange allows for sealing the jack to the roof covering.

The cap is to keep water from entering between the pipe and the jack. If you were conducting a “code inspection” on the replacement overlay roof you would remove the cap to see if the roofers extended the vent pipe the required minimum 2” above the roof.

Replacement overlay roof systems whether an aluminum overlay or TPO will usually include 2-3” of foam insulation thus requiring the vent pipe to be extended.

No matter what they are for, they are poorly installed. If that is a "Rubber" roof the vents should be installed with rubber patching or a compatible "Pressure sensitive tape". Caulking the vents in place is not "Installing"

Originally Posted by Frank Suchodolski

No matter what they are for, they are poorly installed. If that is a "Rubber" roof the vents should be installed with rubber patching or a compatible "Pressure sensitive tape". Caulking the vents in place is not "Installing"

Depends on what material the "caulking" is.

It could be butyl rubber tape which has been squeezed out ...

It could be butyl rubber sealant which has been squeezed out ...

It could be ...

It also could cheap ol' acrylic "caulking".