Double Wide Questions
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Help Support House Repair Talk:
If it's a double wide.... somewhere along the floor there should be a seam.
Unless, the owners put down new flooring since they had the double wide setup
But, normally people wouldn't need to do that until the original flooring starts to show ear... or maybe they didn't like the original flooring and put new in because of that
The quality on these things are far, far better than they were even 10 to 15 years ago.
And, there's lots of competition between manufacturers so that helps keep pricing low.
I won't tell them I'm paying cash until I get a nice low ball quote!
Unless, the owners put down new flooring since they had the double wide setup
But, normally people wouldn't need to do that until the original flooring starts to show ear... or maybe they didn't like the original flooring and put new in because of that
The quality on these things are far, far better than they were even 10 to 15 years ago.
And, there's lots of competition between manufacturers so that helps keep pricing low.
I won't tell them I'm paying cash until I get a nice low ball quote!
Once they're set they rarely get moved again. And after a few years they aren't road worthy. If you read the site I linked early "mobile homes" were trailers, more akin to an RV and intended to be moved with the owner as they followed jobs from region to region. Now once they're parked they're done being mobile unless it is in pieces.
One thing with single wides and double wides on rented lots in "trailer" parks, they are a depreciating asset. A double wide on land owned by the occupant and on a foundation is more like a site built house and can appreciate. The thing that gives most of them away as a double wide it the very low pitched roof to allow it to have 8' ceilings and be moved down the road.
In my volunteer work in Appalachia I've worked on more than a few single wide manufactured homes. After about 25 years they really start to show their age and you have to do a lot of structural repairs due to water infiltration. The ones without a pitched and shingled roof are the worst for water damage.
Well, 25 years is probably beyond my remaining life expectancy so some of these young whipper snappers will have to deal with it after I'm gone!
Besides, I'm going to either get one with a metal roof or will be adding a metal roof to whatever I get so that part will be as good as anything on a stick built home, maybe better
Besides, I'm going to either get one with a metal roof or will be adding a metal roof to whatever I get so that part will be as good as anything on a stick built home, maybe better
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My 1997 single wide is starting to show age. I need to do some work on it. It is a mobile home, as it has an axel and put tires and move it. It could be a trailer also. There are some modular homes that are made with no axel, but in sections and trucked in and set up on a foundation.
Those are just built in a manufacturing place, and then put together on site.
Those are just built in a manufacturing place, and then put together on site.
Since single wides are pretty nice these days and much cheaper... I may just buy a nice single wide... and add on later.
I'm going to be getting a tractor so I'll get one of those auger attachments so I can drill holes in the ground.... that way I can put in some heavy duty posts on either side of the mobile home with and run a giant all thread to secure the poles on either side of the home
Once I do that, I can attach brackets to the top of the home to the poles on each side to mack it more secure against high winds, and then build a metal roof over the top of it all.
Then put in more posts to add room additions later.
Once done, this should be stronger than a stick built home and I know of a place to get treated poles from that have a 25 year warranty against rotting and critters that eat wood.
It'll be like a red neck mansion!
I'm going to be getting a tractor so I'll get one of those auger attachments so I can drill holes in the ground.... that way I can put in some heavy duty posts on either side of the mobile home with and run a giant all thread to secure the poles on either side of the home
Once I do that, I can attach brackets to the top of the home to the poles on each side to mack it more secure against high winds, and then build a metal roof over the top of it all.
Then put in more posts to add room additions later.
Once done, this should be stronger than a stick built home and I know of a place to get treated poles from that have a 25 year warranty against rotting and critters that eat wood.
It'll be like a red neck mansion!
BvilleBound
Well-Known Member
Depending on where you live and the climate, one key thing to keep in mind with mobile / manufactured homes is the often minimal insulation, which is difficult to upgrade. Many have zero insulation under the floor. This can lead to high HVAC costs in summer and winter.
That's not true anymore... they are all required to meet HUD building standards so they all have decent insulation.
The higher dollar mobile homes have additional insulation which of course is better, but the cheapest models are going to meet HUD building standards which is required under Federal Law now for all mobile homes... or "manufactured housing"
Besides, it's easy to add more insulation from the outside by putting on new siding over the existing siding which one may want to do anyway to make the mobile home look like a regular house from the outside.
Once I get the structure built over the top, I'd probably6 go with metal siding like you see on a metal building cause... I'd never have to paint. So, I'd have opportunity to put on as much insulation as I want on the outside before putting on the new siding.
On the other hand.... I may scrap the mobile home plan altogether and go with a pole barn home or metal building. That would take longer to complete, but I could building something much nicer than a mobile home for $100k or less.
Decent double wide mobile homes around here are starting at around $100k to $120k for the smaller cheaper ones... you know, the ones rednecks live in.
I'm still considering my options at this point considering how to get the most bang for the buck!
The higher dollar mobile homes have additional insulation which of course is better, but the cheapest models are going to meet HUD building standards which is required under Federal Law now for all mobile homes... or "manufactured housing"
Besides, it's easy to add more insulation from the outside by putting on new siding over the existing siding which one may want to do anyway to make the mobile home look like a regular house from the outside.
Once I get the structure built over the top, I'd probably6 go with metal siding like you see on a metal building cause... I'd never have to paint. So, I'd have opportunity to put on as much insulation as I want on the outside before putting on the new siding.
On the other hand.... I may scrap the mobile home plan altogether and go with a pole barn home or metal building. That would take longer to complete, but I could building something much nicer than a mobile home for $100k or less.
Decent double wide mobile homes around here are starting at around $100k to $120k for the smaller cheaper ones... you know, the ones rednecks live in.
I'm still considering my options at this point considering how to get the most bang for the buck!
For what it’s worth I will give you my experience in greatest bang for the buck housing.
My nephew about 20 years ago had a “Home” he bought for next to nothing that amounted to a cement block 3 car garage on a slab with one of the garage stalls converted to a living space one big room with a tiny bathroom on the end. As it was it was near Lake Erie and some rich guy started buying everything from the lake back forming a large rectangle ripping everything down to build a mansion in the center. My nephews little shack on a small postage stamp lot was last. He had been talking to the neighbors that sold and found they were getting double or triple the value of their property. The guy approached him and he told him he would sell with a couple things he needed. First the price he set at 4X what he thought his place was worth and second he wanted the guy to allow him to live there rent free for a year while he bought property and built a home on it. The dude took his offer and the clock was ticking.
He got me involved and even though he had a good deal of money for what his shack was worth it wasn’t a fortune to buy land and build a home on.
He bought 10 acres in the neighboring county where at that time building codes were not too strict the property had a house that burned down many years before but we found the well a big savings. It actually had 2 wells one was for an old farm barn we thing for animals.
He wanted to build a pole barn construction house 2 stories 24x36 where the first floor was on a slab with 10’ ceilings to be used as a heated work shop for his business and the second floor 8’ ceilings finished to be a living space. To save money he wanted it to be closed in and heated and have a working bathroom and the rest he could finish as he went after the year had past as he needed to be out of the old place.
I strongly advised him to not do the pole barn construction telling him they only have a 40 year life etc. We worked the number many ways and the only way we could do it to cost and with just free labor was the pole barn. I remember him saying in 40 years I will be 80 what do I care if its falling down. So we got his plan approved and built it over one summer. I searched for used stuff and found him 12 huge triple pane all vinyl windows that came out of a school I got for 100 bucks and we put them in the first floor for loads of light. The second floor he hardly put many windows because he didn’t want heat loss and new windows were expensive. To make it look more like a house we did vinyl siding and a shingle roof. It turned out really nice and he has been living in it now for 20 years without a house payment and to be honest the poles look as good as when we planted them. He didn’t get any major cracks in the second floor drywall.
About 10 years ago he got married and that changed the open floor plan some as she wanted rooms so he added some walls and a real kitchen.
I often wonder if we were doing it today if code would have allowed us that design and if they would have allowed us to do all the work.
My nephew about 20 years ago had a “Home” he bought for next to nothing that amounted to a cement block 3 car garage on a slab with one of the garage stalls converted to a living space one big room with a tiny bathroom on the end. As it was it was near Lake Erie and some rich guy started buying everything from the lake back forming a large rectangle ripping everything down to build a mansion in the center. My nephews little shack on a small postage stamp lot was last. He had been talking to the neighbors that sold and found they were getting double or triple the value of their property. The guy approached him and he told him he would sell with a couple things he needed. First the price he set at 4X what he thought his place was worth and second he wanted the guy to allow him to live there rent free for a year while he bought property and built a home on it. The dude took his offer and the clock was ticking.
He got me involved and even though he had a good deal of money for what his shack was worth it wasn’t a fortune to buy land and build a home on.
He bought 10 acres in the neighboring county where at that time building codes were not too strict the property had a house that burned down many years before but we found the well a big savings. It actually had 2 wells one was for an old farm barn we thing for animals.
He wanted to build a pole barn construction house 2 stories 24x36 where the first floor was on a slab with 10’ ceilings to be used as a heated work shop for his business and the second floor 8’ ceilings finished to be a living space. To save money he wanted it to be closed in and heated and have a working bathroom and the rest he could finish as he went after the year had past as he needed to be out of the old place.
I strongly advised him to not do the pole barn construction telling him they only have a 40 year life etc. We worked the number many ways and the only way we could do it to cost and with just free labor was the pole barn. I remember him saying in 40 years I will be 80 what do I care if its falling down. So we got his plan approved and built it over one summer. I searched for used stuff and found him 12 huge triple pane all vinyl windows that came out of a school I got for 100 bucks and we put them in the first floor for loads of light. The second floor he hardly put many windows because he didn’t want heat loss and new windows were expensive. To make it look more like a house we did vinyl siding and a shingle roof. It turned out really nice and he has been living in it now for 20 years without a house payment and to be honest the poles look as good as when we planted them. He didn’t get any major cracks in the second floor drywall.
About 10 years ago he got married and that changed the open floor plan some as she wanted rooms so he added some walls and a real kitchen.
I often wonder if we were doing it today if code would have allowed us that design and if they would have allowed us to do all the work.
I'd imagine they'll let anybody do the work as long as it meets building standards in the jurisdiction where you are at.
I'm wondering is a guy could use the pole barn home concept... but instead dig some deep round holes with rebar and pour concrete pilings with bolts embedded so you could bolt in red iron steel beams
Then from there build a metal building using red iron steel and later on pour a slab and finish out the inside. Seems like building the shell this way would be much stronger in high winds and last much longer than 40 years and would be appraised to be more valuable.
The more I think about all this, I'd like to do something along these lines... even if it takes a year or two to complete (I run my own business and can't work on this non stop till completion)
I'm wondering is a guy could use the pole barn home concept... but instead dig some deep round holes with rebar and pour concrete pilings with bolts embedded so you could bolt in red iron steel beams
Then from there build a metal building using red iron steel and later on pour a slab and finish out the inside. Seems like building the shell this way would be much stronger in high winds and last much longer than 40 years and would be appraised to be more valuable.
The more I think about all this, I'd like to do something along these lines... even if it takes a year or two to complete (I run my own business and can't work on this non stop till completion)
Looks like you might be interested in a Morton Building.
Metal & Steel Pole Barn Builders | Morton Buildings
Metal & Steel Pole Barn Builders | Morton Buildings
Eddie_T
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At one time I had a USDA plan for a simple farmhouse. Treated wood posts were installed on 4 ft centers and then the roof was constructed. Next a concrete slab was poured and girt walls were constructed between the posts. I don't know how that might fit in with all the nanny requirements of today's world.
Thanks! I'll check these guys out.
I just went and looked at a 18x 72 single wide mobile home
that was around 1200 sq feet.
It was OK, but it's at $103K with delivery and all setup is extra
I'm thinking I can do better than that for the same money
