SHF, Hit the nail on the head. There are trailers, double wide trailers, manufactured homes (recently coined euphamism that denotes certain standards have been net) My mom's new house that I have been getting "DONE" was built 10 miles from here and trucked, in one piece, totally completely finished inside and out (less the foundation, of course and the under house plumbing and the septic system, now there is a thought picture, going down the road with septic system installed underneath...) I'm back now, sorry. There are no manufacturer or code compliance tags next to the door. There is no steel trailer frame or wheels and axles or a tongue. This is not treated like an automobile or RV. It is a house, stick built in one lump. Once on site it is insured as if it were built there. The only difference is that it was not built on its final site. The differences are: delivery produced some small cosmetic cracks in the corners of the window surounds. These were filled and touched up and are INVISIBLE. (Square corners are stress risers, this is normal.)
This home was delivered with stove, dishwasher, and hot water heater. I supplied the frige, washer and dryer and I installed the propane gas log (hedge against electric outage for this all electric home). It was carpeted and has two different vinyl floor coverings. All the floor coverings were selected by my mom for nominal upgrade charges. I upgraded the HVAC to a heat pump and upgraded the heat pump to a high SEER model Lenox. The construction is quite robust. Walls are 2x6 studs (cavities filled with fiber glass) on 16 in centers and floors are two layers of plywood with tarred felt between layed over 2x8 floor joists on 16 in centers. The wood is all Weyerhauser #2 or better (can't find this good straight stuff at the Orange box (home depot). Sheathing is 1/2 in OSB, whole house is wrapped with Weyerhauser "House wrap". Double pained energy efficient windows and doors. Ceiling fans in all three bedrooms and the great room. Cathedral ceiling in the great room with 2ft attic above (ceiling is NOT the bottom of the roof) blown full of fiber glass. Vinyl siding and sofit vents. Two of the bedrooms are mirror images of each other with private bathrooms having combination Jacuzzi tub/shower. Large walk in closets are accessed from inside the private baths. Closets have HVAC ducts so contents are dehumidified. the hall bath doesn't have a Jacuzzi just a plain tub/shower. Guest bedroom has a huge walk in closet but it will probably be used for mom's overflow (more shoes than Imelda Marcos and an outfit to go with each).
During 112 degree heat stress days (up to 105 on the thermometer) the A/C ran a fairly low duty cycle. I think the unit is oversized. I didn't size it! We'll see what happens in the coming winter.
The house is 26 ft wide (not including the overhangs which are substantially larger than on manufactured homes) and it is 70 ft long (our builder only goes up to 72 ft) This one is 1820 sqft. The fixtures are not posh but are good servicable equipment that should last for years, are repairable (faucetts by Delta, made in Chickasha, OK). I opted for the energy and water conservative (low impact on septic) Frigidaire front loader washer (Consumer Reports places it well ahead of the Maytag front loader Neptune on freq of repair) but since the demo tape that came with it showed the model down on one knee using it, I designed a 16 inch platform to hold the washer and dryer. Dead convenient, I like it. (We have been moved in now for a week.)
Delivery cost $4000, approximately what it would have cost extra to have it built on our site to start with but we gained 4-5 months minimum in schedule. As per the builder and a few others I over designed the foundation but was concerned with expansive clay. There are 45 bored piers under the house to hold up an 18inx18in cast concrete beam (looks like a footing/foundation) There is a 2 ft tall 8 inch thick stem wall between the house with the top of the beam at grade. Under the cast beam is 6in deep 18 in wide carton forms (empty cardboard boxes) to form a void under the beam (foundation). If anything expands and tries to heave up on the house it just flows into that void until it contracts later restoring the void. LL the weight of the house, stem, and cast beam is supported by the piers. The fact that the house looks like it is setting on the surface is of no consequence as it is actually supported by the footprints of those piers which reach through the fill to undisturbed earth below. $7000 worth of peace of mind. The Oklahoma City phone book has about a half page of foundation building contractors and 6-7 pages of foundation repairing contractors. I tried to get ahead of the game.
Sitting at the builders lot, this house cost $63K (no garage, foundation, steps, sidewalke, etc.) or $34.63/sqft. You can buy cheaper construction but I've not seen better with regard to the shell. As far as the interior plans are concerned I designed the house with an eye on some plan books, plaigerizing manufactured home web sites, and personal whimsy sanity checked by the distaff side of the husband and wife team who own the house building company. They have done hundreds of these so I let her keep me from doing anything real dumb. There are no load bearing interior walls. The manufactured trusses carry all the roof load to the outside walls which are very stout. With no load bearing interior walls you can arrange the interior any way you want with no concern for strength.
This builder was very conservative and leans toward more than enough strength in his materials. I heard him tell framers, "I'm paying for the nails, use plenty". I looked at their scrap pile. Pretty small for so many houses being built, as many as 8 or so at a time. That is one source of their economy, crews can walk a few yards from house to house rather than driving from job to job. Also they help each other which makes a difference. I helped lift a 72 ft long 2x6 stud wall into place. The reallly big JD tractor helped a bit.
Ok this rambled a bit but what did we discover. You can buy a lot of house of good quality with no stigma of "trailer" attached. Many folks buy homes without siding and brick them in on site. One was cedar planked on the top half and the bottom would be covered in native rock when delivered. Trailer stigma??? Yes, manufactured homes still cary a trailer stigma. Get the delivered and set up ready to move in price of a nice manufactured home. Now check for used manufactured homes of like size and quality. Look for ones that are not very old. The friend who recommended I check into these particular factory built homes had 8 yrs experience as a lisc real estate person. He said that although it probably should not be the case, nevertheless it was true that manufactured homes are worth less money delivered and set up than they are at the sales lot. He estimated you lose about $10,000 when you take delivery of a home such as we were considering. On the other hand he said that our truck delivered but built in one piece with no trailer frame under it house would be worth $5-10K more delivered than on the sales lot. The trailer house/manufactured home always caries the stigma as its origins can't be disguised very well. On the other hand what we got for my mom is absolutely indistinguishable from what it would be had it been built where it stands. The stigma attached to "trailers" where manufactured homes are concerned isn't fair, isn't completely logical, just unfortunately true.
I know a civil engineer in Shawnee, OK. He and his father are involved in a housing development. They develop an entire tract complete in every respect with all homes essentially move in ready. Natural gas, city sewar, city water, electricity, phone availability, landscaping, some have pools, and on and on. The buyers for the most part are blissfullly unaware that the homes are manufactured housing under the law. The developer has financing arranged also. I suspect that most buyers never really key in on what they really are getting since everything looks so much like a regular neighborhood.
Caveat emptor. Again it isn't fair but it is true. Manufactured housing suffers from the lingering taint of "trailers". Be very careful, houses are an expensive investment that can appreciate a lot over time. Check the facts regarding the "appreciation" of manufactured housing. Are you sure you will never ever under any circumstances need to sell it? Are you so well off that it doesn't matter? Be careful.
Patrick (I could post a few snaps if there is interest)
P.S. Could everybody hold off on praying for rain for a few days, when the rain gives us a break we will pour the already formed slab for the garage, breezeway, sidewalks, and porch steps.
