Process (Stone County, MS) (floors, roof, windows, tank)

[chickadee1074]

We have recently bought 8 acres of land in Stone County (Wiggins, MS). It's raw land and this is going to be our first home. Can anyone please help me with figuring out the correct process? Clearing, bringing in water and electricity, septic tank, and the process for picking, purchasing (using a piece of the land) and bringing in a double wide. Absolutley ANY information would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks
New Landowner

[harry chickpea]

Start with your survey. Make a copy and bring it to the county health department. You'll likely need a perc test done to tell you where you can place the septic. If there is county water, the engineer there should be able to get you started on that process as well. If not, you'll need to find the requirements for a well. The health department should have a list of good septic tank people and drillers. If not, ask around and get recommendations from real estate agents and landowners. If you are drilling a well, have the site witched. A dry hole is very discouraging.

Once you know what the septic and water situations are, you have a much better idea where you can reasonable place the home. Contact the electric company for details on what is required for power hookup and a site inspection and cost sheet. You'll likely need to set a 200 amp trailer pole and do all the wiring from the pole to the doublewide according to the electric company specs. If you are away from the main power lines, the cost of getting power to the pole can easily exceed $20 per foot.

Then you'll pull any permits, have the land cleared -including a solid entranceway for the trucks delivering the home, pay for the perc test, get an ok to set the tank and leach field for the septic, and make plans for the exact home placement.

The company selling you the home will suggest someone to do the footings according to the manufacturers specs. Try to have the person installing the septic tank dig the required trenches for these (make sure you measure very carefully where you want the trenches beforehand). Concrete is poured in the trenches, so you want any underground work, like underground electrical conduit, sewer connections, water piping, gas piping, drains and draintiles already in place before the pour. Timing and coordination is key.

Once the footings are poured, the septic in place, and the water and power hookup ready, the home will be delivered. One section will go in place, be put on the primitive pillars, and the other put in next to it and sidled up to the first one using a transfer lift. The company will then join (bolt) the sections together and water level the interior. Depending on the unit there will be two to five days of fussing around, installing interior doors, joining the ceiling, roof, and floor, cleaning and fixing problems. Key issues are making sure the pillars are in the right spots and the load of the unit is properly and evenly supported. Once the first round of fixes is done, you should have some time to inspect and make a punch list of problems. The list is submitted and the second round of fixes are done, usually with you there. All of this goes fastest if there is power and water that can be hooked up. Once the fixes are done, a crew will come in to place the wind straps that hold the home in place during strong winds. Once THAT is done, there may be a state inspection and certification. Then you hire someone to put in underskirting and lay plastic ground cover under the unit. This is a time to also "kill" the land underneath with insecticide, rodenticide, and herbicide. (It can be done earlier, but the layer can get disturbed with the work going on, and it isn't nice for the workers.)

Finally, you'll add the permanent stairs and decks and railings, and have the insurance inspection.

As for what to buy, you get what you pay for, and you want to find a reputable dealer. Expect to pay about $50 per square foot, and remember that you will have all those other costs above to add on. You are fairly close to the coast, so consider contacting MEMA (Mississippi Emergency Management Authority) and inquiring about the units that they had built to withstand hurricane winds.

This companyDeer Valley Homebuilders - Welcome built a series of them and has other plans for homes that are solidly built. Take a look at the photos - these aren't the doublewides of a few years back.

This is their spec sheet for multisection units.
http://www.deervalleyhb.com/img.asp?...n=ID&id=150955

You'll also need to allow money for the heat pump and installation. Homes usually come without those.

Our home has been remarkably problem-free, quiet, and low cost in energy usage. With 2" x 6" exterior walls, hardiboard exterior, and the double roof ridgebeam, this place is stronger than most stickbuilts.

[southernnaturelover]

I kinda doubt they pour footings unless you ask for it and pay extra, most likely they'll just use concrete blocks. I believe Stone County requires a zone II home, but I'm not sure. Many dealers along the gulf coast are now selling zone III's, which are built with 2x6 outer walls.

[harry chickpea]

Originally Posted by southernnaturelover

I kinda doubt they pour footings unless you ask for it and pay extra, most likely they'll just use concrete blocks. I believe Stone County requires a zone II home, but I'm not sure. Many dealers along the gulf coast are now selling zone III's, which are built with 2x6 outer walls.

You may be right. The use of concrete pads or even plastic pads under the pillars is common. However... and this is a BIG however... Not spending money here is a prime cause of eventual damage to the home and dissatisfaction. There can be cheap and expedient ways to do a job and the RIGHT way to do a job.

Consider - without a solid contiguous footing the individual pillars will sink according to the weight on them and the condition of the soil underneath. That puts stress on the structure, causes the floors to sag, causes the doors to not close properly, causes the windows to bind, causes cracks in the walls, etc., etc. Manufacturers and dealers cut their liability by de-rating the loads on the floors until even common furniture will take a home outside of the recommended weight limits. When a home settles, they can just point to a bureau or waterbed and say "See? We told you not to do that."

Mississippi has some VERY poor soil for carrying loads. Mud and silt do not make a solid base for a pad. There is NO WAY I would ever recommend skimping on footings in situations like this. Our home sits on a chert ledge and I STILL had the footings poured. The result is that there has been minimal settlement, even with loaded bookcases and heavy furniture.

A lot of folks are hurting enough for money that they take shortcuts and make poor long-term decisions. Putting an investment of $50K to $100K or more onto concrete piles resting on mud is one of those.

Zone III insulation is another example. Over the course of a few years, the added insulation will reduce heating and cooling costs and make the home more comfortable. I expect R-19 walls to be standard in the future, as energy savings measures are pushed more and more by the environmentalists.

[southernnaturelover]

Yeah, Stone County is not too far from where I live, some areas have hard red clay, but other areas can be soft. My parents bought a new zone II home back in '95 and they are now having leveling issues, this is in the FL panhandle. The zone II and III homes are WAY heavier than the older models. I remember my parents bought theirs the first year the new zoning law passed, the truck driver said it was so heavy his truck barely had enough power to pull it. It even collapsed the cement culvert in their driveway, they had to get a farmer with a huge tractor to assist the truck in pulling it out. It's well built though, not a single bit of damage from the 100+ mph winds of hurricane Ivan.