Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Modulars used to be cheap. Not anymore. I've lived in mobile homes back in the seventies but never had a modular. Graduated to new brick houses.
What do you think of modular homes in comparison to regular frame houses? Would you feel safe in one during very high winds?
I suppose it depends on where you're located as far as winds are concerned. My BIL lives in N.C. and has one. Seems to be made very well! You would never know it was a modular home! It looks very much like a regular framed house! They have been living in it for 11 years and never had a problem.
I don't live in one but several have been built here over the last several years.
There was one high dollar townhouse development that was built right on the Bay and they have held up very well (except for the one unit which a kid torched) for about 20 years now. Much better, in fact, than the very high dollar stick built townhouses down the road which peeled siding every time the wind blew for several years after they were built.
My only complaint with some of the SFH models which have been brought in is that some of them look like double wides.
Safety is probably less of an issue than buyer perception. Remember mobile homes have a declining value and single family houses usually have an increasing value. Do research in your market to figure out which way modulars are going.
I've lived in mobile homes back in the seventies but never had a modular.
These two terms modular and mobile really don't belong in the same sentence.
Don't compare let alone equate the two.
Quote:
What do you think of modular homes in comparison to regular frame houses?
Entirely comparable... they BOTH come down to trade skill quality.
Some jobsite help is great... some is awful.
The factory help (and equipment) is more than adequate.
Quote:
Would you feel safe in one during very high winds?
Modulars used to be cheap. Not anymore. I've lived in mobile homes back in the seventies but never had a modular. Graduated to new brick houses.
What do you think of modular homes in comparison to regular frame houses? Would you feel safe in one during very high winds?
If it has a METAL FRAME it's NOT a modular home (many people simply don't understand this, as the term is misused). It's a manufactured home, IE: "Trailer". It can be singlewide, doublewide, triplewide. UNLESS they are properly tied down, they are not as safe in higher winds as a typical stickbuilt home.
A modular home is built in a factory in modules, flatbed trucked to the site, and then put in place using cranes and such. It does NOT have a metal frame,and is typically built much better than a trailer home.
A manufactured home, IE "trailer", is also built in a factory, on a metal trailer frame with removable wheels. It is built to cheaper national HUD standards. They are then trailered to the site on it's own wheels, and placed on a foundation (or just blocks) and then the wheels are typically removed. These usually LOSE value every year, and once they reach 30 years old, it's not possible to get a mortgage on them as they are essentially seen as worthless by mortgage companies.
A modular home is handled locally just like a stick-built home, and built to LOCAL standards and laws. It can actually increase in value like any stick built home, and has no limitation on a mortgage or insurance at the 30 year point.
I've owned TWO doublewide/trailer/manufactured homes, and would never buy another one unless I intended on living in it until I died, and it was in perfect shape.
I now own a modular home (Wausau Home), and would have no qualms on buying another one. It's built MUCH better than either of my former trailer homes.
Modular homes are built to local building codes unlike manufactured homes. The only difference from modular and site built is where the parts are built, they are both assembled on site and are required to meet building codes once put together.
Just like anything, you have to do your research. A builder put up two across the street from me, and with normal regular upkeep, they look fine, and the people love them. In fact, neighbors recently replaced the roof (age), and the roofing plywood was in fine shape
A couple of miles down the road, a different builder put up several really big manufactured homes and they are always being worked on and no matter what they do, they look terrible. Awful shoddy construction. Paint it, next year the paint is peeling. A decent wind, stuff blows off -- siding roofing and trim.
The terms can be very confusing - modular, manufactured, factory-built, etc. I think the 'trailer' industry does all it can to confuse potential customers (though the price should be a giveaway).
A home that is built precision built (often using many robots and laser cut wood pieces) in a factory from kiln dried wood is supposed to be (and very often or likely is) better construction than one built of greener wood on site from scratch (where it is also often open to the elements for long periods). It is also likely that the corners, etc. will be squarer too! If a home is built in a factory however it usually cannot be built in a single piece because it needs to be transported to the site eventually. Hence it is designed to be built in 'modules', each of which will fit on a trailer. The good ones can be designed to be just about any size these days including several stories high and you would never know it was not built on site once it is all together. We are not talking 'double wide' here - I doubt those would hold up to more than 1 story anyway.
A foundation, preferably a proper foundation as one would put on a site-built home is laid down - basement or slab, etc. - and the pieces are brought to the site, lifted off the truck and lowered into place, and bolted very securely together and to the foundation. The inside wiring, plumbing, etc. which was installed at the factory is all connected. Final finishing work is done on site.
If all the foundation is is like one for a trailer (which could be just concrete blocks or wood at the corners, leaving an open crawlspace that may then be skirted) the structure is compromised in my estimation - but if it is a proper poured concrete or similar quality foundation with appropriate fastenings, the house is as structurally good at least as a stick built house - and in fact the whole thing, once properly assembled, is possibly even structurally better than a stick built house.
I would love the factory built (wood frame or equivalent) version with slab insulation, etc. - those are NOT just trailers. I have been looking at them for years and I know people who had them done - and they look, last and act like custom stick built homes (but better if you ask me if installed and finished properly). If I were in tornado country, I will still put in a basement or a shelter - no building is immune - but these are not trailer park trash we are talking about here.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
