Replies

1. 
   alwaysoverbudget | Mar 29, 2007 01:26am | #1

   if  the axles are still under it you won't have to worry about foundation problems!!!! alot depends on the manf. and how well they were set originally.  if it is a quality built unit properly supported it will be fine to live in. downside is as the stick house's around you appreciate,yours at best is holding value and probably getting worth less.   if it's what you want fine,but if there is a stick built down the street a little smaller without the "garden tub" buy it you will never regret passing on a modular/mobile home if you have a choice. larry

   i own one for a cabin and in the process of either tear down or sell it.

   hand me the chainsaw, i need to trim the casing just a hair.

1. 
   Dogmeat12 | Mar 29, 2007 02:22am | #2

   Actually, you do have to worry about foundation problems (block). About ten years ago I did the finish trim on about ten modular homes. They were nice units,28x60, 2x6 walls, well made. But here was the problem. They are hauled down the road on a set of removable axles: they are lifted by crane (half at a time, of course) and set on a foundation. These units are self supporting. When you set them on the foundation, they will set on any "high" points of the wall. In regular stick framing, you have a floor joist setting every 16" along the wall which speads the load evenly on the wall (even if you have a high spot) causing downward pressure holding the wall in place. About two years after these homes were build there was a freak thunderstorm which dropped anywhere from 6-14 inches of water in a few short hours. About half of the foundations collasped because the water pressure behind the wall was too great and overcame the compression strength of the wall ( may not be the correct terminology, but I hope you get what I mean). Other stick framed ranchers in the development, with block foundations put in my the same crew, suffered no ill effects. The only theory I could come up with was that the modulars were "resting on the 4 corners of th foundation".

1. 
   jc21 | Mar 29, 2007 04:03pm | #3

   You can't tell the home is a modular without going in the basement. Two car attached garage, K&K windows,etc it seems nicely done. One of my concerns is the foundation. Six years old, concrete. It has some vertical hairline cracks in the exterior in various places. Can't tell on the interior because it's framed out and insulated. Any stick built place i've worked on we built the floor and then backfill- wondering if the stress of setting half of a whole house on the foundation cause these cracks or if it was backfilled before the house was set. The other thing is where the halves meet- there's a 2x8 wall with a 2x12 plate on top running the length of the basement supporting the two halves. Is that the norm for modulars? I've never seen anything like it.

1. 
   timby | Mar 29, 2007 07:16pm | #4

   I owned a modular home in WVA and was very happy with the quality. It was set on a block foundation wall on a hill side. We didn't experience any problems even though the lot had some underground water issues. The french drains installed around the foundation took care of the problem. My neighbors had a home stick built and it was not the quality of my modular. The house was shipped over 300 miles and there wasn't a single crack in any of the dry wall seams when the house was delivered to the site.As for the double wall in the middle of the home, I was told the manufacture builds that way to support the halves of the home. Each section can stand a lone and not collapse. I wish my F&J home here in TX was built half as well as the modular. Just my 2 cents...

2. 
   Dogmeat12 | Mar 29, 2007 11:13pm | #5

   I won't worry about hairine cracks unless water was coming through. More than likely the concrete pour was very wet and these are stress cracks from the concrete drying and shrinking. Most of the time hairline cracks are on the surface. The ones to worry about are the jagged almost staight line vertical cracks.

2. 
   vintage1 | Mar 30, 2007 12:20am | #6

   jc,

   In my experience, modular homes have come a long way in 10 years.  I used to work for a builder who had a side biz in modular, trying to capture a lower priced segment of the market.

   IMO the things were atrocious (10 yrs ago).  Trim work was horrible. (Carps had to get a bonus for the amount of putty used<G>).  Int. finish was pretty basic, and they had very little curb appeal.  You could sort of see that it was a modular.

   Today, that business has been spun off and I have seen 1800-2000 sq ft homes that have some curb appeal, useful interiors, and decent upgrades.

   Having worked on some of these homes, I see the following disadvantages:

   Factory box construction necessitates more structural support in the basement, making that space more difficult to utilize for living space.  Too many posts supporting marriage-wall beams.

   Marriage walls make for thick door jambs or awkward pass-throughs.  If not done correctly, they look out of place.

   There are limitations to how you can modify the structure if you are planning to remodel.  There can be more than a few large LVL headers in the attic that you cannot see while in the house.

   I think they have a different classification for the purposes of sales listing, lending, insurance, etc. This can affect resale in a neighborhood where all others are trad.

   My last point is somewhat subjective and will vary greatly depending on region, mfg, dealer etc.

   I think one advantage the consumer sees to a modular house is the ability to design their own floor plan.  This option is usually not available to the purchaser of a comparably priced stick built home.  While I think this is a great selling point for the mfg, IMO many of the consumers of these modular homes have no business designing a house and come up with some really lousy designs. 

   I realize you are talking about purchasing an existing mod.  So maybe none of my comments apply (esp. the last).

   Just my 2 cents

    

    

   I