Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Modular Home questions

And a modular is a trailer which has had the steel frame removed, then taken back to the factory for recycle. Sometimes they come out of the same factory. A guy who built them both for 15 years, and did in place warranty repairs for ten of those years says there is no discernible difference once set on the foundation. One still has the steel frame under it. One does not.

I am sitting in a 28' by 70' three bed, two bath mobile home on a full foundation. It is tied to the land and is real property.

Most mobile homes today are built to better standards and tougher than most stick built homes. And the price reflects that. My buddy's new double wide came with steel roofing, 1/2" T/T sheet rock, and Hardie siding.

There is a reason that the new mobile sections you see on the freeway have six to eight axles under them.

Sections are up to 16' by 80'. Depending on local hiway width restrictions. Two or three or more may be joined to make a house. How much do you want to spend?

In an earthquake, I would rather be in the one built to be transported 1000 miles across all types of roads.

We have a local builder (Adair Homes) who offers discount stick built homes. No frills. All the water is on one common wall. Kitchen sink and washing machine is on one wall, opposite is the bathroom.

Everything is built on a slab. No crawlspace. Plumbing is routed through the floor. Every wall is engineered to take advantage of 4x8 sheets of building materials. There are no partial sheets in the house. And no dumpsters full of waste as construction progresses.

The roof is 15 year asphalt/fiberglass, the siding is T1-11. Two by Six studs and suitable insulation. The windows would leave the owner envious of most mobile homes.

They are a decent house for the money, A great starter home for a young couple planning on a couple kids.

Apparently some are speaking of a more elaborate "modular home" than I am familiar with.

You can always do what was called a 50-50 build. They were kind of popular back in the 80s in San Diego County. The front half of the house is a manufactured home where the electric box is, along with water and sewage connections are. All done to reduce the overall cost.The rest of the house is coventional stick construction.

My wife is the queen of our double wide. We don't have any building codes so I had ours anchored down according to Dade FL county codes. Then replaced the vinyl siding with 5/4" cypress, added porches and metal roof. In 21 years the only appliance we've had to replace is the AC twice. Got 2400' under AC and hardly ever have a power bill over $200. We ordered our with upgrade appliances, double pane windows, floodlights, electric outlets and outside hose faucets all the way around. It was supposed to be temporary till we had a house built. But my wife who said she'd never live in a trailer decided we don't need anymore than what we have and I couldn't be any happier.

Check with insurance company, and a lender, see what they say. It can be different from company to company and state to state.

Your biggest issue if stick built in Arkansas, especially where you are located, is finding a top-notch contractor that can deliver on time. Material cost is all over the place here in SW Arkansas, so no helping that. Most all the good contractor around here are booked out a year or more.

When Deer Muzzle Loader season opens in mid-October then Modern Gun second Saturday in November through third Sunday in December then duck/goose season till end of February, few show up to work till March first. It's an Arkansas thing.

It is obvious you don't know of which you speak......

I have had my BOCA modular Heckamann home for the last 29 years.Still doing great ..No issues.

One of the nicer houses in our dirty little town is about 100 yards down the street from us.

It is a 2002 modular that was hauled down from Canada and setup on a full daylight basement. Just under 4k square feet and it is pretty nice, looks like a house...house.

I just snooped on the MT Cadastral website and it appraises quite well.


No depreciation on that one.

It's not just an Arkansas thing. My dad was having his garage built and the work was extended an extra week....duck season.

Perhaps I should have added: "of comparable cost".

I speak of most cookie cutter, stand em up, and move on to the next subdivision homes going in by the tens of thousand all around us.

Many of my wife's family have purchased such, and they don't have anything on a modern mobile home. But they cost considerably more.



There are several double wides located around here sitting on full basements. I watched the basements being constructed, and watched the homes go in on top.

I severely regretted that I had not done so when we put ours in on the hill. A perfect location for a daylight basement.

Please excuse my ignorance, but what is meant by house wrap?

Also from what I have heard the codes here in Arkansas are quite lax to non-existent.

Thanks for all of your replies!

Tyvek

👍🏿👍🏿

Holds down on drafts.

And with 2x6 exterior walls on 16" centers.

Of course a custom built home around here can get a guy a bit more in certain areas of construction.

Check on insulated windows trust me

You eve watch a stick house being built, you'd never move into one if you did.

Uncle used to go back after the subs left and add staple (yes staples) or nails/screws to the wall and roof sheathing.

No staples here. Screwed down subfloor and ring shanks on roof sheeting.

Are there any other options?

Boss has a 2 story modular. Had he not told me it was pre fab I would have never known.

Far from it.