Does anyone, anywhere manufacture a QUALITY mobile home? :(

[tjobrien21]

Hello all,

I've done more reading than posting on this forum.. I've gleaned a good bit of great advice from here, and it's helped my complete several repairs, most recently my son's bedroom floor. Please forgive me for just popping up out of the woodwork, and my slightly off-topic question.

I've observed a repeating theme with mobile homes, mine included: They're made as quickly and cheaply as possible. Then sometimes (mine for sure) they're set up shoddily by incompetents.

So I'm trying to determine - is there any company who makes a manufactured home that's made well? High quality. Where common sense, pride in making a quality product, etc are considerations, not just how cheaply it can be done?

I have a 1997 Clayton single wide that I have grown to absolutely hate. My wife and I bought it new and we loved it at the time, but the "lipstick was still on the pig", so to speak. Through the years, quality problems have shown through over and over, with increasing frequency. This thing's an unbelievable piece of junk, I'm afraid.

I'm don't mean to whine and kvetch. I'm exasperated and feel like this place is going to fall down around me. I know it's my own fault.

"I didn't know" - the song of many a sad sack, and I'm singin' along. I feel like such a chump. I need a hug.

So, if I were to consider getting rid of this MH and wanted to buy one that would last longer than its mortgage, are there any good bets?

[Harry]

Hi

Here's my 2 cents.

The Build Quality - in my area is pretty good overall with all the Florida plants.

Delivery and Installation - is sometimes horrible even though installers are regulated pretty closely.

Dealers - I know one very good dealer.....the others are not so good.

JMHO

Harry

[Yanita]

Hi,

I am going to move this to the Off Topic forums as it is not about a specific repair.

Yanita

[tjobrien21]

Hi

Here's my 2 cents.

The Build Quality - in my area is pretty good overall with all the Florida plants.

Delivery and Installation - is sometimes horrible even though installers are regulated pretty closely.

Dealers - I know one very good dealer.....the others are not so good.

JMHO

Harry

Unfortunately for me, I live in AL. Build quality here isn't so great. I've found a lot of places where things are "cobbed" together with tons of these staple like things, and the choice of materials in several areas is just plain poor.

For instance, OSB sub-flooring. IMHO, mobile home floors, especially in places like Alabama with it's amazingly humid weather, are going to experience some moisture from condensation, etc. Floors in or near bathrooms and kitchens will certainly experience some moisture from other sources. Surely there's something better than OSB for subflooring, isn't there?

Another bad design choice: Carpet in a bathroom. On top of the OSB. Guess how that worked out?

The doorknobs.. Most of the interior doorknobs have broken (pot metal construction). I've replaced them with "real" doorknobs, but had to make them fit.

Delivery and installation was the source of many of my problems... The dealer's techs caused more. One issue I have to deal with soon is a leaking back door. It always rains sideways from the West around here, and the door was leaking and had a gap when is was installed. We asked the dealer to fix it, and they sent out two guys to do the job. They replaced the door and door frame, then used a jack under the trailer to try and change the alignment of the door(!). Over the years, it leaked slower than before, but still leaked. You guessed it - now the floor has gone soft in front of the door, and the particle board door frame (!) has swelled and is toast.

After typing it, it looks that much more absurd to me. "Particle board door frame". They actually made the door frame out of PARTICLE BOARD. Holy cow.

That kinda leads me to another question: Why do mobile homes have so many "weird parts"? The doors, hinges, doorknobs, floor vents for HVAC, heck the HVAC itself - are all oddball items.

Maybe that's what I need to do: Be the guy who founds a company which builds premium quality mobile homes and then delivers and sets them up properly, professionally, and with care. Heaven knows if there had been an option to spend another $1000 on decent materials on our MH rather than the cr*p they built it out of, I would have gladly done so.

[Harry]

Hi

You definately need:

The Manual for Manufactured/Mobile Home Repair & Upgrade by Mark Bower

Here's a link:

http://www.hvacmanuals.com/list_manuals ... rers_id=11

Harry

[Greg]

I can guarantee you that if you ever saw a build sheet for a mobile home it would make your Head spin. There are options for everything from building materials, to doors & windows, flooring options, wall & trim and the list just goes on.
Now the trick is to order your home built the way you want, that YOU know will be a quality home. I would guess that you bought a home off of the lot, or with minimal options. It would take lots of homework to really design a 100% quality home, and then the cost may be outrageous.
Your best bet is to learn from mistakes (not just on your part) and start rebuilding. We have been in ours since 92, bought it new (off the lot) and have been rebuilding ever since. Greg

[WildIrish]

If it's any consolation, quality problems abound in stick-built homes, as well. It's that lack of work ethic that has plagued civilization in recent decades, and the DIY industry has boomed as a result.

[tritontr]

Greg's advice is very true we have had a Palm Harbor for over thirteen years with very little problems but when we were ordering they presented us with a long upgrade list. This included everything from floors to roofing most of the options we added and the price did escalate but over the years I feel those options were worth the extra expense. If you are buying new the most important three things to upgrade is plumbing,electrical,and hvac after that go for structural things like 2x6 walls, thicker plywood floors, better windows and solid outside doors. You can always upgrade carpet or wall and window coverings ect. later if need be.

[tjobrien21]

Thanks for the advice folks. I'll probably get the book, and see what I can do to keep this place for a few more years.

We actually didn't buy it on the lot - ours was ordered.. However we weren't given many choices at all. I'd have certainly jumped better materials if I'd known they were available.

[Teatime]

I have a Silver Creek home and I'm very pleased with it. We get a LOT of wild storms with hail and it's routinely very windy here and my home has stood up to it all better than many stick-built homes in town. And I'm out in the country without substantial windbreaks.

I don't know much about construction but, yeah, it's weird that they build MHs with particle board floors. I haven't had any problem with the floors at all but you would think they'd use real wood, anyway!

Still, I'm impressed by the way my home holds in the heat during the winter and the cool air in the summer. I open the windows at night to cool off the house/close them when I wake up and the house stays cool until late afternoon when the relentless sun beats down on my front windows. If only the front of the house faced the street, then I wouldn't have to use much air conditioning. Alas, with the front of the house facing left, it gets the worst sun/heat of the day. If it was a single wide, I'd pay to turn it around and reset. But, with a double-wide and an attached front porch and deck on the side, that would be a huge and expensive endeavor.

[Robin]

I've got to put my two cents in as well! We ordered our mh built in 1994, I believe it came from Alabama. And for a long time I was really happy with it, because it was so much bigger and better than the little 14x60 we lived in before. But as time went by, I realized how shoddy the materials are that they used to build our home. Cheap, cheap, cheap!

But our home has held up surprisingly well, we've been in it over 14 years. That's not a long time, but it still does look really good. We have plywood floors throughout. Little by little, I am replacing things to make them better (we've done the small bathroom, hall, living room and are presently working on our master bathroom, vinyl floor is getting put in tonight). I feel it is a good investment. And besides, it gives me and my husband something to fight about!!!

[msbug1958]

We have a 1987 Oakwood Celebration and have been pretty happy with it. It has stood up to numerous hurricanes. It still looks pretty good. It needs a little makeup inside now, carpets etc, but that is wear and tear from over the years. So though it may not be the best built, it has held uo and still looks pretty good after all these years.

[Yanita]

Hi folks...

We must remember that with all our complaining MH were built to be cheap housing...and that is typically what it started out to be and in some cases still is.

About all homes ours and traditional built all have the same problems. Ours maybe more frequent because of poor roof design and low quality craftsmanship.

If a hurricane was to destroy my home or any other reason for loss, I would definitely purchase another doublewide...completely stripped on the inside. I would go for all structural items...floor joist, rafters, plywood floors,studs, roof over hang, shingles, gutters, insulation, upgraded plumbing, doors, windows... etc! I would not even have them hang the sheetrock.

Unless they now offer something better than plastic tubs and sinks I would even forgo all that and install my own. Why would anyone want to pay a 15, 20 or 30 year mortgage on that garbage.

I have recommended for years that for any one buying a new MH to forgo all there appliances, stove, fridge, W/D and the cheap furniture. All this is financed for the length of your note...it's junk!

JMO,

Yanita

[Robin]

I totally agree, Yanita. Our house brand new costs us approx. $27,000. So, now we are able to re-do some of this stuff, but I agree with you about buying another completely stripped. We didn't buy any appliances or furniture in ours, we already had most of the stuff anyway, and the appliances and furniture they put in them are, like you said, junk. I have thought many times how much better off we would have been if we had bought it completely stripped, that way we wouldn't have had to pay interest on cheap sinks, carpet, fake wood vanities, etc. Ah, hindsight!!!

[Teatime]

Yanita and Robin,
I agree with you! My double-wide was manufactured in 2000 and I got the whole place (land, porch, shed, carport and some nice landscaping) for $29,000. A stick-built home this size would have cost WAY more than that and no home is problem-free.

As you said, you save SO MUCH MONEY buying a MH that spending several thousand dollars to upgrade components still makes it a huge value. You have to put some money into any home you own, but since our homes were so affordable to begin with, we're getting nice places to live for so much less.

I sold the appliances that came with the house because I had nicer, newer appliances I was bringing from my former home (except a dishwasher). I used that money to upgrade the bathroom plumbing and kitchen/bath fixtures, including a new dishwasher. Even though there were no leaks, the plumber pointed out some pipes and connections that tend to fail in MHs and I had him replace them. Plus, I gave all of the carpeting we took up to the handyman who helped my son do the parquet flooring, in exchange for his advice and assistance. So, I got something out of that, too!

I would definitely buy another MH, too, but this one will likely last me until I die since I'm happy to make improvements and keep up with maintenance. I think we see our MHs as HOMES and not as ATM machines and investments. That's all I want -- a comfy home. I don't want to use it to get loans or make money. And, as a home, its serving very well!

Julie