I've read Randall Eatons book on how to buy a M/H several times and the info was much needed. I wish the book was a little longer (more detailed, tell me everything about everything), but I'm glad I bought it. I'm considering a manufactured home because every "real" house I've viewed in my price range (one income) is a serious fixer-uper or old as the hills or too small to even think about. I've been a apartment renter forever it seems so I really don't know much about home construction.
Forgive my ignorance but I still have lots of questions, mostly small ones.
1. How can you tell if a home has 2 or 3 pane vinyl windows? And the vinyl part, are you talking about the exterior surround(frame) part of the window?
2. I've been looking at several different brands of homes and I've yet to see solid wood cabinets, is this always a costly upgrade item?
3. I saw on one manufactures website a picture(in their factory) of the outside wall being constructed, and it showed the window frame(probably 2x4s). The frame was of course rectanglar but it had 4 or 5 short 2x4s on top of it going up to the top plate. Is this acceptable in place of a solid 2x6 header?
4. Will a 2x6 floor hold a waterbed? I have 2 of them(they won't go into the same room, of course) and I don't want them to fall thru the floor.
5. Is 1/2 inch sheetrock really thick enough? I saw some in a double-wide (new) that wasn't quite put together. That stuff looks pretty thin to me.
6. Water pipes. I haven't seen any shut-off valves yet for tubs or shower stalls, do some homes have them? As for metal fittings on water pipes, does that include elbow and T joints?
7. Anyone care to explain what a 4-12 pitch roof means?
8. What is better, a heat pump or a separate furnace unit and air conditioner unit (what does HVAC mean, anyway?)
9. What exactly is a permanent foundation? A concrete pad with a anchoring system? Does the skirting figure into this( I already decided I want block or brick)? One lady at a Horton dealership was telling me that to put concrete blocks as skirting they had to remove all the metal underneath and the hitch and wheels and they sent those back to the manufacture(hey, I paid for those!). That didn't sound right to me.
10. I'm getting tired of asking questions, I need to get some sleep. Thanks to anybody that replies!
Randys Book
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Ron
RE: Randys Book
Forgive my ignorance but I still have lots of questions, mostly small ones.
1. How can you tell if a home has 2 or 3 pane vinyl windows? And the vinyl part, are you talking about the exterior surround(frame) part of the window?
Assume you are talking about "thermo pane" windows. If they are true thermo pane they will have a sticker stating that and "e" rating for energy loss.
2. I've been looking at several different brands of homes and I've yet to see solid wood cabinets, is this always a costly upgrade item?
MH manufacturers have to be price competitive, so solid wood cabinets would always be an option.
3. I saw on one manufactures website a picture(in their factory) of the outside wall being constructed, and it showed the window frame(probably 2x4s). The frame was of course rectanglar but it had 4 or 5 short 2x4s on top of it going up to the top plate. Is this acceptable in place of a solid 2x6 header?
Since these homes are built under HUD guidelines, then the answer would be yes.
4. Will a 2x6 floor hold a waterbed? I have 2 of them(they won't go into the same room, of course) and I don't want them to fall thru the floor.
That is tremendous weight for anything less than a permanent foundation.
5. Is 1/2 inch sheetrock really thick enough? I saw some in a double-wide (new) that wasn't quite put together. That stuff looks pretty thin to me.
Half inche is pretty standard in the industry and even stick built.
6. Water pipes. I haven't seen any shut-off valves yet for tubs or shower stalls, do some homes have them? As for metal fittings on water pipes, does that include elbow and T joints?
Shut off valves are optional at additional cost. Metal fittings are faucet hardware and ring clamps.
7. Anyone care to explain what a 4-12 pitch roof means?
For each four feet on the horizonatal plane the roof rises one foot.
8. What is better, a heat pump or a separate furnace unit and air conditioner unit (what does HVAC mean, anyway?)
Heat pump is more efficient so costs less per month to operate. I have found that maintenance on Heat Pumps is a bit more costly than conventional AC. HVAC stands for Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning.
9. What exactly is a permanent foundation? A concrete pad with a anchoring system? Does the skirting figure into this( I already decided I want block or brick)? One lady at a Horton dealership was telling me that to put concrete blocks as skirting they had to remove all the metal underneath and the hitch and wheels and they sent those back to the manufacture(hey, I paid for those!). That didn't sound right to me.
A permanent foundation includes a footer, blocks or brick with pads installed per HUD and manufacturer's spec. Skirting is NOT a part of permanent foundation. You do have to remove the hitch and wheels for the permanent foundation.
10. I'm getting tired of asking questions, I need to get some sleep. Thanks to anybody that replies!
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1. How can you tell if a home has 2 or 3 pane vinyl windows? And the vinyl part, are you talking about the exterior surround(frame) part of the window?
Assume you are talking about "thermo pane" windows. If they are true thermo pane they will have a sticker stating that and "e" rating for energy loss.
2. I've been looking at several different brands of homes and I've yet to see solid wood cabinets, is this always a costly upgrade item?
MH manufacturers have to be price competitive, so solid wood cabinets would always be an option.
3. I saw on one manufactures website a picture(in their factory) of the outside wall being constructed, and it showed the window frame(probably 2x4s). The frame was of course rectanglar but it had 4 or 5 short 2x4s on top of it going up to the top plate. Is this acceptable in place of a solid 2x6 header?
Since these homes are built under HUD guidelines, then the answer would be yes.
4. Will a 2x6 floor hold a waterbed? I have 2 of them(they won't go into the same room, of course) and I don't want them to fall thru the floor.
That is tremendous weight for anything less than a permanent foundation.
5. Is 1/2 inch sheetrock really thick enough? I saw some in a double-wide (new) that wasn't quite put together. That stuff looks pretty thin to me.
Half inche is pretty standard in the industry and even stick built.
6. Water pipes. I haven't seen any shut-off valves yet for tubs or shower stalls, do some homes have them? As for metal fittings on water pipes, does that include elbow and T joints?
Shut off valves are optional at additional cost. Metal fittings are faucet hardware and ring clamps.
7. Anyone care to explain what a 4-12 pitch roof means?
For each four feet on the horizonatal plane the roof rises one foot.
8. What is better, a heat pump or a separate furnace unit and air conditioner unit (what does HVAC mean, anyway?)
Heat pump is more efficient so costs less per month to operate. I have found that maintenance on Heat Pumps is a bit more costly than conventional AC. HVAC stands for Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning.
9. What exactly is a permanent foundation? A concrete pad with a anchoring system? Does the skirting figure into this( I already decided I want block or brick)? One lady at a Horton dealership was telling me that to put concrete blocks as skirting they had to remove all the metal underneath and the hitch and wheels and they sent those back to the manufacture(hey, I paid for those!). That didn't sound right to me.
A permanent foundation includes a footer, blocks or brick with pads installed per HUD and manufacturer's spec. Skirting is NOT a part of permanent foundation. You do have to remove the hitch and wheels for the permanent foundation.
10. I'm getting tired of asking questions, I need to get some sleep. Thanks to anybody that replies!
Reply To This Message
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Pete
RE: Randys Book
Forgive me, but I think I must take exception to the answer supplied about "4-12 pitch roof".
I believe that the 4-12 refers to a rise of 4 inches or roof rise for every 12 inches in the horizontal plane,...
OR 4 feet of roof rise for every 12 feet in the horizontal.
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