Gutters

[Lynne S]

One of the first projects we hired out (and had completed yesterday) was gutters. They were never mentioned by the dealer as an option, but it didn't take long to realize how important they would be. While driving around last night I got to chekcing other homes and was surprised to see how many MH didn't have them. Are they considered a frill and not necessary?

[Jon]

Lynne:
No. Gutters are important. Folks who fail to recognize this fact often learn the hard way. Storm water runoff from the roof hits the ground with force. Over time that runoff can and usually will negatively affect or otherwise undermine the foundation/pier supports of the structure, which can lead to a multitude of problems. You made a wise move by installing the gutters.
The reason manufactured homes are not constructed with them is that they would add extra overall width to the home. Such extra width must be taken into account during transport because the dimensions of the structure are measured from the extreme overall points. For example, a manufactured home with a call size of 74 feet in length includes the length of the hitch (approximately 4 feet) and any other feature that protrudes beyond the floor. If the hitch is the only length-wise protrusion the length of the floor would be about 70 feet.
If a home has a floor width of 14 feet, but has 12-inch eaves of each side, that home would be listed as a 16 foot wide home. So, while your transporter would be charging for 16-foot wide permits (the transporter has no choice in this), your home would only have a floor width of about 14 feet (actually, the interior floor width would be less than 14 feet when the sidewalls are taken into consideration). Therefore, by having the homeowner install the gutters on-site, approximately six to eight inches of floor width can be saved. This may not sound like a great deal of space, but over the length of a 70-foot long home it amounts to about 45 square feet.
Although I've heard there are a few new designs that toy with the idea of fold-down gutters, I've not yet seen any produced. Perhaps others in this forum may have.
Anyway, best wishes for your new home.
Jon.

[Sandy]

Gutters were never discussed or even thought of when we purchased our home. My father actually mentioned to me if we made sure they had them. This was our first house of any kind so it didnt even cross our mind. I called our dealer right away to ask and was relieved to hear that our house would have gutters.

About 4 months after we moved into our home, the dealer had a MH put on the lot next to ours (same dealer-same manufacturer). The first thing I noticed was that that house had no overhang at all and it didnt have any gutters. My husband told the people that ended up buying the house that they better find out about it. Cause it probably will cause them problems later.

[Jeanne]

My son just bought a mobile home with no over hangs or gutters. I guess we can have gutters installed but is there a way to create overhangs first? We are installing new windows and it seems to make sense to have overhangs to protect them...then to install the gutters. Can we cal any gutter company or are the gutters special for mobile homes? Thanks, jeanne

[Sandy]

It really blows me away how many new homes I see going into the park that we live in, with no over hang at all (and no gutters). That means the rain runs right off the roof and right to the ground next to the siding. Isn't the point to keep moisture from collecting under the house???? I don't get why overhangs and gutters are not standard. Our overhang is a foot all around and the gutters are all the way around.

[Dwane]

My sales person provided complete manufactorer's lists of standard features and any or all options lists for the home. Not the basic lists like you see on the sales fliers but the exact factory lists for my 2003 model home. Gutters are listed at an option cost of $489.00 in the exterior section. Being a thifty shopper I investigated the costs and determined that a local home improvement store can fill the request for gutters at a considerable cost savings.

[Lynne S]

I am sorry I didn't get to see such a grand option list, I bang my head that i never thought to ask about a few things they never mentioned...but as to gutters, my cost was $530 to get the gutters done. I don't know what the sales center would have offered them at, but I iwll say considering their value (shunting the water away), it's the best $500 I ever spent!!

[rmurray]

Often gutters are not offer from the manufacturer because of the highway movement laws...If they factory install gutters..they have to shrink the home or pay higher frieght costs..shipping a 28 wide as a 32 wide...

Gutters are better left for the after market..Of course..they can be included in the price of the home for finance purposes if the buyer asks...

[Lynne S]

I understand that one wouldnt want htem on the house already, but I don't know why it can't be a routine thing to offer as part of set up. Most people ocme out of a close pretty strapped for cash and this is something that needs done that having it a part of the loan helps it not get ignored before dampness issues arise.

[Peggy]

You're right. There are so damn many little details to buying a M-H and this is just one more thing.