inspections

[Paula]

If you buy a manufactured home that has been sitting on a dealer's lot for a year or more, would it be a good idea to have a home inspection done before signing anything?

Thank you to don and jgn for the advice to my "Not sure what to do" post.

Do all manufacturers have the option of upgrading the floor to OSB or plywood? We have an option list for a Holly Park home we looked at and it's not on there.

Sorry for asking so many questions, but thank you for taking the time to answer!

Paula

[jgn]

The problem with having it inspected on the lot is most things that would be inspected are not running or installed yet so an inspector couldn't check furnance, A/C water hookups, set up. Maybe you could arrange with an inspector to do both ends, would probably cost a bit more but not double. All of the MH we have looked at either have plywood floors or an upgrade and I assume most will offer it.

[rmurray]

I would guess that Holly Park is standard with osb....but I could be wrong..If they are standard with pressboard and do not offer an upgrade...I would recommend you move on to others..The Holly park web site does not mention floor material..

A new home from a dealer...originally purchased by that dealer from the factory..will have full warranty available...even if the home has been on the dealer lot 2 or more years...Warranty starts when you get the home..

Now..there is another creature out there...dealer repos...not all of these have any warrranty left...If you are looking at one of these...call the manufacturer and ask them about the specific id number...

Go for it..

[Paula]

Thank you both for your help!

It seems each home we've looked at has Novodeck standard and so far, we've looked at Holly Park, Skyline, Dutch (a Champion family home), Liberty, and Century. Some of the dealers don't seem to know for sure what kind of flooring is in each home. How do I go about finding out what the floor decking is made of? So far, we've been asking the salespersons we've dealt with, but they don't always seem knowledgeable.

Thanks again!

Paula

[jgn]

A lot of manufacturers list it on their web site or ask the salesperson for the spec sheet which should list everything the house includes. If it is not listed look at the option or upgrade section and see if OSB/Plywood are an option than you know the standard is Novadeck. It is amazing how little some of the reps are about their product. Sales 101 is know your product sales 102 is know the competition.

[rmurray]

A couple of ways to find out what kind of floor...
1)..Sales person should know..seems your experience tells you differently...
2)...Factory specs on net or brosures...If not mentioned move on to otherways to tell..
3)..visual inspection...Look at these web site for examples and inspect the flooring in the models..

http://www.osbguide.com/pdfs/SSmh.pdf

http://www.gp.com/engboard/particleboard.html



By the way..this is from the Holly Park web site..One of their models..

Holly-Wood Estates
multi-section series specs

• Compound micro-lam beams as necessary for clear spans
• 30 lb.middle zone construction
• 12"I-beam frame
• 2x6 #2 SPF floor joists 16"on center
• R-19 insulation in floor
• Transverse floor joist
• Full width 5/8 Novodeck floor decking

[don]

I bought my home off a lot (2000) model, I researched for about 12 months before deciding on a Palm Harbor, all the other brands I looked at either had OSB standard or you could upgrade, I personally would not have novadeck.

As for the home we found on the lot, they needed to make room for a newer model so I was able to negoiate an extremly attarctive price. As for the inspection, the home we bought still had the full warrenty intact from the moment we took possesion.

Also like Murray said if an OSB upgrade is not an option I would move on....cause novadeck is a problem waiting to happen......good luck!

[Sandy]

When we were shopping (a little more than a year ago). We looked at Holly Park homes. We were quoted $600 on upgrading the floor, I can't remember if the upgrade was to plywood or OSB though. The Holly Park dealer was the only one to give us a list of options and their costs. For the most part, the other dealers acted as if that information was highly classified. Not for customers eyes.

[Doug]

Besides Novadeck. What are some of the Other Problem areas that I should be looking?

[Paula]

Thank you all for your valuable advice! I spoke with the Lancaster, W I, plant for Skyline this morning and they said they do not offer anything but Novodeck for flooring. They use 13/16" thick flooring in 4'x16' sheets. He said he has had this kind of flooring personally for 15 years and the only problem he had was because of something he did (improperly installed window AC). Other than the Novodeck, these homes sound like quality homes for the money. Please correct me if I'm wrong. I know there is a gentleman on the forum who has been unhappy with his Skyline. The dealers I am looking into all have a gold customer service award or higher that is given to them by Skyline based on the customer service responses they receive from the customers after the deal is done, so I feel comfortable with these particular dealers. They've been very helpful to us and haven't pressured us on anything. These darn Novodeck floors have me concerned, though...that's my only reservation. WWYD?

Something I learned this past weekend is that Wick homes (I'm pretty sure that's what the lady told me) uses Novodeck in their floors as well....they use a layer of Novodeck, then a layer of plywood over that. Their floors feel sturdy as concrete, but they are well out of our price range.

Thanks for listening to my ramblings....
Paula