Moving/site preparation

[elvira]

I will be moving my double wide to another location. My question is whether it would be better to use a house mover, who will move the entire home without breaking it apart or use an experienced mobile home transporter. I also need to know what kind of gravel will I need before laying the moisture barrier. I don't want any costly mistakes as I'm on a limited budget.

[rmurray]

A professional manufactrured set up crew probably will cost less than a house mover..but you might want to get quotes from both.....

[David Oxhandler]

If your talking about moving the home a very short distance... like a few hundred feet, it can be moved without detaching the sections. I have seen this done successfully using 2 trucks to simultaneously pull a doublewide home, with the front cross members (bumpers) welded together, to maintain the marriage as the sections roll forward.


If your moving it any real distance the best way is to move it the way it was designed and engineered to be moved, separate the sections, transport them independently with a fresh installation at the new location. A house mover could probably do the job but the logistics of moving anything that is over 20 feet wide around on public roads will make this option much more expensive.


Manufactured homes have been designed more and more to be permanently installed and less and less "mobile" over the past 20 years. Either way moving it is going to be an expensive proposition. In his December 10, 2005 article, in the Lakeland Ledger, Len Bonifield reported that his research determined the cost to move a MH would be "up to $8,250 to move a singlewide, $11,250 to move a doublewide" Those are costs for Florida, where we dont have to be concerned with frost lines. The costs may be even higher where you are.


If you like your home and hope for a minimum of complications, use an experienced MH installation contractor. If you want to enjoy your home for years to come the site prep and installation must be handled properly. Even if you're not planning on doing the work yourself, it is critical that you understand the entire process.


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