MomtoCandJ Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 Has any one remodeled a mobile home? Dh and I bought one from his grandpa on land contract and we want to make it our own. We have already done a few things (reframing the windows). Dh plans on doing more this weekend (putting this on the walls, he tried to reframe the window but when he took off the old frame most of the dry wall came with it, too much paint). Any hints, horror stories, or btdt experiences? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissKNG Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 What year is it? I would make sure the roof isn't leaking and it is well insulated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomtoCandJ Posted August 16, 2012 Author Share Posted August 16, 2012 It's a 1991 and the roof doesn't leak, it's a rubber roof that my father in law installed (he's a general contractor) The insulation is ok, all of it is intact underneath and the only places where it seems to leak alot of air is around the windows (hence the new framing to accomodate blue foam sheet insulation that we put up in the winter and cover the whole area with plastic) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomtoCandJ Posted August 16, 2012 Author Share Posted August 16, 2012 Any one with experience with putting an addition on a mobile home? It's a two bedroom but if we have another child and it's a boy we would like an additional bedroom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama Geek Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 I have not done it myself but have known a few people who did. If you ever try to resell it you will not get your money back out of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 We did a lot to our mobile years ago...even put an addition on it. Double, double, double check the roof. Our roof didn't leak in the conventional sense...but it was leaking into the walls which eventually ruins the floors. That's with us put regular roof coats material on it. If you can put a metal roof on it, perhaps with an overhang to make a porch that would solve most of that problem. We moved a large wooden building out to be our add on.We positioned it where we wanted it, then built a 'hallway' from it to connect with the former back door of the mobile. Worked pretty well for our needs. I would not put a lot of dollars into a mobile home. Most of them just don't hold up over years of use, even with regular maintainence. However it it's your only or best choice, it can work for a few years. (Lived in mine for 15 years...) ETA: We put great metal doors on our mobile. Made a huge difference in heating and cooling. I hope you can find a way to make new windows work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carla Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 We built additions on our double wide. My husband made the additions a seperate piece from the main house so they can be moved on their own (and not have to be dismantled to remove from the house). This way we are doing ourselves or anyone who buys our house a favor if we ever move it/sell it. We love our house. No basement to fill up with junk or have the kids misbehave in ;). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Impish Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 The problem w/remodelling a mobile is that it tends to not actually improve the overall value at all. It's still a mobile, regardless of what you do to it. I've talked to real estate agents, b/c around here, there's a lot of mobiles for sale...reg mobiles, remodelled mobiles, etc. They all agree that no matter what you do to it, it's still a mobile, and depreciates rather than gains in value. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomtoCandJ Posted August 16, 2012 Author Share Posted August 16, 2012 we don't plan on selling the mobile home at anytime unless its for scrap, we know there isn't really any value in them. Heck just getting homeowners insurance on it was a pain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
athena1277 Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 Any one with experience with putting an addition on a mobile home? It's a two bedroom but if we have another child and it's a boy we would like an additional bedroom. We lived in a mobile home when I was a kid. When my brother and I were too big to share a room, my dad built a room addition to be db's room. While he was working on the base/floor, someone came by and told him that if it was bigger than X by Y (I don't recall the size), he would have to get permits/inspections to build it. Luckily he was only about a foot over, so he cut it down and didn't have to worry about them. All that to say, check into your local building codes before you start to build. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomtoCandJ Posted August 17, 2012 Author Share Posted August 17, 2012 we will check with dfil before doing any of that just to make sure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renee in NC Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 More experience than I care to remember! I did make money on one of the remodels, but I bought it burned out and we had to replace just about everything. Paint is a wonderful thing, as is expandable foam. The biggest issues we ran into were with the electric - trailers don't always have logical systems/electrical layouts. Be careful where you cut.;) I want to say that while I wouldn't repeat either of my remodel experiences, it was a wonderful thing to have some kind of roof over our heads, even if it was a leaking one!:tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
besroma Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 we don't plan on selling the mobile home at anytime unless its for scrap, we know there isn't really any value in them. Heck just getting homeowners insurance on it was a pain. It is also difficult to get insurance for the replacement value of the addition, so check into that *and* make sure you will not lose your insurance if you add on, making it a hybrid. Although the value of the home will always be based on the title, it still may be very much worth it to you to do the addition versus building or buying a new home, especially if DH does the work. There is a mobile home repair website that has a pretty active forum...I think the owner's name is Mark. He recommends all additions that are made *not* to be attached to the mobile as a previous poster mentioned due to the settling of the two different structures (freezing and thawing of the ground, heaving of soil, drought, etc.). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomtoCandJ Posted August 17, 2012 Author Share Posted August 17, 2012 Do you have the website for that forum? We only plan on adding a bedroom when we have another dc (and if it's a boy) but we are still doing some remodeling projects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
besroma Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 Do you have the website for that forum? We only plan on adding a bedroom when we have another dc (and if it's a boy) but we are still doing some remodeling projects. http://www.mobilehomerepair.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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