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July 1, 2015 by Sabrina Gottlieb Leave a Comment

When does it make sense to install a two-story manufactured home?

Have you thought it might be nice to upgrade to a two-story manufactured home?

Replacing your single level manufactured home might make sense if:

  1. You need more space, even if you have a double section home.
  2. You want to have a separate living space downstairs for guests or parents/in-laws.
  3. You have a small or narrow lot and need to build up to get more living space (my case!).
  4. You live in a high-density area where housing is expensive and building a bigger home is more bang for your buck.
  5. You might get a view (city, ocean, mountain) from the second level or rooftop terrace.

Considerations:

Does your mobile home park allow two-story homes? Ask the park manager, park owner, or HOA board (if your mobile home is a co-op, resident owned community, or condo subdivision). Also, check your CC&R’s, Bylaws, and Rules and Regulations. Lastly, if your community has an Architectural Committee, you will want to inquire with them first.

Who has jurisdiction over mobile home communities in your area? Is it the city? County? State? Check with them to see if two-story manufactured homes are allowed.

Cost. Two-story homes are more expensive. Some of the reasons are that they require more engineering time, extensive design considerations, and a crane to install.

Stairs. Are you able and prepared for stairs in your home? You will have stairs from the first to second level, of course, and from the second level to the rooftop deck if you are also installing one.

Design limitations. HUD-code (aka manufactured home building code) and your local agency will have rules on the construction of your two-story manufactured home.

For example, your design will need to place the furnace on the second level, so that it can vent through the roof.

If you want your water heater on the first level, then it will have to be a tankless water heater (not a standard feature – at least $1500). Tankless water heaters can vent through the side wall, whereas a standard water heater can only vent through the roof.

Location of the bedrooms matter. There are strict fire safety rules on how far the bedroom doors can be from the exit doors.

In California, mobile home parks and mobile home manufacturing and installation is regulated by the State’s Department of Housing & Community Development (HCD). In some cities, you will also need city permits. And, if you live in a coastal community, you might have to obtain a Coastal Commission permit.

These are some of the reasons you might consider replacing your existing structure or installing a new two story manufactured home in your lot or private land. I hope this was helpful.

If you have questions and would like to chat, please contact me or leave me a comment.

Filed Under: buy, upgrade Tagged With: buy, two-story manufactured home, upgrade

July 1, 2015 by Sabrina Gottlieb Leave a Comment

Why purchasing house floor plans are a waste of money

If you’re thinking about upgrading your home and considered a custom design, you might be looking at house floor plans online. Many offer these for sale, and you may wonder if it would be a good idea to purchase one. Read on before you spend any money.

Prefab homes include floor plans in the price. When you purchase a prefabricated home, whether it is a modular or manufactured home, floor plans are included in the price of the home. The plans also include drafting time, line drawings, and elevations for your house.

New engineering plans have to be created for any custom home. If you are either customizing a standard floor plan or starting a new one from scratch, the factory will need to create engineering plans. They will first use an in-house drafter to create new line drawings. Once you approve these drawings, they will be sent to their in-house engineers. The engineering time is included in the price of your custom home.

You can’t use floor plans drawn for a stick-built home. Using the factory plans and their experts is especially important if you are designing a manufactured home, because manufactured homes are built to federal HUD-code. If you start with one of the pre-engineered or in-factory customized plans it will not only save you money, but the process will be much faster because it will already comply with HUD-code.

You can find tons of floor plan ideas online – for free. You can get free floor plan ideas online to help you visualize and play around with different scenarios. When we start designing your custom floor plan, we can review these ideas and incorporate them into your custom design.

I hope this short article is helpful. My goal is to save you money, and this is an easy way to avoid paying for something that you do not need. I’m all for that!

Contact me or leave me a comment letting me know what you think!

Filed Under: upgrade Tagged With: custom, floor plans

July 1, 2015 by Sabrina Gottlieb Leave a Comment

What defines modern style manufactured homes?

When I started searching for a definition of modern architecture and design, I was surprised to find quite a bit of controversy surrounding the term and related terms like contemporary, Modernism, and International Style. I came to the conclusion that everyone will have a different opinion on what modern means to them.

My interpretation of modern style – and how I designed my modern beach homes – is inspired by the International Style (aka Modernism) of the early to mid 20th century, embodied by Mies Van der Rohe, the German-American architect. By modern, I don’t mean modern as in style of today, but rather timeless Modernism.

These are the aspects of Modernism that appealed to me and applied to the design of the interiors:

  • minimalist design with an order to everything
  • simple, timeless, and elegant surfaces
  • horizontal lines and straight angles
  • open floor plans
  • order and function – nothing extra
  • boxy exteriors
  • use of new techniques and materials
  • use of natural materials (glass, wood, steel, concrete)
  • white exterior siding and trim, doors, and windows.

Some ways that you can incorporate Modernist elements into your manufactured home are:

  • white smooth HardiPlank exterior siding
  • open floor plans
  • canned ceiling lights
  • square drywall returns around windows
  • square wall corners throughout
  • white interior walls
  • blend of interior-exterior spaces
  • glass or stainless steel cable railings for porch, deck, or balcony
  • straight horizontal lines
  • minimalist exterior window framing

In the end, the only definition of “modern” that matters is yours. How do you define it? It might be even better to think about what you WANT rather than try to fit your wishes into a particular style label.

You probably lean toward Modernism style (both architecturally and for interior design) if these apply to you:

  • do you prefer a space with clean lines and minimalist decorations?
  • do you carefully choose a few pieces of furniture and treat them as pieces of art?
  • are you open to using bold colors as accents?
  • do you like geometric shapes in your space, decorations, and furniture?
  • is keeping frequently used items and clutter hidden important to you?

Modern vs. Contemporary?

There is no simple answer to this question, based on the strong opinions of people on several forums I perused. Again, you have to take the definition that works for you.

My view is that contemporary means “of today” and Modernism is a style based on the elements described above. A contemporary structure can be Modernist if it follows International Style aspects, yet a newly built Modernism structure will only be considered “of today” when it is built.

Decades later, it will still be Modernist, whereas the contemporary structure will be out of style.

Another difference is that Modernism uses the grid to locate and align walls, rooms, furniture, lighting plans and exterior spaces. Contemporary, on the other hand, departs from the grid to be more playful and freer with expression.

For example, a modern overhang would be clean, within the lines of the house, and follow the same shape (if house is rectangular, the overhang would be rectangular). A contemporary overhang, however, may jut out in a different direction and have a different shape (ie: a triangle).

We offer homes in traditional Craftsman style as well, so we have many options to suit your needs and wishes.

I hope this was helpful. How do you define the different styles? Leave me a comment or contact me!

Filed Under: buy, upgrade Tagged With: buy, craftsman, modern, sell, traditional

July 1, 2015 by Sabrina Gottlieb Leave a Comment

Building rooftop terraces on manufactured homes

Yes, it’s possible – you can build a manufactured home with a rooftop terrace or deck. We have tons of experience with this process, so let me help you from start to finish.

WHEN WOULD THIS MAKE SENSE?

  • You have a narrow lot and want outdoor space for relaxing & entertaining
  • You would get a view (either ocean or territorial) by building up
  • You want to build a roof garden

Rooftop terraces or decks can be placed on top of one or two-story manufactured homes.

PREPARATIONS REQUIRED

The factory will need to make special preparations to the structure of the mobile home before you can finish the deck onsite. It is especially important in two story manufactured home construction so that the home can hold the extra weight of the rooftop deck.

Some of the prep required at the factory level:

  • 2″X10″ or 2″X12″ flat rafters to meet water run off code of 1/4″ decline every 1′
  • 4″X4″ beam inside perimeter of 2″X10″ rafter
  • The top of the deck is finished with 1-1/8″ T&G plywood secured with screws

Application of commercial-grade ethylene propylene diene monomer M-class roofing rubber (EPDM) over the entire balcony and roof. This seals the roof membrane from water damage and serves as a heat barrier, increasing the energy efficiency of the home.

STAIR CASE TO ROOF TERRACE

One story homes can select from one of these options:

  • a spiral staircase off the front porch
  • a spiral staircase off the back porch
  • a side exterior straight staircase going up to the roof deck.

Two-story rooftop decks or terraces have at least two options:

  • exterior straight stairs from the 2nd story built on support columns
  • spiral staircase from a balcony on the 2nd level

In either case, the option you choose will depend on your space and preference.

Please let me know if this was helpful by either contacting me directly or leaving a comment. As always, feel free to share!

Filed Under: upgrade Tagged With: buy, custom, deck, rooftop, sell, terrace

July 1, 2015 by Sabrina Gottlieb Leave a Comment

Manufactured homes = greener & better

You might be in the market to purchase a new manufactured home for a couple of reasons: maybe you are thinking of upgrading your current manufactured home with a brand new structure; or, you might be looking to purchase an existing manufactured home yet not be familiar with this type of factory-built dwellings.

Manufactured homes, as with all prefab homes, are built in a factory environment.

This setting creates conditions that can make manufactured homes better, cheaper, with faster and more environmentally-friendly construction than stick-built (on-site-built) homes.

Let’s look at why this could be the case:

Better. If you ever get the chance to visit a factory, go – it is a cool experience.  You will notice that there are different stations throughout the production line. Each station in the factory is specialized and does the same thing over and over. For example, you will see a place where they build the subfloor, another for the exterior walls, another for the roof, etc. The workers in these areas are experts at each task, therefore increasing the quality of the work.

These houses have a stronger structure – tighter joints, more accurate application of fasteners, etc. – because they are transported to the final location and need to withstand winds and the stress of being pulled by a truck.

Greener. I know, this is a total buzz word, but I’m really not trying to be cool. The fact is that manufactured and modular homes have been greener than stick-built construction before “green building” was hip. Prefab homes produce less building waste, so they are greener by design. Why less waste? Because factory construction means that materials can be cut to more exact sizes, and less leftovers end up in landfills.

Our line of homes also include high insulation ratings, thicker studs, and a heat barrier on the roof. I always recommend Energy Efficient appliances, water heaters, and furnaces.

Also, due to the more precise measurements achieved on the production line, these homes have a tighter seal and building envelope, making them even better at conserving energy. That can translate to a ton of future savings for homeowners, not to mention less use of energy, which helps the environment.

All of these contribute to making your house more environmentally-friendly.

Faster. Before the house can be added to the production line, all engineering calculations and construction plans will be completed. This means that once the home enters the production line, every single specification for the house is known. The workers on the line will know exactly how much material is needed, the client options selected, roof load required, location of walls, etc.

There are no changes allowed after the order is submitted. This, in addition to the houses being built in specialized areas down the line, makes the construction of your home much faster than a stick-built home.

Also, while the house is in production, you can begin pouring of foundation so that it is ready for your new home. Once your house is ready and transported to the location, set up is completed in a few hours.

All of these factors make factory-built housing a much faster process than stick-built housing.

Cheaper. Due factory’s ability to leverage their specialized staff, machinery, and materials, plus less waste and ability to build faster, the prices of manufactured and modular homes are less per square foot than stick-built homes.

I hope this was helpful. Let me know if you have any questions, or leave me a comment!

Filed Under: buy, upgrade

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SABRINA GOTTLIEB
MobileHome.Expert LLC
628-400-6983
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