[Uli]

I'm thinking of buying a modular house, 3 bdrm, 2 bath, built in 1988. However, it will need extensive interior work, new carpets, new baths, new HVAC, etc. Can the walls (weird mobile home stuff, not wallboard) be torn out, and drywall installed? Can interior walls be removed to make a room larger? Please advise.
Uli

 

[AGWhitehouse]

Without photographs or additional information into the wall/building structure, it's hard to give you a good answer.

The generic, statistically based, answer is yes and yes.

 

[almostnormal]

The "trailer walls'' are done that way so they don't crack when shipped or when the home moves. If it's on a foundation, you should be able to do whatever you want with them.

You do know the differences between modular and mobile home construction?

 

[arfishr]

What ARE the differences between modular and mobile home construction?

 

[josall]

If you are going to borrow money you might want to check and see if you can get a loan on a modular home, they are looked at differently.

 

[gregzoll]

A modular home is built at the same construction standards that regular stick built homes are built. Mobile homes are built cheap, and not worth the money. As for changing the floor plan, the answer would be no, due to they are built with the wals there for structure, if they ever have to move it. As for redoing the inside, it would cost probably $20,000.00 or more, depending on the damage.

Personally, I would never borrow money to buy a modular home, due to when you go to resale it, you do not get your money back.

 

[havalife]

OK back to the question , Can walls be removed? If it is a modular home then NO the walls can not be removed. A modulare is built and engineered by the room, rooms are added to the design and stacked to make a building.

 

[gregzoll]

OK back to the question , Can walls be removed? If it is a modular home then NO the walls can not be removed. A modulare is built and engineered by the room, rooms are added to the design and stacked to make a building.

havalife, They may have the terms mixed up. If they are purchasing a manufactured home, which is a double or triple wide, they can not change structure. If it is a modular home, they are built pretty much the same was as a manufactured, and still would not change structure, due to how they are built.

 

[AGWhitehouse]

Modular homes can be modified, though it is usually not an ideal thing to do. They are built in "boxes" that fit on a tractor-trailer. Each "box" has a load bearing wall on each side and is framed much like a traditional house. If you deal with the loads properly, there is no reason why you can't modify it. You really should do investigative demolition and consult a structural engineer prior to moving forward with structural changes though.

 

[AGWhitehouse]

To further think of a standard colonial and/or ranch home. The center wall is the load bearing wall and has a combination of studs and beams. A modular home has the same concept but that center wall is doubled. It's doubled because the front half of the house and back half of the house are two seperate "boxes". So to take out the bearing wall in a modular home would require 2 beams instead of the traditional 1. Everything is usually doubled with modular because a load bearing point is usually apart of two "boxes".

 

[Ron6519]

These questions should be asked of the company building the house.
Who would know better?