How to Design a Manufactured Home

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By JasneJ
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Manufactured Home Builders

You can create your dream home for a fraction of the cost of a stick built home with the array of manufactured home builders offered today. I am sharing my experiences designing my manufactured home, the advantages and pitfalls. Read this article prior to beginning the design process for your manufactured home.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Time
Manufactured home builder
Engineer & construction friends
Patience

Step 1

Lots of Decisions

When choosing your manufactured home builder, ask the sales person how customized you can make your house. Manufactured home construction varies from builder to builder. Can interior walls and window locations be moved? How much modification is allowable from the original manufactured home floor plan? Can different counter tops or flooring be used at your expense rather than the options provided? Is work permitted by outside contractors at the site? My manufactured home builder, Golden West, allowed many customizable options with minimal restrictions.
Step 2

Proper Deck Design

Placement of your home on the land is the first manufactured home design step. After acquiring your land, especially if the land is several lots to acres, consider the location of your home in relationship to the neighbors, utilities, and your septic design. Watch where the sun rises and falls over your home when locating windows and doors. The long axis of the house should be north - south, with the sun moving from east to west over your house. Orient outside decks to capture beautiful sunsets you can enjoy.
Step 3

Big Kitchen, Lots of Cabinets

Choose a manufactured home floor plan with a simplistic initial design. A simple design is easier to modify than one with an unusual initial layout. If you are adding linear footage or “stretching” the house, remember the space addition affects both sides of the home. In my manufactured home, I added footage to the kitchen to increase counter space and add more cabinets. As a result of the stretch, I also gained a great sized bathroom on the opposite side of our home. Some manufactured home floor plans have very open layouts. I added walls to close off the kitchen from the dining room for a more traditional feel.
Step 4

Energy Star Windows

A manufactured house is an energy efficient home and can be a green home if the manufactured home builder will work with you. Consider adding bamboo floors, cork floors, and recycled wood for decking. Your manufactured house is built inside with energy efficient windows and insulation. One of the reasons for the affordable price of your home is the sheer volume of building materials these folks use as opposed to a privately contracted home or a development built home. My manufactured home used 2” x 6” exterior construction creating wonderful deep window sills. Ask if this exterior construction is an option for you.
Step 5

Standard Electrical Panel

Plan a financial budget for all design modifications and upgrades. All modifications of the original design have an associated price tag. Arrange your bathrooms for minimum plumbing runs. Include outside outlets in two locations on your manufactured home as well as several outside hose connections in your house design. If you are moving the electrical panel, expect to pay significantly more for this modification. I was fortunate to work with a retired engineer who helped me understand electrical placement in my home.
Step 6

Garage and Breezeway

Do not forget to design a garage or place to park one or more cars boats, etc . If you are contracting a separate builder for the garage, inform the manufactured home builder. An adjoining garage connected with a breeze way is a design consideration for colder climates. Ask if your manufactured home builder has garage plans or local contractors they can recommend.
Step 7

Enjoy Your New Home

Designing a manufactured home is very similar to designing a privately built home. Some of the advantages include lower square foot prices and fewer private contractors. Manufactured home builders work hard to make you happy, unlike some private home builders. Accept the knowledge they build thousands of homes and are highly unlikely to skip town with your money. Almost every manufactured home today comes with a very good warrantee.