Mobile Home Living

The other day when I was walking up Ravine Road I passed that off grid homestead where they live in a trailer… 🏡

Well actually a mobile home is the proper term for these low cost, usually low income form of housing commonly seen in rural communities. They are kind of looked down upon, kind of seen as a home for people who can’t afford better. Most have very little residual value, much of their value isn’t the trailer but the land they reside upon.

So what exactly is a mobile home?

Typically it’s a prefabricated structure with a rectangular steel steel base where wheels are initially mountained on for towing, with 2×6 wooden floor joists and 2×4 wall joists. The walls are typically insulated with fiberglass insulation like most houses, although often thinner than code requires for modern houses.

The outside is weatherized with a plastic vapor barrier and then protected from the elements by thin aluminum sheeting that is nailed onto the beams and caulked to prevent water intrusion. The inside typically uses thin sheets of lightweight and thin pressed board made of wood chips and a binder material, some of which is covered by plastic resin to improve its waterproof nature. Appliances and plumbing are typically lighter weight to reduce the weight when towing onto the site and compensate for the smaller footprint of the building.

The problems that mobile homes face is multi-fold. One is the structure is lightweight and it can be difficult to upgrade to heavier materials like sheet rock or hardwood flooring can poses excessive weight on the floor joists, requiring extensive bracing to the ground. Insulation is another issue, as the thin beams don’t allow for the thicker insulation called for in the building codes for more modern buildings.

Why would I consider it?

Money is a big reason and what properties are available. I’d rather have more land and less house. 40 acres and a junk trailer beats 2 acres and a fancy suburbanite house. An off grid cabin, made from wood or more durable material would be better but sometimes that’s not an option. A junkey old trailer could be demolished with useful parts salvaged for other purposes.

Why might I not consider it?

Getting rid of a nasty old structure can be a lot of work. Even if you can burn a lot of the debris, scrap the metal pieces, your still left with a lot of junk that doesn’t burn that has to hauled off to the landfill or used as back fill on your property. Moreover, some of that rubber and plastic stuff used in mobile homes is really nasty to burn even if you are in a fairly unregulated area that let’s you burn what you want after notifying the fire department. It might seem like a good deal on paper but how good of a deal really is it?

Honestly though…

The videos on YouTube are quite fascinating to watch on this topic. While I certainly grew up in rural area where a lot of people lived in trailers I didn’t know much about the structures and the tear downs, repairs and demolitions on YouTube are fascinating – along with learning how all the different materials go together are used and interact in the structures.