need suggestions on housing

[TanksHill]

How about a Yurt?

I just love the look of those - no clue how much they cost, they're just so cool looking!

I used to dream about living in a Yurt. I stayed in one once outside Yosemite. It had such a good feel. I always wanted to buy property and put a few up. Now I am leaning more towards a log cabin.

 

[Crusty McPottydoodle]

There is a great article in the current Mother Earth News on housing.

 

[lorihadams]

Ok, have you read my journal cause this is exactly what I'm doing!

The first thing I would suggest is to frame out the underside of the mobile with studs and attach plywood all the way around instead of just underpenning, really helps with the energy problem. The underside is where you lose a lot of heating/cooling energy.

As far as the roofline goes....it may be easier to put another roof over the existing roof and attach it to the foundation. If you want to replace the walls with drywall and spray insulation you can do so pretty easily. We aren't doing ours right now but we may in the future.

There are a lot of things you can do, it's just like remodeling a stick built home. Google mobile home remodeling and you will see tons of sites that offer tips.

As far as the kitchen/bathrooms go, replacing the cabinets and sinks are pretty inexpensively done but if you don't have too right now then don't. We would like to replace the countertops in our kitchen but right now we can live with them so we are painting the cabinets white to freshen it up a bit.

You have to decide what you can live with and what you can do later. DEFINITELY replace the flooring.....new carpets or vinyl or laminate. It is worth it.

One more thing, clean the walls with a good cleaner! You never know if someone smoked in there or what, there's a lot of residue that can accumulate on the walls and cabinets so you definitely want to clean. Inspect the subfloor for leaks or water damage. You can always replace the siding pretty easily.

You can do it!

I'll be posting before and after pics on my journal page soon. We are even redoing the fireplace surround!

 

[tortoise]

i can build a house now but i need it to be atleast 1600 sq ft with 4bdr and 2 bath and i only have 60,000 to spend and dont want to put everything into building a house cause im never going to sell the land or mobile home

Why so big?? Family?

Can have a house designed that is intended to have an addition built on? Do 1/2 now, 1/2 later?

 

[elijahboy]

yes 3 kids and right now the 2 boys share a room and its dreadful being 10 yrs old and 4 yrs old

i can build a house now but i need it to be atleast 1600 sq ft with 4bdr and 2 bath and i only have 60,000 to spend and dont want to put everything into building a house cause im never going to sell the land or mobile home

Why so big?? Family?

Can have a house designed that is intended to have an addition built on? Do 1/2 now, 1/2 later?

 

[DrakeMaiden]

In my opinion a small stick built house would be the better option. You could spend a lot of money re-modeling a mobile and still not get a great product . . . I'm thinking the flooring -- or rather sub-flooring -- is always going to be insufficient for one thing (unless you re-model that), but also the foundation. You would do better to start with a solid foundation, good sub-floor and just build a house that has small bedrooms/bathrooms, but a decent sized main living area (kitchen, living room, dinning room all in one room). JMO.