Can A Mobile Home Have a Basement?
Manufactured homes are made in the factory on a strong steel chassis. They come with wheels that detach after the home tows to the mobile home community. These homes are small to fit in the small spaces in the community and to make it easier to move them.
Can you add space in these homes with the addition of a basement?
Can A Mobile Home Have a Basement?
Yes. You can add a basement under a mobile home. The HUD code has the guidelines to help you successfully and safely add a basement.
The only issue is that you ensure that the home has a strong foundation that keeps the home safe. You can add a garage space or storage space, a man cave, or any other space that you need. Read on to learn more about adding a basement under a manufactured home.
Can You Put a Cellar Under a Mobile Home?
You can put a cellar under a mobile home. It is easy to create a cold storage area in your basement for wine or vegetables and several other items. One of the easiest storage compartments to build in the basement of your mobile home is a root cellar.
The unique combination of humidity and temperature needed will depend on the cellar that you need to put up. For instance, for root crops, a root cellar needs to be at about 32 degrees F and the humidity maintained between 90 and 95 percent. If you maintain such conditions, your root vegetables will stay fresh for a few seasons.
For crops with durable outer skin, such as pumpkin, the temperature can be a bit higher, say between 50- and 55-degrees F, but the cellar should be drier at between 50 and 60 percent humidity.
If you decide to have a wine cellar in the basement, you should maintain the humidity between 50 and 80% and the temperature between 50 and 60 degrees F. Like any other storage, you can build the basement of your mobile room to include a cold compartment, shelves, and several other storage surfaces.
You need to have the AC there to maintain the temperature and the humidity for the freshness of the root vegetables and the safety of other items that you store in the basement.
Can You Build Around a Mobile Home?
You can build around a mobile home, but you first need to move it out of the mobile home community. Additions to the mobile home require that you get a HUD certification. This is the certification that shows the mobile home is as per the regulations set by the Manufactured Housing Act.
The certification will show whether your home meets the minimum building standard codes and whether it is eligible for additions or conversion. If you need to build around your home to increase space, you may want to have the home re-classified as real property that meets the requirements of the Uniform Manufactured Housing Act.
If your home is re-classified, you will need to move it to a piece of land where you want to build around it and later apply for location certification. Depending on what you want to build around your mobile home, you may need a building permit that authorizes you to start the work.
There are so many mobile home conversion ideas. You can add a wrap-around porch, add a room, add a story, or even build some outdoor living space features. Once you move your manufactured home into your land, the conversion ideas are limitless.
What Is Under a Mobile Home?
Also known as the mobile home underbelly, this area of the mobile home has insulation for the home and may also have pipes that connect the home to a water source.
Manufacturers use some polyethylene material, which keeps moisture from getting into your home and also protects the insulation. You may hear this underbelly being referred to using different names, such as belly paper, bottom wrap, barrier, sheeting, belly board, and closure paper among others.
If this underbelly wears off, you need to replace it to keep the home well-insulated and ensure moisture does not get into the home. During repair, you can add insulation onto the polyethylene material and then fix the material with tape on all sides.
Replacing the underbelly can be challenging, especially because there is not enough working space. Again, the pipes and the ductwork hang down from the underbelly, which makes it even more challenging to change this underbelly. Allow a professional to help you replace the underbelly if it gets any damages.
What Is a Permanent Foundation for A Mobile Home?
A permanent foundation for a manufactured home refers to any foundation constructed on site using durable materials, such as concrete or metal. Once the foundation is made, the mobile home can be permanently affixed to it, or it can be fixed later.
When you affix a mobile home on a permanent foundation, it is re-classified as real property. Real property appreciates in value, but there is no guarantee that your inexpensive mobile home increases in value after you add the permanent foundation.
A permanent foundation for a manufactured home comes in handy when you need to sell the home or refinance it. The cost of adding the foundation will depend on the size of the home, the type of foundation you choose, and the cost of the professional services of converting the home.
You can add either of the following types of permanent foundations:
• Pier and beam
• Crawl space
• Concrete pit
• Unfinished or finished basement
An unfinished basement will cost you between $10 and $25 for every square foot while a finished basement will cost between $30 and $100 for every square foot. Depending on the size of your home and the materials you use, an unfinished basement can cost $20,000 or more, while a finished basement can cost up to $200,000.
What Factors Do You Consider When Adding a Basement to a Mobile Home?
Consider the ventilation of the basement. You need windows, vents, and fans like you would for a conventional house. These features are best added during the construction as adding them later will be challenging.
If the basement doesn’t have sufficient ventilation, it will get musty and mold will start to grow on surfaces. Wood, paper, cardboard, and other soft items will soak up in humidity and get damaged if the basement lacks sufficient ventilation.
Because your mobile home is already built and set, it will not allow you to set a stairwell. As such, the best way is to have a cellar door outside the home. You may have a stairwell inside the home, but this will only reduce the floor space that you already have.
Your basement also needs air conditioning. If you use the basement for entertainment or for storage of perishable food items, you need to keep the air-conditioned. For entertainment, you need to set comfortable temperatures there for enjoyment, and for storage, you need to maintain specific temperatures and humidity in the basement.
When planning the basement, you have to think of the future and any additions you might need. For instance, you can place the furnace and the water heater in the basement. Doing that will give you more floor space in the mobile home and allow the systems to run much quieter.
Closing Thoughts
There are so many advantages to adding a basement to a manufactured home. The main advantage is that you get extra space. You can use this extra space to store items, for recreational purposes, as a garage, as extra living space, and as shelter from a storm.
It is likely that the value of your mobile home increases when you add a basement. Your home will convert from a mobile home to real property, which may grow in value.
