Questions and Answers About our Home

This post is sponsored by Clayton

I recently took to social media, Instagram, and Facebook, and asked if my followers had any questions that they would love for me to answer about our home. We live in a 2002 Clayton Built® Home that we have been in the process of remodeling since 2013.

Following is a list of questions that I received and wanted to answer for all of you that are following along on our journey. If there is a question that I haven’t answered that you may have, feel free to leave a comment below.

Questions About Plumbing and Electric

Question: How to access plumbing in a bathroom when a wall with a fireplace is behind it?

Answer: You can check with the manufacturer of your home to know the best procedures to access plumbing in your home. In this case, you may also want to consult a local plumbing professional on how to access the plumbing behind a fireplace and how to fix the necessary items you want to change with your project. 

Question: In your remodel I would like to know how you handle electric and plumbing?

Answer: Necessary and proper procedures vary by project. It is important to use all proper precautions and procedures with your home’s electrical and plumbing work. We recommend seeking guidance from a licensed professional prior to remodeling your home.

Questions and Answers: Our Mobile Home Porch

Question: Is it better to attach porches to the mobile home or not?

Answer: It’s best to assume a home that has already been built has not been designed to receive an additional load from an attached porch. If you would like to add a porch, it is best to make sure the porch will be self-supporting which typically means to have posts at all corners of the porch including directly against the home.

Questions and Answers: Specifics of our Home

Question: What is your square footage?

Answer: Our home is a 32×60 putting it around 1800 square feet with four large bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, however Clayton can build homes from under 1,000 sq.ft. to more than 2,200 sq.ft.

Question: Is it modular?

Answer: Our home is considered a manufactured home because it was built after 1976 and built to HUD standards. It was brought to our location in two separate pieces, and put together on site. If you want to learn more about the different types of prefab homes you can learn more at the Clayton website!

Question: Everything! Can you share your story of when you bought it and how?

Answer: We purchased our home in 2013. Our home was already on a lot but had been previously owned. Our home was purchased for a cash price from a company that had taken the home after the previous tenants defaulted on payments. You can also learn about how we purchased our home and began to remodel it in one of my guest blog posts on claytonhomes.com

Painting in a Double Wide Manufactured Home

Question: Do you have to allow time for settling before drywall and painting?

Answer: We have done quite a lot of work to our home that includes putting shiplap on the walls and painting. We have added personal touches to our home since recently moving it to the farm. As soon as our home was in place, I began the remodeling process and was painting within just a few days.

Once your home is set and has passed the final inspection, you are ready to add your own personal touches! You will want to make sure you have the correct materials and clean your walls properly.

Questions and Answers: How we Heat our Home

Question: How do you heat your home?

Answer: Our home is heated by the wood-burning stove in our living room. We replaced the original fireplace with a manufactured home-approved wood-burning stove. You can see how we installed our wood-burning stove in one of my latest guest blogs!

Question: Heating cost?

Answer: Our heating source is our wood-burning stove so I believe this helps keep our monthly heating costs lower. Our home is all electric and our monthly bill is generally right around $200 a month. Your energy consumption will vary based on your home, climate, HVAC system, and personal use. However, you can learn more about the energy efficiency of Clayton Built homes!

Question: Is it harder to keep cool in the summer and winter?

Answer: We have had no issues with heating and cooling our home. We have made several changes to our home as we have been in the remodeling process. Some of those changes included new windows and siding.

This was mainly done because of a lack of care from previous tenants who didn’t care for the home as they should have. Clayton builds homes with energy-saving materials such as energy-efficient light bulbs, upgraded insulation, and Low-E windows that can help keep your home cool or warm. New Clayton BuiltⓇ homes also have smart programmable thermostats!

Questions and Answers: How Sturdy is our Home?

Question: Is it just as strong and sturdy?

Answer: Our home is very strong and sturdy. I feel that we really got to see how well built the home is when we recently moved it from the original location to our new place, here on the farm.

In most instances, prefab (or off-site) homes are built to comply with the same building code standards as an on-site built home in the same area. This means each off-site built home complies with applicable local, state, and regional codes for the final location of the home. You can learn more about how Clayton homes are built on their website!

Question: Does it feel flimsy when it’s windy/bad weather?

Answer: Our home doesn’t feel flimsy at all. We have lived in a site-built home and don’t notice any difference between this home and a site-built home. Ours is very sturdy and never moves during windy/bad weather.

All prefab homes are built to the applicable wind zone the home will be set in. A wind zone is the rating of the amount of wind pressure a manufactured home, also known as an off-site built home, is built to withstand.

Question: Is added weight when remodeling a concern?

Answer: All Clayton prefab homes are built to federal HUD code requirements which include specific design and construction standards and are built on strong foundations.

All homes are designed for specific loads, which include the structures designed weight. We recommend you talk to the manufacturer of your home if your remodel plans will add any weight load to your home so that they can consult you properly.

Storm Safety in Our Home

Question: Do you evacuate during a tornado warning? 

Answer: As a precaution, our family has evacuated during tornado warnings. We don’t have a storm shelter but we do have neighbors that have a basement. So, during storms, we are welcome to go to their home for safety.

During storms, like tornadoes, it is important to take proper precautions as noted by your local authorities. Stay up to date with your local weather. If you are in your home go to a central, windowless room on the bottom level of your home, which will usually be a bathroom.

Questions and Answers: Manufactured Home Insurance

Question: How does insurance work? I heard it is hard to insure them and expensive?

Answer: We have not had any issues with insuring our home and have found a local company that insures it for no more than what we were paying for a site-built home.

The term manufactured housing encompasses a variety of housing options built-in facilities, but generally, homes that are called manufactured homes, homes that many call “mobile homes,” are in a special category for home insurance, while a modular home may be insured as a site-built home.

Questions and Answers: Our Remodeling Posts

• Our Kitchen Remodel Plan
• Gutting our Kitchen
• Adding New Windows in the Kitchen
• Building Kitchen Cabinets
• DIY Countertops
• Covering the Kitchen Ceilings

I hope that you have enjoyed this post on questions and answers about our home. Do you have a question that wasn’t answered? Feel free to live it in the comments below, or send me an email.