Foundation question for a modular home

Hi everyone, I apologize if this is the wrong place but I have a question I really need help with.

Back in March we had a fire that destroyed our home and ever since then we've been waiting to have another one built so we can return. They've got a modular home built for us, and also we're adding another so it'll be like a giant duplex with the second half being for my sister. This is what it's supposed to look like.

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Notice how it's all level, also there is supposed to be a basement under each side that we can stand up and walk around in.

Now, I went down to view the construction of the foundation today and it seemed very stange to me given the specifications above, this is what it looked like.

Side

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Top

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Please forgive my crappy artistic ability.

The black parts are the walls and the red parts are these ends of screws type things, like the end you screw in to something. On the top view the grey lines are where the sections meet.

Now given this foundation, and the fact that the house is supposed to be level I can't understand how they're going to do it. The only thing I can think of is they're going to place some kind of bracket on top of the foundation and then put the house on it to level it. But if that's the case which side would it be level to?

There are two streets (one on the left and one on the right sides of the side view, top and bottom on the top view) and the first one (right/bottom) is higher up than the 2nd one, so if it was level with the right on the side view then the left side would have to climb a ladder to get in the house and if it was level with the left side we'd have to be 2 feet tall to walk around our basement.

I'm just wondering if anyone knows this type of setup and can explain what the heck they're doing. My sister who's handling the whole thing keeps asking but the guy she's dealing with is a real a-hole.

Any help on this issue would be appreciated it's been almost 6 months now and I just want to freakin go home.

Reply to
Robertcode
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A rough guess:

The foundation wall is stepping down a sloping site. The builder appears to be planing some sort of column at the end of each steel beam that runs the length of each modular home section (2 beams per section, total of 8 beams or 16 columns). I imagine that he will then close in between the columns to provide the basement.

I don't see anything wrong with the concept. But, the units must be properly anchored to the concrete in order to meet federal HUD requirements.

Reply to
Bob Morrison

I heard something about a "Pony Wall" if that helps.

And I live in Canada so I imagine the requirements are a bit different, but probably similar.

The site is sloping, If you look at the side picture the right side street is higher up than the left side street.

Reply to
Robertcode

Bob, modular housing must meet local & state codes, not HUD (you are thinking of the "Federal Manufactured Housing and Construction Standards Program," otherwise known as mobile homes.

I work in this industry and can't answer the question. Most foundations I've seen are completely level as the home is lifted off the carrier and placed on the foundation with a crane. My only guess would be that the home is an "on-frame" modular (similar to a mobile home) and parts of the foundation have been left out to slide the home over. (Wild guess.) More likely it's as you suggested as a sloping site - it just doesn't fell right however. Sloping site foundations are level at the top and vary below.

Dennis

Reply to
PPS

Dennis:

My mistake on the difference between "modular" housing and mobile homes. Our local code makes no distinction between "mobile" and "manufactured" [modular?] homes. Foundations for both must conform to ANSI Standard A225.1. As I recall, HUD also refers to ANSI A225.1 for manufactured and mobile homes.

Reply to
Bob Morrison

I'm pretty certain that the Canadian Building Code has requirements for modular/mobile/manufactured home foundations. They should not be much different than the requirements in the US, since the building codes are similar.

Reply to
Bob Morrison

Dennis:

An additional follow-up. I now remember the distinction between "modular" and "mobile/manufactured" homes.

The former can set on conventional foundations with pony walls provided that there is an adequate lateral force connection between the module and the pony wall/foundation. If properly designed this can be a quick and economical form of construction.

Reply to
Bob Morrison

Bob, could you translate that in to English for the uneducated in Construction? ;)

Bob Morris> > I work in this industry and can't answer the question. Most foundations I've

Reply to
Robertcode

  1. Contractor pours concrete walls on a footing to a minimum of 6" above the dirt. The wall and footing will be shaped like an inverted "T".
  2. Where the concrete is lower than the required height, the contractor frames a wood wall on top of the concrete.
  3. The modular unit is set on top of the walls -- either wood or concrete.

  1. The modular units are connected directly to the concrete where possible using embedded anchor bolts. Note: I have seen where there is a pressure treated piece of wood bolted to the concrete and then the unit is attached to that. This is acceptable is the connection has been correctly designed.

  2. If supported by a wood wall, the modular units are connected to the wood framing. This connection must be capable of resisting wind and seismic forces. The wood wall below (pony wall) must also be capable of resisting these forces.

All of this work should be performed according to a Building Department approved plan. That plan may have an engineer's seal on it and it may not. In the US, most jurisdictions would require an engineer's seal. These documents are public records and if they exist should be available for your inspection.

Does that help?

Reply to
Bob Morrison

So, if I understand you correctly it'd be like the basement for one house is concrete and the other is wood walled?

So it sort of ends up look> > > Bob, could you translate that in to English for the uneducated in > > Construction? ;)

Reply to
Robertcode

That is correct.

Reply to
Bob Morrison

Ok, thanks everyone who responded I was really lost and couldn't figure out what the Hell they were doing, but now I feel better about it.

Thanks again for the help.

Bob Morris> > So, if I understand you correctly it'd be like the basement for one

Reply to
Robertcode

Completely understand. Most people do find the relationship between the various types of products very confusing.

In short, there are two (completely) different types of factory-built products.

Mobile homes is the old name. It was changed to Manufactured Housing several years ago. Modular's are a different type of animal all together.

Modular's are constructed under prevailing state and local codes; and are equivalent to site-built construction. The only real difference is that they are built in a remote location (in relation to the local building department where they will eventually be set) and are inspected by a special agency called a "third party inspection agency". (They act in behalf of the state and local inspectors, often as an extension of those departments.) In many cases, the approval of the design is also done by the third party as well. Most (depending of the state) now comply with the 2003 IRC.

Manufactured housing (also know as mobile homes) are constructed under a federal program, under the control of Housing and Urban Development. The standards differ widely from the IRC and allow for this 'special' type of construction (mostly in materials and on-site loads). The electrical, plumbing, mechanical and fire safety standards are also different.

While modular's can be built where a lot of work is to be done on-site (for instance the installation of the HVAC systems, sprinklers, even additional construction), manufactured housing on the other hand must be completely finished (or nearly so, perhaps a bit of siding or shingles, etc.).

As for foundations, Manufactured Housing (Mobile Home) foundations are subject to local codes (whatever the site-built codes require.) ANSI A225.1 only comes into play if a state or local building department has adopted it for use (most don't.)

Reply to
PPS

Dennis:

Thanks for the detailed explanation. The difference in the two types of construction came to me after my initial posts on the subject. Sort of like "DOH! I get it!"

Reply to
Bob Morrison

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