4 ms·

About thirty years ago, I spent a few months living in a rented trailer. It was a terrible experience. I was deathly ill, likely due to some of the chemicals u

About thirty years ago, I spent a few months living in a rented trailer. It was a terrible experience. I was deathly ill, likely due to some of the chemicals used in its construction. In winter, the hot water heater froze. In summer, we all slept in the living room where the window AC was located because it was the only room cool enough to sleep in. It had such a bug problem, one of my small sons nicknamed it "the bug house." While living there, I swore I would never live in a trailer again and said "I would rather sleep in a tent" which I later did for some years. This article fails to convey to me whether or not the issues that caused me to emphatically make such a declaration have been resolved. If people want manufactured housing -- aka trailer homes -- to succeed, they need to prove that the construction quality is there and your hot water heater won't freeze in cold weather, your home will not be sweltering in summer everywhere except directly beneath the AC, etc. I also became afraid of stormy weather in a way I had never been before. Other than not being wet, it felt like I was out in the storm without shelter. I could hear the rain on the roof loudly. I could feel the wind shake my home. I woke up with nightmares. You want affordable housing? Cool. So do I. But if manufactured housing is merely a new term for trailer homes and nothing has really changed, this is not an acceptable answer in my book.

nightfly 4y ago
> I was deathly ill, likely due to some of the chemicals used in its construction Molds are much more likely the culprit here. Trailers are thin metal boxes with regular insulation and wood-ish paneling, not made out of some exotic extra-high chemicals materials Edit: also... I grew up in the 90's in a single-wide trailer from 1971. Some of your complaints like "hearing the rain and wind" just seem silly and are things I look back fondly on. Trailers don't have a monopoly on issues with freezing plumbing either, if you're somewhere with cold weather you have to make sure things are properly winterized. Lower cost/quality housing isn't gonna have this but default, but it isn't different to do.
- DoreenMichele 4y ago
  I was told formaldehyde might have been the culprit. I have reason to believe it was something chemical, not mold.
  - nightfly 4y ago
    What reason? If the place wasn't brand new there shouldnt be that much off gassing
ianai 4y ago
Mobile homes are not trailers. You can get MHs now that are built like traditional housing and pass the new construction requirements. They can also have proper refrigerated air (haven’t seen heat pumps but probably). They’re usually better at staying warm in winter than cool in summer, in my experience, but that’s probably much better in the newer years. Trailers are closer to customized shipping containers in construction. They’re making something out of a metal shell to act like a fancy camping solution. Having said that, I’d still be very careful buying or living in a MH today. Older models have a serious drop off in quality and things like how you actually repair them. Plus the local mobile home parks want north of 700/mo just for lot rent! They’ve lost their minds. (Or, worse, are hoping to drive tenants away so they can sell the land to developers.)
- yourapostasy 4y ago
  > They’ve lost their minds. (Or, worse, are hoping to drive tenants away so they can sell the land to developers.) Mobile home parks are popular with hedge fund and private equity firms. They realized a ways back that these are captive markets. The tenants usually do not have access to the kinds of capital (ready or structured instruments) to easily move, so these firms incrementally increase monthly lot fees in full knowledge that the tenants would rather scrounge another $50 per month from their income (or add to debt load) than spend a one-time $5,000 to move to another park where there isn’t a guaranteed lot rent anyways.
  - bequanna 4y ago
    Also, very few new trailer parks are approved by local municipalities making them increasingly scarce.
    - ianai 4y ago
      Trailers are not mobile homes, please stop blurring the line.
      - bequanna 4y ago
chiefalchemist 4y ago
You rented a poorly built and maintainemaintained trailer, just as there are poorly built and maintained homes. That said, per the article, trailers abd such become a necessary option because government strangles alternatives. From tiny homes to "double-wides", manufacturered housing should be given a chance. A chance it, and the markets it could serve deserves.
vuln 4y ago
All but one of your gripes can happen in any slab or crawl space home. There are bugs everywhere, without proper abatement. Pipes freeze when homes are not kept warm enough or water dripping from every faucet You had ONE WINDOW A/C unit. No idea how old or how many BTUs or if it was a heat and A/C which I’m assuming it’s not. Tbh it appears that the place you moved into was unmaintained and you probably don’t know much about home maintenance or care in general which could have avoided most of these issues. While I have empathy of your weird situation that doesn’t mean _ALL_ manufactured homes have the SAME issues you had.
- DoreenMichele 4y ago
  Since you are the second person to twist this detail in your reply, let me make it clear that it wasn't a case of pipes freezing. The hot water heater froze and management had to come defrost it. So it was freezing and we had no hot water. It is my understanding that you only see that particular issue in trailer homes.
  - vuln 4y ago
    I have never heard or seen a water heater freeze when in daily use. That only happens in places with below freezing for days or weeks and a loss of power or natural gas or whatever powers the hot water heater. So either the pilot light or power went out for hours / days without anyone noticing? It takes a very long time to freeze 20-40 gallons of water inside an insulated container. I’m empathetic to your situation but it doesn’t make any sense. Unless intentional disregard.
diggernet 4y ago
> manufactured housing -- aka trailer homes > But if manufactured housing is merely a new term for trailer homes and nothing has really changed, this is not an acceptable answer in my book. Despite the fact that people often use those terms interchangeably, they are not the same. Things really have changed. Trailer (or mobile) homes were built to no particular standards, had widely varying (and usually low) quality, and were no longer legal to build after 1976. Manufactured homes, which replaced them, are built to strict HUD standards. (Then there are modular homes, which are also factory-built, but are built to the same building codes as site-built homes.) Sources: Grew up in a well-built 1980's manufactured home. More recently a family member was a government inspector of manufactured/modular home factories, ensuring code compliance.

nightfly 4y ago

> I was deathly ill, likely due to some of the chemicals used in its construction Molds are much more likely the culprit here. Trailers are thin metal boxes with regular insulation and wood-ish paneling, not made out of some exotic extra-high chemicals materials Edit: also... I grew up in the 90's in a single-wide trailer from 1971. Some of your complaints like "hearing the rain and wind" just seem silly and are things I look back fondly on. Trailers don't have a monopoly on issues with freezing plumbing either, if you're somewhere with cold weather you have to make sure things are properly winterized. Lower cost/quality housing isn't gonna have this but default, but it isn't different to do.

DoreenMichele 4y ago
I was told formaldehyde might have been the culprit. I have reason to believe it was something chemical, not mold.
- nightfly 4y ago
  What reason? If the place wasn't brand new there shouldnt be that much off gassing

ianai 4y ago

Mobile homes are not trailers. You can get MHs now that are built like traditional housing and pass the new construction requirements. They can also have proper refrigerated air (haven’t seen heat pumps but probably). They’re usually better at staying warm in winter than cool in summer, in my experience, but that’s probably much better in the newer years. Trailers are closer to customized shipping containers in construction. They’re making something out of a metal shell to act like a fancy camping solution. Having said that, I’d still be very careful buying or living in a MH today. Older models have a serious drop off in quality and things like how you actually repair them. Plus the local mobile home parks want north of 700/mo just for lot rent! They’ve lost their minds. (Or, worse, are hoping to drive tenants away so they can sell the land to developers.)

yourapostasy 4y ago
> They’ve lost their minds. (Or, worse, are hoping to drive tenants away so they can sell the land to developers.) Mobile home parks are popular with hedge fund and private equity firms. They realized a ways back that these are captive markets. The tenants usually do not have access to the kinds of capital (ready or structured instruments) to easily move, so these firms incrementally increase monthly lot fees in full knowledge that the tenants would rather scrounge another $50 per month from their income (or add to debt load) than spend a one-time $5,000 to move to another park where there isn’t a guaranteed lot rent anyways.
- bequanna 4y ago
  Also, very few new trailer parks are approved by local municipalities making them increasingly scarce.
  - ianai 4y ago
    Trailers are not mobile homes, please stop blurring the line.
    - bequanna 4y ago

chiefalchemist 4y ago

You rented a poorly built and maintainemaintained trailer, just as there are poorly built and maintained homes. That said, per the article, trailers abd such become a necessary option because government strangles alternatives. From tiny homes to "double-wides", manufacturered housing should be given a chance. A chance it, and the markets it could serve deserves.

vuln 4y ago

All but one of your gripes can happen in any slab or crawl space home. There are bugs everywhere, without proper abatement. Pipes freeze when homes are not kept warm enough or water dripping from every faucet You had ONE WINDOW A/C unit. No idea how old or how many BTUs or if it was a heat and A/C which I’m assuming it’s not. Tbh it appears that the place you moved into was unmaintained and you probably don’t know much about home maintenance or care in general which could have avoided most of these issues. While I have empathy of your weird situation that doesn’t mean _ALL_ manufactured homes have the SAME issues you had.

DoreenMichele 4y ago
Since you are the second person to twist this detail in your reply, let me make it clear that it wasn't a case of pipes freezing. The hot water heater froze and management had to come defrost it. So it was freezing and we had no hot water. It is my understanding that you only see that particular issue in trailer homes.
- vuln 4y ago
  I have never heard or seen a water heater freeze when in daily use. That only happens in places with below freezing for days or weeks and a loss of power or natural gas or whatever powers the hot water heater. So either the pilot light or power went out for hours / days without anyone noticing? It takes a very long time to freeze 20-40 gallons of water inside an insulated container. I’m empathetic to your situation but it doesn’t make any sense. Unless intentional disregard.

diggernet 4y ago

> manufactured housing -- aka trailer homes > But if manufactured housing is merely a new term for trailer homes and nothing has really changed, this is not an acceptable answer in my book. Despite the fact that people often use those terms interchangeably, they are not the same. Things really have changed. Trailer (or mobile) homes were built to no particular standards, had widely varying (and usually low) quality, and were no longer legal to build after 1976. Manufactured homes, which replaced them, are built to strict HUD standards. (Then there are modular homes, which are also factory-built, but are built to the same building codes as site-built homes.) Sources: Grew up in a well-built 1980's manufactured home. More recently a family member was a government inspector of manufactured/modular home factories, ensuring code compliance.