Mobile Home Foundation Retrofit Costs

Save Money With GulfTex

There is a simple reason that GulfTex Retrofit has grown to be the largest mobile home inspection / retrofit provider in Texas. Our mobile home foundation retrofit costs are extremely low.

We are able to provide quality repairs for less, and pass that savings along to our customers.

Our prices are competitive for the following reasons:

  1. We average 40 to 60 mobile home foundation retrofits per month, so our fixed costs are spread over a larger client base – our next largest competitors in Texas average 5 to 10 foundation retrofits per month.
  2. We average 100 to 120 mobile home foundation inspections per month, versus the 15 to 20 of our next largest competitors, so our fixed inspections costs are also spread out over a larger client base.
  3. If a client is looking at a property that they have not yet signed a contract on, and do not want to pay for a normal inspection, we can and do provide the inspection at no cost as long as we have the schedule flexibility to fit it in our travel circuit.
  4. The costs of such inspections are then built into the bid proposal. If the home passes and all that is needed, besides the initial inspection, is an engineer certification report, our mobile home inspectors’ weekly volume reduces the cost considerably compared to smaller firms.

Foundation Retrofit Costs

1. Our five crews travel extensively all over Texas… often leaving home base on a Monday morning and not returning home till late Friday. This allows us to reduce our pricing by eliminating round trip expenses such as fuel and travel time. Lodging is more than compensated for by the reduced costs of round trip travel for each job.

2. In addition, our prices for concrete, anchors, cable, and other supplies required for mobile home foundation repairs, are reduced by our economies of scale.

3. Furthermore, the same foundation retrofit crew can save inspection costs by being able to do needed inspections along the retrofit circuit route they take each week. In addition to 4 to 6 retrofits each week per crew, that same crew averages 5 or more inspections.

4. Depending upon a number of items including travel, crawlway access, soil versus rock auguring, and other factors, our retrofit charges range from $1,800 to $2,700, not including the engineer certification letter.

5. The charge for the certification letter is $450 including the inspection.

FHA / VA / USDA Additional Costs

Skirting replacement can be a major part of required items from an inspection. FHA, VA and USDA follow the same guidelines for skirting, although most conventional loans do not.

1. Vinyl skirting is the most commonly found due to the lowest installations cost.
a. Materials costs range from $360-$920 with appropriate labor added according to the job.
b. If only a partial replacement is needed, we encourage the seller to buy a box kit from a local wholesaler at a cost of $120.00 +/- and replace the damaged panels himself.

2. Hardiboard skirting is the next most common due to its lower material costs compared to wood, metal, brick and concrete
a. To the labor and materials costs of the material itself, must be added the cost of vents and a manway.
b. The seller or buyer can install these and save the costs of our labor installation
c. Our labor costs for installing these materials ranges from $500 to as high as $1200 depending upon the material and the height of the skirting.

Another prominent cost is related to drainage. Poor drainage can cause high maintenance costs by damaging the piers and the floorboard of the home

1. The most common cost item is rain gutters. The $500 to $800 cost of a complete system is highly recommended. They help direct the roof runoff away from the immediate foundation area

2. The next most common cost item is drainage diversion structures such as planters railroad ties, landscape timbers or sheet metal to direct ground runoff away from or around the foundation. The costs of these items are very site specific

3. The seller or buyer can install these items and save substantially on the costs since the labor costs are much higher than materials costs

The next most common cost item is roof supports costs for porch, decking or carport roofs that abut against the home itself.

1. These roofs must be supported by posts at all four corners of the home and not allow any additional roof load to transfer to the MH itself.

2. The number of posts installed at the face of the MH must reasonably match the number of exterior posts.

COSTS SAVINGS OPTIONS

1. The seller and/or buyer can save labor costs by doing the skirting, drainage and roof supports items themselves… the only item that must be done by a licensed Texas Installer is the foundation itself

2. The seller and/or buyer can reduce costs by allowing us schedule flexibility so we can co-schedule with other nearby projects… a cost discount of 5% is offered for this option.

3. The seller and/or buyer can choose to pay for the cost of the retrofit upon completion and reduce the cost by another 5 %.

4. Items 2 and 3 above costs savings are available only if paid by wire transfer, check, money order or cashier’s checks… such costs savings are not available for credit card payment