Manufactured Housing And The History Within

Travel trailers and RVs have become one of the preferred ways of camping in the 21st century. Although limited in size and ability, including a lack of utilities, it serves to provide a luxurious alternative to setting up a tent and sparking a fire.

Trailers became widespread and abundant during the depression in the 1930s. They served as a cheaper alternative to owning a house or paying rent for an apartment in an era when money was hard to come by. Basic plumbing and heating were added to these units to ensure that they were habitable.

In the 1950s and 1960s, amidst a major economic growth and the ensuing construction work involved, mobile homes became increasingly important due to their ability to be moved from location to location as building jobs shifted. It became so prevalent in 1960s that it could actually be considered an even divide between people using mobile homes for travel and vacation, and those who used it as a permanent structure.

Factory-built homes were always referred to as mobile homes prior to 1976, when on June 15th the federal building code was revised. Prior to this revision, mobile homes were traditionally inconsistent in their construction and safety quality, and also were considerably more mobile due to the attachment of their chassis. The new code, however, placed strict rules on the construction of these homes to watch out for the safety and wellbeing of the owners. As such, units built after this code was instated are labeled manufactured homes instead of mobile homes. In part, this was because of their removable chassis and permanent foundation placement, making them real property in the eyes of the Department of Housing (referred to as HUD) Furthermore, since trailer homes can drive on public roadways, the HUD decided that mobile homes was no longer adequate.

It is general belief that these manufactured homes are inferior in many ways to site-built homes, however it is an exaggerated oversight that would lead to this conclusion.