Wednesday, February 11, 2009

February 2009 articles about the Clayton i-house

Recyclers see i-house plan by Clint Confehr for the Marshall Country Tribune

This article is about the i-house being introduced to county officials of Lewisburg and Marshall counties (Tennessee), in what I assume will be a county-by-county battle for Clayton to have bans lifted on single-wide mobile homes, or at least the i-house. Clayton probably has to do this, in order to market the i-house to a wider audience and it will be interesting to see how this goes, before its introduction in May.

I don't know a whole lot about the vicissitudes of zoning regulations, in relation to manufactured homes, but Clayton must have some rationale in taking this risk and designing the i-house as a single section home in the first place. (For one thing, for people who buy the main section of the home only, only one truck would be needed for transport, which saves in energy, labor and transportation costs.)

Although no mention of it is made in the article, with the new green direction of the present administration, perhaps counties will start making certain allowances for manufactured homes, like the i-house, that meet a higher standard of sustainability. As much work as it will take for Clayton, news about the debate in county governments will generate local buzz about the i-house.

5 comments:

  1. Help me out here-- is this i-house delivered on wheels or is it a modular in sections? Does it sit on blocks or is it attached to a foundation. Please let me know. They make a big difference in zoning.

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  2. As far as I know, it is delivered on wheels. The wheels can be removed and the chassis of a manufactured home can sit on piers, and have a perimeter of concrete block, or it can sit on a full foundation (with basement).

    In my neighborhood, a perimeter foundation is required, whereas some trailer parks require only skirting. I will post a correction if I'm wrong about the i-house being made and delivered as a manufactured home, not a modular.

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  3. Update...now that the home is priced, and you are able to order it, I know some more things about it.

    Zoning is not going to be the issue I thought it was. It has been classified as "modular." In my area, for example, where singlewide homes are not allowed, the Clayton i-house is allowed.

    To expand a bit on the foundation issue. The house sits on piers, and comes with -- included in the price -- cement skirting. However, in my area a block perimeter foundation will be required.

    The i-house can also be put on a full basement foundation, but it requires certain modifications which cost extra.

    Local Clayton dealers will probably be familiar with the zoning regulations in your neighborhood.

    If no dealer is close by, you can contact the county zoning department for information, on what is, and what is not allowed.

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  4. It appears Clayton squanders opportunities to add bedroom/baths onto it to make a truly marketable SFD. I design (for my own enjoyment) single-wide floorplans with add-ons that go up to 6 bdrms 4 baths and still stay within 16x76 with 16x35 add-on.

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  5. You can choose your house plan from 100 because New Drafting CAD Site gives away over 100 House plans for free.

    You can go and them at http://www.sdsplans.com

    ReplyDelete

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