Evaluation of the Use of Wood Products in Mobile Home Manufacture

All mobile home manufacturing plants in the continental U.S. were surveyed in 1971 to determine how they used wood in 1970. The 178 respondents produced approximately 40 percent of all units built in 1970. The most important recent change in material usage was from softwood plywood to particleboard for subflooring. About 90 percent of all units now used particleboard for subflooring. The average unit now uses 364 sq. ft. of plywood (3/8 inch basis) and 668 sq. ft. of particleboard (5/8 inch basis). Many double-wide units are still built with plywood subfloors. An increasing proportion of units are double wides and 14-foot wides. As the proportion of larger units increases, more wood is used both absolutely and per square foot of living area. The increased use of wood per square foot results from the greater similarity to conventional house construction. Average lumber use per unit was 1,680 bd. ft. The larger size unit has resulted in an increase in average use of hardwood plywood per unit, which is now 936 sq. ft. (3/8 inch basis). Hardwood plywood has some competition from hardboard products, with 168 sq. ft. (1/8 inch basis) being used in the average unit. A few manufacturers have begun to use plywood exterior siding rather than aluminum, which could be an important material use change in the near future.

You must be logged in to download any documents. Please login (login accounts are free) or learn how to Become a Member