We have a park that was built in the early 60s, 70 spaces, and as such, it’s electric and water lines (city water) are from that time. The park is not sub-metered. Due to so many water breaks/leaks, it’s looking like we’re going to have to start replacing sections of the water lines. The lines currently run under the pavement, so they will be re-designed to run next to the pavement, so the pavement doesn’t all need to be dug up.
At what point do you guys decide to replace your water lines in a park, and how much should this cost (ball park)?
Is it best to replace the water lines in sections spread out over a few years, or all in one shot?
Is there any preferred way (ie not under pavement) that the lines should be run in a park?
We had to replace all the water and sewer lines in a park recently. It was not cheap – about $3200 per space. We were leaking water and as soon as the plumber fixed one leak, another one would spring up (due to the back-pressure, I suppose).
We contracted to do it in phases – phase I included tunnelling under all the streets with a “mole” and the rest of the phases included trenching a row and putting the water & sewer for homes in that row in that trench.
Aside from a payment plan/schedule, the advantage of phases was that we were able to use the advantageous tax write-off for each phase as it came online. The whole project took about 6+ months, but crossed over December. The rule is that you can only take depreciation once the item has been “placed in service.” By splitting it up we were able to place each phase in service and take the tax advantage for half the phases in the earlier year.
That said, it was no use fixing some of the water lines and not others, since as soon as one was fixed the problems would crop up other places. And once you’re trenching to replace the water lines, it makes sense to do the sewer also.
If different rows aren’t interconnected then you can replace one interconnection system at a time and maybe spread the costs out a little more.
I’d be interested in hearing what other people have paid to replace water/sewer (or lay new), per pad.
I am also planning to replace my water line and looking for a contractor. How did you find your contractor? Finding a right contractor has not been so easy for me. Did the contractor do the permit drawing also? I talked to an owner of big contractor that does nothng but mobile home parks in CA told me ball park figure is $2000 per lot for water line. $3200 sounds very expensive but you replaced both water and sewer lines so that may be why.
Want to bump this to the top. I am looking at doing the same. 50s park and while I know Frank has only done this once in his many years, I think it may make sense to bite the bullet and rip the band-aid off vs killing expense ratio with recurring plumber expenses/2x water bills/street repair costs. Also thing it will create a lot of goodwill given it’s been a massive problem and park has a reputation for water issues.
Was your $2k quote only for water or for water and sewer? Anybody else have any per lot estimates they’ve seen? Park is about 60 lots on 10 acres. Strong deal with a lot of upside - going in 15 cap, assuming 50% expense ratio and 50% occupancy, with park already submetered and tenants paying water.
My Husband and I purchased a Turn Around MHP approximately two years ago.
This MHP springs leaks constantly. In 2015 we spent $4,300 on fixing water leaks. This amount does not include the increased water bills.
Thus, approximately two years ago we received a quote from a Licensed Plumber for approximately $79,000 to replace the water lines with meters on a MHP:
Total Lots: 65 Lots
Total Acreage: 11.9 Acres
The $79,000 quote was for:
Digging All Lines
All Lines
All Water Shutoffs
All Meters
This MHP is in the South, so the depth of the water lines is not as deep as would be required in the North.
This Licensed Plumber is a one man show who has replaced water lines in a MHP before.
This Licensed Plumber is a good plumber with good rates.
We have had lots of other Plumbers who have not been so good.
Two years ago we even had a Licensed Engineer create drawings to replace the lines.
The Licensed Engineer said that replacing water lines was similar to installing a giant irrigation system.
The Licensed Engineer did advise that we connect all the water lines and have separate shut off values.
We also did find on the City Water’s Website a list of “Approved” Contractors that did Small and Large Water Projects.
Two years later we are still turning around our MHP and the replacement of the water lines is still on hold.
However, we would love to hear the experiences of any other MHP owners who have replaced all their water lines.
OK so with American Leak Detectors they have “e-pipe” an epoxy based product to seal leaks and reline the pipes while in place. Has anyone used this? I have a park under contract that I want the city to meter and they are receptive to the idea. The park has old galvanized lines and the work to re-meter will probably have leaks popping up. Park pays water now but not if I take it. Electric is also sub-metered and I am attempting to find out if the city will take over that too. So back to e-pipe Epoxy Lining & Water Line Repair | Leak Detection
Any thoughts?
I think this is the same technology as nuflow but I am also curious. Would be nice to avoid pain of repipe but returns on wasted water saved financed with construction loan are pretty good so might be worth ripping bandaid off to have very long term solution with PEX.