With lightweight structures and mobile homes, a frequently asked question is whether the building must be placed on a concrete foundation or if there is another, more mobile and environmentally friendly solution. Fortunately, the answer is yes! After all, ground screws were not invented for nothing...
When it comes to the foundation of a mobile home, many people wonder: okay, it may be movable, but is it really safe? Could it sink into the ground or shift due to external forces? Especially if concrete is not part of the equation.
Fortunately, ground screws solve the dilemma
During the installation of a mobile home, using ground screws is a practical and environmentally friendly solution. If we consider that by eliminating concrete we are already doing something good for the environment, it is definitely worth considering.
In addition, ground screws ensure that the mobile home remains truly mobile—meaning it can be relocated. They can be removed from the ground without major earthworks and reused to secure the building at a new location.
The process begins similarly to a traditional concrete foundation: a soil structure analysis is carried out, and if necessary, some site preparation and leveling is done. However, instead of excavation, formwork, reinforcement, concrete pouring and curing, all of this can be skipped. We can move directly to the load-bearing phase: installing and fixing the screws into the ground, followed by placing the mobile home.
One of the major advantages of a mobile home is that, depending on its size and the site preparation work, it can become ready for occupancy within 24–48 hours. This process may only be slightly delayed if utility connections also need to be installed beforehand, although this can be done during the production phase if you choose an “Ecomodul ready-to-deliver” option.
How safe are ground screws?
It is understandable that this question arises, since despite being a cost-effective solution, a mobile home still represents a significant investment, and everyone wants their property to be secure. Fortunately, ground screws made of hot-dip galvanized steel, along with their accessories, are available in multiple sizes and load capacities.
They can typically handle loads between 250–950 kg per unit. With machine-driven installation, this load capacity can be further increased, and they are also suitable for point foundations and strip foundations.
Environmentally friendly solution
Ground screws can be used in a wide variety of conditions—they even work underwater and perform well in sandy, clay, or mixed soils. From an environmental perspective, using ground screws for mobile home foundations is an ideal choice.
On one hand, their use requires significantly less earthwork than concrete foundations, meaning we disturb the soil structure less and avoid excavation and soil transport. On the other hand, we also eliminate the chemical load that would otherwise enter the soil from concrete production and curing.
With this solution, even terraces can be built in an environmentally friendly way, since not only the mobile home but also attached structures can be fixed using ground screws. This means comfort does not have to come at the expense of the environment.
All things considered, if the foundation of a mobile home is built using ground screws instead of traditional concrete, we choose a faster, more environmentally friendly, and more cost-effective solution. The price of a single ground screw ranges from approximately 10,000 to 40,000 HUF depending on size. If we add up gravel, water, cement, labor costs, excavation, and earthworks, ground screws still remain the more optimal solution.