Mobile Home Leveling in Florence, AZ

Florence is the Pinal County seat, one of the oldest towns in the county, founded in 1866 by Civil War veteran Levi Ruggles on the south bank of the Gila River. It had 26,785 people at the 2020 census, a National Historic District with more than 25 buildings on the National Register, the state prison complex, and, on the north side, the Anthem at Merrill Ranch retirement development. Between the historic core and the new subdivisions, and out along AZ-79 and AZ-287 on unincorporated county land, is a lot of manufactured housing on owned lots. Relevels run $450 to $800 for singlewides and $750 to $1,400 for doublewides, level checks are free, and Florence is about 45 minutes from our Apache Junction hub.

River bottom and old fans

Florence sits at 1,539 feet where the Gila River comes out of the mountains onto the valley floor, and the ground under its manufactured homes is a mix of river-bottom alluvium and the old fans and terraces around it.

The 1991 USDA soil survey of the western part of Pinal County covers this ground, and the series it maps are the same family found across the East Valley: deep calcareous loams and sandy loams on the fans, clay-loam subsoils on the old terraces, gravelly sands along the river and the washes, and hardpan close to the surface on the older terraces. The USDA’s official description of the Pinal series, the region’s namesake hardpan soil, puts the indurated lime-silica pan at 4 to 20 inches on old fans and terraces, with permeability through it very slow.

Under a home, that sorts into the same three cases as everywhere else we work:

• Hardpan lots bear well where the pad reaches the pan, and need pre-drilling for anchors.
• Sandy and gravelly ground near the river and the washes migrates under monsoon runoff. Florence’s rain, like the rest of the valley’s, comes in bursts; the nearest long-record NOAA station to the south, Casa Grande, puts 3.06 of its 8.25 annual inches in July through September and runs a July normal high of 106.6.
• Clay-loam subsoils swell and shrink with the seasons and walk a pad out of plane a little at a time.

Add the heat on the shims and the fact that many of these homes have not had anyone under them in years, and the survey finds what it finds everywhere: stacked shims, dried caps, short or missing anchor systems, and bellies open at the utility cuts.

Owned land, older homes, county rules

Florence’s manufactured homes are mostly on owned land, often larger parcels with a well and septic, and mostly older. That means two things for the work. First, decades of owner maintenance show up as pier rebuilds rather than reshims, priced per pier. Second, Arizona requires every mobile and manufactured home to be anchored, and a lot of these homes have never had a full system. A tie-down inspection is part of every free survey, and a full install runs $600 to $3,500.

The county’s rules are worth knowing here because the county office is in town. Pinal County Community Development’s Building Safety Division at 85 North Florence Street issues the local permits for the unincorporated land around Florence and inspects footings and setbacks, the tie-down system, underground electric, gas, sewer, and water, skirting, and a final that requires the HUD labels, the state installation certificate, and the soil penetrometer report. The county requires skirting on every manufactured home and park model, allows only homes built to HUD standards after June 15, 1976, and restricts park models to designated parks. Inside town limits, the Town of Florence handles local planning approval. Either way, the state installation permit comes from the Arizona Department of Housing unless the jurisdiction issues its own under an inspection service agreement.

The river and the flood maps

The Gila runs along the north side of town, and the washes off the mountains cross the county land around it. For an existing home, the survey looks at whether the ground along the pier lines has been moving and prices it. For a set or a move, a mapped flood zone changes the job: the Arizona Department of Housing requires a site-specific foundation plan by an Arizona registered engineer, approved and red-stamped, before it will issue the installation permit, and Pinal County requires its own floodplain permit. Homes in flood zones are exempt from the crowning requirement but get a full new anchor system like everything else.

What Florence homes call us for

• Releveling: after the monsoon, and on homes that have gone a decade without a check.
• Pier and pad repair: the owned-land specialty, rebuilding stacked-shim piers on proper pads.
• Tie-downs and anchors: full systems under older homes with none, pre-drilled on hardpan.
• Vapor barrier: bellies opened for well and septic work and never closed.
• Skirting: open lots with no windbreak, full sun on the south face.
• Transport and setup: a used home from an East Valley park to a Florence parcel, permits pulled at the county office in town.
• Pre-sale inspections: for buyers of owned-land homes, before the engineer’s foundation certification a lender may want.

Forty-five minutes, grouped visits

Downtown Florence is about 34 miles and 45 minutes from the Apache Junction hub by US-60 and AZ-79. We group Florence and Queen Valley visits and usually schedule within the week; the crew writes the quote at the home from the pier readings. Request a free level check, or read the pricing page and the FAQ first.