A modular home weighs 6–15 tonnes (depending on model and fit-out). That is significantly less than a typical brick-built house (60–100 tonnes), so you do not always need a full slab foundation. Below are the three most common solutions, each with realistic costs and use cases.
Cost: €550–900 for a 38 m² home
Time: 1 day of work
When to use: load-bearing ground (sand, compacted clay), flat terrain, seasonal or 3-season home, container
Blocks 20 × 20 × 40 cm or larger placed at 6–8 points under the module frame. Levelled, on a layer of lean concrete or compacted sand. This is the oldest and simplest method — used for decades under site cabins and containers.
Downside: not accepted everywhere in a building design. Check with the local planning office.
Cost: €900–1,550 for a 38 m² home
Time: 0.5 day
When to use: unstable ground, sloping terrain, flood zones (home "on stilts"), recreation
Steel piles mechanically screwed into the ground — no excavation, no concrete. Load capacity of a single pile: 3–7 tonnes. 8–12 piles are needed for a 38 m² home. The advantage is that they can be unscrewed and the home moved to a different location.
Another advantage is zero ground disturbance — you do not need to strip topsoil, there are no earthworks, and you can set up on a lawn.
Cost: €2,200–4,000 for a 38 m² home
Time: 5–10 days (excavation, reinforcement, pour, curing)
When to use: permanent year-round home, registered address, larger home (74 m²), underfloor heating installation
A classic reinforced concrete slab 20–25 cm, on a base of crushed stone and lean concrete. Underfloor heating can be run in the screed. The best insulation from the ground (10 cm XPS foam under the slab).
A slab is required when the home is classified as "permanently attached to the ground" — that is, in most cases of a permanent residential home.
1–2 years (site office, rental container): blocks. 5–10 years (recreation, second home): screw piles. 20+ years (permanent home): slab.
Order a geotechnical survey (€110–330) — you will learn about load-bearing capacity, groundwater level, and frost depth. Without it, everything is guesswork.
€650 — blocks. €1,300 — screw piles. €3,300 — insulated slab. Do not try to save on foundations — corrections cost 5× more than getting it right the first time.
If yes (permanent residential home) — slab or piles with bracing. If not (temporary, portable structure) — blocks are enough.
The modular home manufacturer usually does not do foundations — that is the client's task or a local construction crew's. Good practice:
A good foundation is 30% of a modular home's success. Cutting corners here hurts the most — because once the home is set down, it cannot be lifted again. Invest in a geotechnical survey and a consultation with a local structural engineer before making the decision.
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