How To Repairing Exterior Walls In A Mobile Home

Mobile home repair doesn't take to be hard. With the right parts, a little knowledge, and good old-fashioned elbow grease, you can do a lot of repairs yourself—which will save you money. Only whether you lot rent a mobile domicile contractor or decide to get your hands dirty, it's much easier than you might remember to keep your domicile in tip-peak shape.

In this article, we'll discuss some of the well-nigh common mobile domicile repairs and how you can undertake them. We'll requite you lot insider tips and tricks, and nosotros'll assistance y'all avoid common pitfalls. If y'all're fix to get your dwelling house in keen shape again, read on!

Click on the chapter that you need:

Mobile Home Skirting Repair
Mobile Home Roof Repair
Mobile Home Door Repair
Mobile Domicile Window Repair
Mobile Habitation Floor Repair
Mobile Habitation Shower Repair
Mobile Dwelling house Furnace Replacement

Mobile Dwelling house Skirting Repair

Image courtesy of Patricia Pacheco, winner of the 2016 Mobile Dwelling house Makeover Contest .

We often focus on interior repairs, since that's where we spend the about time. However, you shouldn't overlook exterior repairs, especially in the skirting department. Mobile domicile skirting protects the underside of your home from weather, and information technology keeps out pests who would similar to make information technology their abode. Information technology's pretty important.

Repair, or replace?

If your skirting is but mildly damaged in a few places, yous may be able to repair it without replacing it. If you have a few holes in your vinyl skirting, you should absolutely patch them up before winter. Think, your plumbing runs nether your mobile dwelling. If y'all don't protect it properly, your pipes could freeze in the wintertime. Definitely patch those holes!

Vinyl skirting oftentimes gets damaged past weed whackers (string trimmers). Information technology merely can't stand up to that spinning string on its own. However, an piece of cake set up is to install some skirt guard along the bottom of your vinyl skirting. This guard is designed to stand up to weed whackers and other hazards that damage vinyl skirting.

If your vinyl skirting is actually in bad shape, yous can ever supervene upon it with something stronger. Vinyl can exist a little flimsy—but luckily, it isn't the just option. Stronger mobile dwelling house skirting like Reil Rock and Novik Stone generally won't blow out in a storm. Even amend: they agree upwardly to weed whacking just fine.

How to measure your abode for skirting needs

First, yous demand to measure the linear footage of your abode. This is the total length of skirting that y'all will need to get all the way around your home. If you have a simple rectangular floorplan with no additions or porches, but add together upwards 2x the length of your home and 2x the width of your domicile. This will cover all the areas that demand skirting.

For example, say you lot have a single broad, xvi feet wide ten 70 feet long.

sixteen + sixteen + seventy + seventy = 172ft

You would need 170ft of skirting for this home.

If y'all have a porch or other addition that also needs skirting, you'll want to include those figures in your full. But equally Crystal Adkins explains over at MobileHomeLiving.org, you but need to include the length and width of the visible sides of your addition.

Say your 16x70ft single-wide has a porch that sticks out an boosted 6ft from the master floorplan. Yous would include the porch depth, 6ft, twice. But you wouldn't include the width of the porch, since that is already covered in the total length of the habitation.

16 + sixteen + 70 + 70 + vi + vi = 184ft

You likewise demand to calculate the boilerplate height of your dwelling off the footing. Crystal explains the best style to do this in her mail service. She says to measure from the footing to 2" in a higher place your siding at all 4 corners. So do the same thing on both sides at the center of your home. Now add all the numbers together and dissever past 6, and you accept your average tiptop.

Leaving ventilation

Information technology'southward critical that you leave the underside of your home well-ventilated. Yes, you want skirting to cake air current and go on critters out—but yous shouldn't effort to seal the underside completely. That will lead to mold growth.

If y'all're using vinyl skirting, you can purchase a mix of vented panels and solid panels. Note, however, that some building codes may not permit vented panels.

You lot tin can also purchase automatic foundation vents that open at lxx degrees F and close at 40 degrees F. This keeps your home foundation ventilated in the summer and protected in the wintertime.

Installing mobile home skirting

Each type of mobile home skirting has its own unique installation method. Beneath are instructions for the nigh common types of skirting.

Installing Reil Rock Skirting

Installing Novik Skirting (all types)

Installing Vinyl Skirting

Mobile Home Roof Repair

You should never look to repair a mobile dwelling roof. Fifty-fifty the smallest water leak can crusade unbelievable damage in a brusque amount of fourth dimension. If you have a leak in your roof, find and gear up it ASAP!

The water can spread unpredictably. If y'all find water impairment in ane identify, that doesn't necessarily mean that the leak is directly overhead. Water could be entering the dwelling in another location, running along a beam or other surface, and finally showing up in the place you establish.

Repair, or replace?

The answer to this question volition depend on the state of your roof. If you have one small leak, and you're able to locate it, information technology'southward highly unlikely that y'all need to replace the whole roof.

If you take multiple minor leaks, yous can probably address each one with our techniques below. Nonetheless, if your roof is leaking in many places and showing signs of sagging and deformation, you should consider replacing it.

When in incertitude, contact a roofing professional in your area for an expert stance. Most should provide free estimates.

Prophylactic roofs: repairs made easy with peel-and-seal tape

For condom EPDM roofs, skin-and-seal tape is perfect. You can cut it to the exact size and shape you need to get around vents and hatches. Just be sure and put down some Weatherbond primer first. This will help the tape to adhere completely.

Repairing shingle roofs

If you have a missing shingle or two, yous tin generally make this repair yourself. Just insert the new shingle under the one above it, aligning information technology to the pattern all around. Then boom information technology in place.

If your shingle roof needs a repair more complex than this, it'due south all-time to call in the professionals.

Mobile Home Door Repair

Photograph courtesy of Carrie Savage, finalist in the 2016 Mobile Abode Makeover Contest .

The exterior door to your mobile habitation is one of the nearly important barriers you lot accept against the weather. If information technology isn't in tip-top shape, y'all'll lose estrus in the winter and Air-conditioning in the summertime. That ways higher energy bills.

Luckily, repairing or replacing your door is easier than you might call up.

Signs that y'all demand to repair your door

It's fairly piece of cake to tell if your door needs some love. If it doesn't fit into the door jamb like information technology used to, then something has probably shifted. Often this means the hinges are non holding the door at the proper angle anymore. It may exist a simple matter of tightening swivel screws that accept started to pull away from the wall or the door itself. Alternately, y'all may need to replace your hinges.

If you adjust and/or supplant your hinges, and the door still doesn't fit, you may take a more serious trouble with your wall shifting. In that instance, no corporeality of door repair is going to aid.

If your knob is getting stuck, or if you're having trouble unlocking and locking your door, try lubricating information technology commencement. Unremarkably, a squirt of WD-40 is enough to bring an one-time lock back to life. If you try that and still run across problems, it may be time to supervene upon the knob and lock assembly.

Accept a look at your conditions stripping, likewise. This gets and so much vesture, information technology's frequently the first thing to go on a mobile dwelling door. Luckily, it's easy to supervene upon.

Signs that you should replace your door

Mobile habitation doors clothing out fast. Sometimes, none of the to a higher place remedies will assist. If the screw holes in your door are stripped, for example, y'all won't be able to tighten them to bring the door back up to the proper angle. In that example, there is no culling but to install a new door.

If your door is bulging or warped, it's time to supervene upon it. If any of the door's components or moldings are pulling autonomously, you should replace it as soon as possible.

If your knob assembly is breaking downward and the expanse that holds the knob in the door is worn out as well, y'all will need to replace your door.

Getting the right door

Notation: Mobile home doors are Not the same size as doors for site-congenital homes! In other words, that cute door at Lowe's probably won't fit your doorway without modification.

The simplest thing is to buy a door that's designed specifically for a mobile dwelling.

How to mensurate your door

Measure the width of the door from the inside of 1 jamb to the inside of the other jamb. Do not measure the width of the door itself, or the width of the frame.

Mensurate the height of the door from the within of the summit jamb to the floor.

Select the nearest size. E.g., for a rough opening that measures 33 ½" broad and 75 ½" tall, yous would select a 34"x76" door.

Installing your new door

For most mobile home doors, installation volition exist similar to the instructions here. Notwithstanding, you should follow the installation instructions that come with your door.

For near all installations, you lot volition demand a curlicue of putty record to create the seal around your new door. If your door is not pre-drilled for a deadbolt, y'all volition need to create that pigsty.

Mobile Dwelling Window Repair

Photograph courtesy of Marian Frey, finalist in the 2022 Mobile Habitation Makeover Contest.

Issues with mobile dwelling windows generally autumn into ii categories:

1. Broken glass
2. Window frame issues

If you take cleaved glass, you can choose to supersede the glass, or you can supervene upon the whole window. (More on that below.) If you lot have a trouble with the window frame, you volition need to supplant the whole window.

Window pane replacement

If you lot have 1 broken pane in your window, it may exist cheaper to replace the glass only. However, note that this is far more difficult than replacing the entire window—and it will only exist cheaper if you lot accept the skills to practice this yourself. If you practise, you know what you're doing. If not, you should supercede the entire window unit.

Window frame replacement

First off, you demand to measure your existing window. The video below explains how. If the video doesn't piece of work, seestep iii below.

Mobile home window replacement is a adequately simple job. Exact instructions will depend on the window you purchase. Notwithstanding, the video below gives a general view of the procedure.

Basic procedure for replacing a mobile home window:

Remove the old window. Unscrew the screws and pull out the window frame.
Remove any old caulking that did non come with the old frame.
Measure the width and meridian of the resulting hole in the wall. Do Not measure out the old window frame.
Your new window should exist ¼" greater in elevation and width than the part of the window that fits into the hole.
Note: if the existing window hole is not foursquare to the floor, or if it is more than 1/8" out of square, the new window volition not fit properly. Yous volition take to address this problem before replacing the window.
On the exterior of the home, cheque the fit of the window. Brand sure in that location are no gaps between the outer flange of the window frame and the material that it will contact once installed. Make certain the wall is structurally sound and prepare to hold a new window.
If there are gaps, it's possible the flange was damaged in shipping. If so, effort to straighten the mounting flange before installing the window. If there are gaps that are due to defects in the wall of the home, you must address these bug before installing the window. Gaps will let air and water to enter, which will damage your home.
Close the new window unit while installing information technology.
Apply a ¼" continuous strip of sealant caulk to the backside of the mounting flange. If y'all're using a caulk that dries, brand certain you get the window installed before the caulk sets up.
If you need to shim the window to get a square fit, do then Simply on the underside. Never place shims on summit of the window. Doing so will place building loads on the window, which could cause it to fail. Place shims beneath the extreme corners of the window as necessary. Too place shims every 12" on center to support the weight of the window. Failure to follow this shim technique will cause the window to warp.
With the window held firmly against the exterior wall, begin installing the screws that will concord information technology in identify. Get-go with a screw pigsty in the eye of 1 of the sides. And so put a screw in the middle of the opposite side, then the center of the caput, then the center of the sill. This is like installing a wheel on a car; you lot want to distribute the pressure evenly so the window doesn't get plain-featured.
After gently screwing down the center of each side of the window, bank check to make certain information technology opens and closes freely. If not, remove the window, adjust the shims as necessary, and try again. If it operates freely and all sides read as foursquare, proceed to install the remainder of the screws. Move out from the center to the corners on each side. Do Not over-tighten the screws, or you will deform the window.

Mobile Home Flooring Repair

Photo courtesy of Carrie Barbarous, finalist in the 2016 Mobile Abode Makeover Contest .

Under carpet and other materials, many older mobile homes take the cheapest flooring imaginable: particle board. This stuff is easily damaged past moisture. Once it gets wet, it will retain that water, and the water spreads easily throughout information technology.

Life happens. Sometimes a piping breaks nether the sink, or the family dog upsets his water basin while no one is home. Unfortunately, small incidents like this can cause crippling harm to mobile home flooring.

Luckily, replacing your flooring is easier than yous might think. You can lay new plywood over the damaged particle board, then put downwardly the tile or carpet of your choice. As DoItYourself.com suggests, you can even reuse your carpet if you lot want—only be conscientious when pulling information technology up. It'south like shooting fish in a barrel to rip. Equally that same article suggests, y'all should use 0.75" plywood rated for outdoor use.

Notation: placing plywood over your existing low-quality flooring will raise the overall meridian of your floor. This should not be an issue, generally speaking. If you're concerned, you lot can cover your new floor with linoleum, which volition create a thinner overall impression than carpet.

If you make up one's mind to cut out the damaged patches and fill them with plywood, take note: you MUST ensure you don't cut the underlying joists when cutting out the damaged flooring. This could impair your habitation's structural integrity.

Also, bank check adjoining rooms for flooring damage. Often, moisture volition spread through the flooring, even under walls. If you have moisture-damaged floor between rooms, under a wall that is not supported by a joist, note that you CANNOT remove this flooring! As the Mobile Home Dr. explains, doing and then will impair your home's structural integrity.

Mobile Dwelling Shower and Tub Repair

Photo courtesy of Carrie Brutal, finalist in the 2016 Mobile Dwelling Makeover Contest .

If you have any kind of leak in your shower, tub, or associated plumbing, information technology's essential to repair it every bit presently equally possible. Leaks travel fast in walls and floors. Even a few days of leakage can cause serious damage to your home.

Luckily, mobile abode shower repair is easier than you might think. Y'all can practice many repairs yourself.

Repairing a croaky bathtub or shower pan

A cracked tub or shower pan can cause severe water damage to any wood below or nearby. Think, leaks travel in unpredictable ways. That means the area direct under the leak might not be the but expanse that'due south affected. Information technology'southward crucial to repair a cracked tub or shower pan right away.

A bath repair epoxy kit is a quick and like shooting fish in a barrel fashion to take care of cracks. The epoxy works on plastic, fiberglass, and ceramic and dries completely sealed and waterproof. It sets up in twenty minutes, and you can use information technology on cracks that are less than 5" long. For larger repairs, you can get multiple kits.

Replacing a bathtub faucet

Yous can usually supplant your bathtub faucet yourself, though be advised, you may have the fixture off and find damage which yous didn't know existed. That said, here are the basics of replacing your mobile domicile bathtub faucet:

Shut off the water.
Accept off the old faucet. Loosen basics by hand or use pliers if they're as well tight.
Clean the expanse backside the sometime faucet if necessary.
Put plumber's putty around the inside edge of the new faucet.
Mountain the new faucet on the wall. Cheque for alignment before tightening the basics.
Hook upwards the water to the new faucet. Use fittings every bit necessary.
Plough the water on and run your new faucet for a while. Scout for leaks.

Replacing a bathtub or shower pan

Eventually, your bathtub or shower pan will give up the ghost. It could be cracked beyond repair, plain-featured and leaking at the caulking, or then filthy that yous just can't clean it anymore. All of these bug are signs that information technology's fourth dimension for a new tub or pan.

By and large, it'southward best to leave this kind of repair to a professional. Buy the tub that will await best in your bathroom and hire a contractor to install it.

Mobile Home Furnace Replacement

What size of furnace do y'all need?

First things first: you lot CANNOT replace your mobile home gas furnace with a furnace for a site-built abode. Doing so can put you and your family unit at run a risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. The ii furnace types work very differently and require unlike venting and duct systems. You need a furnace that is designed for a mobile home or manufactured dwelling.

Your existing mobile habitation furnace may or may not be powerful plenty to oestrus your abode. The furnace power you need depends on two factors: your home's square footage, and the climate where y'all alive.

In warm climates, you can generally estimate that you'll need 25-35 BTUs per foursquare foot. In cold climates, you should estimate 45-lx BTUs per square pes.

Multiply these figures by your home'southward square footage. That will requite you the minimum BTU rating which your new furnace should have. If y'all choose a furnace beneath this minimum, your new unit will not rut your home effectively. It volition have to run all the fourth dimension, which volition cost you far more than in the long run than ownership the furnace you really need.

Also accept note of whether you accept a gas furnace or an electric furnace. Though you can switch from one to the other, it's far less work (and much cheaper) to replace your furnace with a new i that uses the same power source. Then you lot don't accept to run new electrical lines or new gas lines.

Replacing a gas furnace in your mobile domicile

Unfortunately, unless you lot are a licensed gas technician, you can't replace a gas furnace yourself. However, you lot Tin become the right gas furnace for your mobile dwelling, and you tin can do some research every bit well as ready the area for your contractor to work in.

Look up HVAC technicians in your expanse who specialize in mobile homes. Call up, mobile habitation furnaces are completely different from site-built furnaces. They're smaller, they're designed to sit down safely up confronting walls, and they connect to smaller ducts. And so make sure your contractor specializes in mobile home heating.

Information technology's a good idea to get several estimates. Notwithstanding, don't base your concluding choice on price lone. If you can, try to go a sense of the contractor's reputation and quality of work. If the contractor has a website, you can look at their Google reviews. If you lot have a friend who recently replaced their furnace, enquire who they used and how information technology went.

Lesser line, you lot want to take the contractor who offers a good toll—every bit long as he or she is reputable and trustworthy.

Set up your abode for your contractor past doing the obvious. Create a clean path of entry from the door to the furnace room. Remove anything that might stand in the way of the work. If y'all have pets or children, make appropriate arrangements to go on them away from the work zone.

It helps to exist hospitable. Yous can always offering your contractor a snack or something to drink. Good will goes a long fashion, and it's the right matter to exercise.

Replacing an electric furnace in your mobile habitation

If y'all accept an electric furnace that needs to exist replaced, you're in luck: you can practise this repair yourself. If you don't want to bother with all the technical details, you can as well hire a contractor.

The first step is to select the correct electrical furnace for your mobile abode. In that location are two popular options in the realm of mobile habitation electric heating: Nordyne electrical furnaces and Coleman/Revolv electrical furnaces. Apply the method in the diagram above to calculate how many BTUs you demand to heat your dwelling house.

After y'all've selected the right furnace, it's fourth dimension to gear up your home.

Accept a look at your existing furnace. You may demand to replace some or all of the hoses connected to information technology. You may also need a new return grill assembly, duct connector, or thermostat.

First, plough off the electricity at the furnace itself. And then plow off the electricity for your entire dwelling. This is a double prophylactic measure. As a triple check, use a voltmeter to brand sure that the voltage actually is turned off.

Disconnect the electric cords and the circulation hoses from the furnace. Remove the old furnace and put the new i in its place. Reattach the electrical connections and the tubing. If the furnace is intended to be screwed to the wall, install those screws at this time. Plough the electricity back on just later on everything else is finished.

As a last pace, test your furnace. Turn information technology on and allow it to run for a while. Check to make sure that it is producing heat as it should.

The Bottom Line

Mobile home repair is easier than you might recall. With a little noesis, a little elbow grease, and the right parts, you can proceed your home in tiptop shape for years to come. There's a certain satisfaction that comes with doing things yourself. At present get out there and tackle that repair that you've been dreading. Hither'southward to the DIY spirit!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, Nov 16th, 2022 at 2:21 pm and is filed under DIY Instructional Videos, DIY Project Eye, Mobile Habitation Roof Repair. You tin follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.