Howdy all! I have decided to remove the User Forum from this site since it doesn’t really seem to generate any discussion, but rather, just bogs down my site and makes it slower to run. I’m hoping that discussion will be active if I just get down to business and keep writing here…which is my real desire, but there is always some project going on around here!
On a happy note- I do have lots of photos and posts that I can share as soon as thing settle down for the Summer and I can get those thoughts together. There have been lots of new things happening here, things I’m dreaming about getting done, and lots of questions I’d like to ask all of you out there who like to make your mobile homes even “homier”.
So- on to the topic- since I’m removing the forum, I’m going to make a few posts with the topics from the forum that actually did have questions and responses there and I will open up all posts for comments from registered users. Yes, you must be registered to post, but that helps to keep the site more clear of spam for your viewing pleasure.
Here’s the Big Question of the Day-
How do you get rid of the strips that separate the wall board pieces in your mobile home?
MMHM Member “skrapwood” asked:
“Has anyone found a way around those lovely lattice strips they use to join drywall board without replacing the drywall all together? Either by decorating or another way of taping the seams? We tried using a stucco effect but the seams just cracked. And we tried just painting over them as if they didn’t exist but that doesn’t seem to work either, they are still there in all the wrong places.”
Me again:
I would love to hear all the ways people are doing it, whether you’ve had success, even if you’ve had not so much success, since we all want to know what is a bad idea in order to save ourselves time and money.
I’ll post the rest of the questions throughout the week if I find more. I know there’s one coming up about those infrared heaters. I’d really be interested in some lively conversation filled with your opinions on those. I’m not too optimistic!
Enjoy the rest of the weekend y’all. I hope you find the time to site back and enjoy your labors at your home rather than always laboring.
Remember, just say “no” to wall stripping!
Peace out-
The McGees
May 22, 2013 at 5:25 am
Thanks for all the ideas on how to get rid of the ugly strips..(Why do they do that?) I SIT HERE EVERYDAY trying to figure OUT HOW TO GET RID OF THEM. I have thought of the bead board and was pondering trying the spackle. I have also ordered some very real looking brick wallpaper (Vinyl) for an accent wall in the living room which will have a 60 inch flat screen on the wall with an electric fireplace piece below it so that will take away from any subtle remnants of the strips. Also hate that we have no molding around the floors..we are preparing to put in hardwool floors and will have our carpenter put the baseboards in for us. Has anyone tried to remove the large garden tubs and replaced them with a regular tub??? Bathrooms are next project :)
May 22, 2013 at 10:37 pm
Thanks for commenting, Trish!
It sounds like you have a good project or two in the works. Are you doing real hard wood? Or laminate wood look?
In our first bathroom remodel, we did remove a garden tub and replaced it with a really nice house-style bathtub. It is a deep tub and has a rope design around the edge. It was pretty easy to do. If the opening isn't big enough, it may require reworking the mini wall behind the tub to squeeze it in, but for the most part, that wasn't a problem for us. I blog about it here: http://www.mymobilehomemakeover.com/2010/08/mobil…
Good luck to you in your projects. And if you find a workable solution to the strips, please come back and share!
The McGees
November 6, 2011 at 3:07 pm
I am currently trying Fast 'N Final Lightweight Spackle by DAP ($6.00 at Lowe's) for filling the seems on a wall. I'm using my son's old room as an experimental room for different products. I am considering using Behr Texture paint and doing a "knock down" texture that can look like plaster. Has anyone used this product yet?
I'll report on my success or failure with the DAP product once I figure out what to do with this wall.
November 1, 2011 at 5:35 pm
I totally agree about the wainscot. I plan to use some in my living room with a light designer gray color. Pics of that will follow for sure :)
November 1, 2011 at 5:34 pm
I replaced some of that stripping. I found if you make sure the existing drywall is secured to the joists/wall you wont get that separation. I used a FINE spackle as opposed to the more thick kind. It's so much easier to work with and leaves a more perfect finish with less sanding. Also I used latex semi-gloss paint as it's more forgiving than matte finishes. It's not pristine but you'd really have to look very close at certain angles to tell. This to me is a much better alternative to the ugly strips of wood. I'll post before and after pics soon.
August 21, 2011 at 6:04 am
Here's the reply I sent Skrapwood on the forum:
Hi Skrapwood! Thanks so much for helping us to build our forum.
We have tried several different things and have had some successes and some failures. We spent a lot of money on a beautiful fabric wallpaper for our bedroom. We put a wide strip of wall repair plain wallpaper over the spots between the wallboard pieces. I think the strips we used were too wide as they are visible under the nice wallpaper.
Link to pic:
http://www.mymobilehomemakeover.com/wp-content/up…
In a bathroom we redid, we used only the wall repair wallpaper and painted it when we were done. This worked fairly well, but in some spots you can still tell there is an empty strip below the paper. A few things we have done to our walls that we are happy with are as follows:
In our living room, we used a spongy, thick wallpaper that looks like marble. We purchased it at Lowes. It was pretty inexpensive, like less than 15$ per roll. We put white wainscot on the bottom of many of our walls just to provide extra insulation on exterior walls, as well as to get rid of the empty strip sections you're talking about at least on the bottom of the walls. Plus, it looks more like a house with wainscot. Home Depot has a really simple, inexpensive wainscot product that comes with a top and bottom rail, then you get packages of 8" wainscot sections that slide into one another. It's so easy we've done a whole bathroom after work in an evening.
Livingroom pics:
http://www.mymobilehomemakeover.com/wp-content/up…
http://www.mymobilehomemakeover.com/wp-content/up…
The spongy wallpaper can also be purchased with a few different textures and colorless so you can paint it. Just look for wallpaper that suggests that it is for wall repair or covers bad walls. Lowe's has several to choose from. The wallpaper we special ordered for the bathroom I mentioned above wasn't as thick as I would have liked it. It's hard to judge when you are looking at it online.
I know you said you didn't want to replace the drywall, but we have replaced several walls (and even one ceiling in our bathroom) with beadboard. It looks fantastic, doesn't need to be painted, and when you use trim pieces to cover the seams, you get a "cottage" look that just looks great.
We have tried spackling it. HUGE mistake. One of the biggest, most depressing blunders we have ever had while remodeling our mobile home. I do not recommend it at all.
I hope some of these ideas spark new ideas for you. Please feel free to reply and ask about any of them. I'm happy to elaborate. And, as always, if you find a great solution to this really annoying problem for all mobile home owners (right up there with popcorn ceilings!), please come back and share your solution with us all here.
Good luck!
Beth and Darren