Sooooo many months ago, I posted on our facebook page that we were getting ready to have our double wide painted. People asked me to share our experience, and soooo many months later, I am finally getting around to telling you all about it! After 17 years of remodeling the inside of our home, we decided that, perhaps, it was time we start doing something about the outside.
If you’ve ever taken the siding off of your double wide or mobile home for any reason, you may have seen that there is barely anything there to insulate your home. Especially if it was built before 1996. There is probably the siding, a pathetic layer of wrap that is the consistency of the little sheet of foam that sits on top of a Whitman’s Sampler, then the studs for the walls, and, if you’re lucky, there might be some R11 insulation, and then the gypsum board with the ugly flower print on it on the inside. That’s it! No, there isn’t any Tyvek wrap, no R30 insulation, no sheets of plywood forming the exterior walls. Nooooooo….that would make sense!
Anyhoo, we contemplated taking all of the siding off, putting wood exterior walls on the outside of the studs, then wrapping in Tyvek. Then we would install new siding. We got an estimate of $14,000 for this job on our 26×48′ exterior walls. This really sounded like a great estimate at first. And it still does, if we hadn’t already recovered nearly all of the interior walls in our home with some sort of thicker wall covering. Whether it be luan, heavy duty wall paper, sheet rock, or tongue and groove knotty pine, we have covered almost all of them with a product that seals them better from the weather outside.
We had always been told that painting vinyl siding was a really bad idea and that after a few years it would look terrible. But, we got an estimate from a great contractor that we have found and had him do the job. He gave us great advice, had used the products before, and told us how to care for it once finished. The estimate was under $1600.00. Yep. That’s right. Under $1600.00. So, here’s the scoop on the products and the job and the issues we’ve had since we had it done 6 months ago.
Here’s a pic of our house pre-paint.
The shutters on the house were the same ones that came with it and had been spray painted various colors over the years about 5 times. They had to go too. So, we purchased new shutters and decided on some colors for the house, shutters, and doors.
The paint that was recommended was Behr Premium Plus Ultra Exterior Stain Blocking Paint and Primer in One (Flat). The product information is as follows:
- Soap and water clean up
- Good for use on wood, vinyl, aluminum, fiber cement, siding, metals, steel, brick, masonry, stucco, and fences.
- Limited Lifetime Guarantee
- After 4 weeks of curing, paint can be cleaned with non-abrasive liquid detergent.
- When using on vinyl, you must choose the same or lighter color than the existing one that’s on the house.
- 2 hour dry time, 4 hour re-coat time
(Update: It has been 3 years since we painted and it still looks fantastic. No chipping or peeling at all. Many have inquired about the colors we used. Here it is!- Shutters: Behr Ultra Base 4853 Ultra Exterior Flat Matte Color: #1002-7A Regal Plum /House siding: Behr Ultra Base 4854 Ultra Exterior Flat Matte Color:#6006-1C Ivory Brown)
We sought estimates from 3 different people. One thing we found troubling was that two of them quoted us a price for 1 coat and then another prices for 2 coats. Personally, if you are going to paint my house, and guarantee it for any length of time, you would think you would want it to be done well. If it takes two coats to do that, then so be it. So, I wanted a quote that included two coats only and a guarantee that that’s how many we would get. They also painted the shutters and installed them. The estimate we chose was with a local contractor who guaranteed his work for 1 year and the paint had a limited lifetime guarantee. His estimate was $1370. 00. Yep, you read that right. $1370.00!
Two men worked on the house for 3 days and the process went like this:
- They washed the exterior of the house.
- Sealed off windows and stairs front and back.
- Hand painted top, bottom, and side edges and around windows and doors.
- Painted the whole house using a paint sprayer, then applied another coat the next day.
- Did touch-up around entire house and painted and installed shutters.
- Cleaned up all mess.
The house looks fantastic. We are so happy with the job they did and the colors we chose. Once the house was painted we also had new gutters installed and everything was as it should be. You can’t even believe how much a couple of coats of paint can change your home. We talk about it often about the inside of the house, how painting a room can make it feel fresh and new. But painting the exterior of the house will literally make it feel like you have a new house. We do not regret making this choice over the new siding at all. Who knows, maybe several years from now we will decide it’s time to have the insulation and new siding done. But for now, we are very happy, and saved ourselves $12,000.
The gallery below includes lots of pics of the process.
[flagallery gid=8 name=”House Painting”]
The house was painted in April of this year. It is now the end of October. So far, so good. The only issue we have had is due to expansion of the siding. Some pieces in the back of the house (the East side) have separated a bit, we believe due to the heat it gets in the morning. These separations have shown where there is old paint. There might be 10 spots where it has done this and they can easily be filled in with a small craft paint brush. All in all, we are thrilled with the final product. So much so, we had the same contractor put in our new concrete patio and build new stairs to the back door. If you want a refreshing new start next Spring, give some thought to painting the outside of your home. We love it!
Happy remodeling!
The McGees
Can anyone recommend a contractor in the Anaheim, Calif. area? Interested in exterior paint and new concrete steps.
I'm a single, sr. woman and hope to find someone that will give a fair deal and not try and take advantage of my age and gender.
Thanks so much. c.
The first time I ever helped replace siding on a manufactured home I really thought they ripped the buyer off because there was no shell or even a plastic membrane. It was an '86 double wide and it had siding, a little bit of insulation and the interior walls. The siding was attached straight to the studs. I couldn't believe that was all there was too it. Love my house, but want to remove the strips between the interior panels. I've been thinking a lot but found your information about painting the outside most helpful and inspirational. Have you some inspirational methods of doing away with those wall strips?
Thank you for visiting and commenting. You can find our post on wall strip removal at this link: http://www.mymobilehomemakeover.com/2011/08/get-r…
If you take a look at the comments, others have shared their solutions there as well.
Yes, the problem with having little to no insulation or surrounding membrane to the exterior of a manufactured home is really a problem. But, then, we are never surprised by the weird things we find in the construction of our home!
I am getting ready to purchase my first manufactured home, and it has hideous wallpaper. I’d like to paint over it. How can I remove the wallpaper or should I just paint over it?
Thanks for your comment. Yes, we have painted over the wallpaper. It isn't really "wallpaper" as we know it. It's gypsum board with a printed vinyl layer glued to it. This makes it very hard to remove. I have had great success applying a coat of Glidden Gripper on the walls and then applying Valspar or Behr paint with primer in it. Good luck with your project!
I really want to paint my home with a darker colour. Deep red with green trim, in fact. It’s a recently updated, 1978, single wide. What will happen if I do paint it darker??!!
Thanks for your comment, Brenda. We were advised not to paint our home a darker color. I think the concern was that it would heat up more and the vinyl siding would shrink up and show the seams where the siding comes together more. We chose a lighter color and have had great success. I think we're going on about 6 years with the same paint job and no problems with peeling or chipping yet. We used flat Behr paint for siding, shutters, and front door. It's been great. Good luck with your project!
I do have a biased opinion but you may try siding. Vinyl siding would be more expensive at first but if it is done right then you never have to paint again. Vinyl siding has a layer of insulation which would help in bringing down utility cost which helps to defray the initial expense. The key is to find a reputable siding contractor with experience and references. Get at least three quotes so you have a good feel for cost for installation. Most siding have long warranties and will last a long long time. Just a suggestion and I enjoy your blog.
Thank you for the suggestion, Lee. And also for visiting our site. We have debated for years what to do with our siding. We had it painted 5 years ago now and it still looks great. It really had to do with the fact that they sprayed the paint and they did it slowly and evenly, adding a second coat after it dried. This year, we had an energy audit done because we thought insulated siding was going to be the best improvement we could make energy-wise. We had two audits, two perspectives given. One said, insulated siding is THE WAY TO GO! The other said, no, insulate in the walls better, put exterior board up and then tyvek, then put regular siding on. Ugh…We gave up and bought a heat pump for energy savings instead.
No doubt, if our siding started looking bad, we would definitely replace it. It just looks so great with the new paint still, that we can't bear to part with it. We did have a new roof done 6 years ago and that was a great investment. Sorry we don't live in Kentucky, we could have used your business!
Have a great Turkey Day.
I'm 70 yrs old and have to paint exterior of my 1984 mobile home. I need tips on what to do from beginning to finished. Please help, it is 16×80 I don't kno where to start
Hi Ernestine. Thanks so much for visiting and commenting.
The most important things to accomplish are to find a good painter who will paint the siding of a manufactured home. Second, choose the best paint. We used Behr exterior paint. If you look at our post that you commented on, we give the paint and colors used.
Prep is important. You may need to scuff the surface a bit before painting for better adherence. Be sure to power wash the home and let dry thoroughly.
Then, use a sprayer to paint the home. Find a painter who will paint it until it's done for the same cost. Don't hire someone who charges for one coat and additional for another coat. When you get your home painted, a painter should be able to paint it until it is painted well and looks good with nothing showing through. Don't get soaked for one coat and then have them tell you you need to pay more to make it look right.
Those are the best tips I can give you aside from what's in the post you've commented on about painting our home.
Good luck with your project!
Large manufactured home ,Paint est. 3,500.00 I was a state contracter in another state,plumbing that was a plumbing bid for all new pipes,street to back. I have researched,painted most interior now my friend and I will buy pro equipment. I bet I save 2000.00 bucks.Had to retire early And looking forward to tips and professional advice. Thanks
Thanks for your comment, Paul.
We love the paint job we had done on our home. It's been about 4 years now and it is still really great. I highly recommend it. We have not been pleased with Behr paint products for other projects, but I have to say, it has really held up extremely well in this circumstance. Good luck with your paint project. If you have a chance, please take some pics and share them with us on our facebook page so we can all see. We love to see what other folks are doing with their homes!
/www.facebook.com/mobilehomemakeover
Question
Just purchased 16×80 Mobil home which is light grey in color. Would same color skirting look good as white looks hard to keep clean. And what about trim color
Hi Kathy. Yes, I think it can look great the same color. We recently rebuilt our skirting and painted it the same color as our house. We love it! You are correct, white is really hard to keep clean. Good luck with your project and congratulations on your home purchase!
Can someone tell me how to find someone who does skirting? I am having a difficult time finding one in the Denver Colorado area. I would like to buy the skirting that looks like rocks. If anyone, ANYONE out there. please let me know. Here is my email address: [email protected]…….thank you..stephanie
Thanks for visiting, Stephanie! We appreciate it.
We built and installed our own skirting. I imagine if you find a good general contractor by word of mouth, they should be able to install existing or build new for you. You may also be able to find a list of people who do this work by contacting any local mobile home sales offices or mobile home park offices. The one we have a house in in Florida keeps a list of people that are local contractors for various services pertaining to mobile homes. Another resource may be a mobile home parts store in your area. They likely have people they know who are contractors who do this type of work.
Good luck to you!
I saw that you built your own skirting. Can you tell me how you did that? We want new skirting but hate the thought of $25plus per 48 inches!
Welcome, Christine, and thank you for visiting our site! Yes, we did build our own skirting. We have done it twice in 20 years now. But the second time was much easier because we did such a great job the first time. We use pressure treated 2×4 framing attached to the underside edge of the home. We cover it with regular 1/2 inch plywood. Nothing fancy because we stain it with Olympic Elite stain. The stain is a little more expensive than most, but the first time we used the Olympic Maximum and it only needed to be stained once more in the 10 years and it looked great all through.
We decided to rebuild last year because we are getting old enough where we knew we wouldn't want to do it again ourselves while we are living here. So, we pulled the old plywood off and lo and behold, the pt 2x4s were still in excellent condition, so all we needed to do was reposition and brace some that had bowed a bit and recover with new plywood sheets. This time, we used the next step up stain, Olympic Elite, to protect because I think that is a 30 year stain.
We also have a terrible time with critters around here because we live in a very rural area. I just walked out my front door ten minutes ago and 3 adult rabbits and no less than 10 babies ran out of my door yard. Red squirrels and chipmunks have taken up housekeeping under our home in the past. I HATE THIS!!! So, we made sure to trench out 4-6 inches and set the 2×4 framing into that trench a bit, then covered with plywood, filled in the trenching, then edged with #2 stone. This keeps them out for the most part.
We build two access doors into the skirting- one where the water comes up out of the ground (front of the house) and another where it feeds into the house and the heat tape plugs in (back of the house). These consist of 2×4 framing on the inside of one of the sections of plywood skirting and cutting a door out of it. Then trim the door so it has an edge that sits on the outside of the opening and screw it in on each corner.
I hope this helps!
Oh yes. It's very old but in good shape; I'm doing a complete make-over starting in the fall. I'll send pix as I get started.
Terrific! Can't wait to see it.
Can I do anything with a single wide with the typical metal siding? I have done a good remodel on inside , also replaced exterior decks, I am saving to have vinyl put on, however in mean time what is your suggestion to freshen up the exterior . I have the money to add shutters , I am replacing front door and glass door, I am also replacing back door. I am a single father of two boys, this seemed like the smart way to go with a used 16×80 for cost effectiveness and the rite amount of space for us, I just want the outside to look as good as I can make it until I have the money too add vynyl ! Please help
Joel, thanks for visiting our site. It's a really smart way to go with a single wide to keep costs down and have the perfect amount of space. There is so much you can do to personalize and improve your spaces in a single-wide home to make it your own cozy home. I think you could very well paint the exterior of your home, even if it is metal siding. There are lots of tutorials online about how to paint metal siding. Just be sure to wash the chalky look to it off well, it must be very clean, then prime it, the paint with quality paint.
We painted our home to buy us time before investing in siding. At this point, I don't think we would ever buy new siding. It is vinyl, so it will last forever (so will metal if it doesn't rust) and we would just paint it again if needed, that's how great it looks. We used Behr paint on our vinyl siding and we're going on 4 years without a chip. It looks fantastic and is sicking fast. It drastically improved our 20 year old gray siding and we love it. Paint your shutters a complementary color and it will look fantastic. We used flat paint. You don't want any sort of shine with house paint.
As for other things you can do to the outside, google gardens and decks and porches and patios and cupolas and outdoor spaces. Search these on Pinterest too and you will find a million ideas. We also have a home in a manufactured home community with over 280 homes in it. We loved to just take walks or drive around our community and see what other people were doing to decorate or improve the outsides of their homes. Some people were very creative! Please feel free to share pics of your home. We'd love to see the projects you complete or have questions on. You can share them here on our blog or on our facebook page any time. https://www.facebook.com/mobilehomemakeover/
Happy remodeling!
Hi! Love your site. I was curious why you said to only paint the same color or lighter.
Thanks.
Thanks for visiting, Steffany. As with any painting, it's easier to paint over a darker color than a lighter color. If you have a light colored house and you decide to paint it dark grey, it will require more coats than if you did it the other way around. It would be more costly to paint three coats on our house than just two. I know it seems counter-intuitive to think it's harder to cover a light color, but it is!
Two coats should be enough to paint your home.
Are you considering painting your home?
I think they said it had something to do with the paint trapping heat and making the vinyl expand poorly. Gotta love physics, I guess!
Imported wooden houses
We are in process of buying a 1980 double wide in Mesa AZ. It has good bones, but does need a good paint job, double pane windows, and some landscaping. Reading your blog has given me confirmation that we will be happy we did this. Thanks for letting us into your process.
Sure thing, Sue! Thanks so much for visiting and commenting. We have had great experiences with all of these things. Just found a pic on an old photo cd today of our home the month we put it in place. It looks soooooo different now with new windows, a paint job, and some landscaping. Good luck to you with all of your projects to make your home your own…
The McGees
thank you
I love your site, gives me hope. We are in the process of remodeling our 1986 double wide. What kind of skirting do you have, I really like the way it looks?
Thanks for visiting and commenting, Sue. We built the skirting. It is made with 2×4 framing and plywood fronts. We dug out a bit of a trench-4-6 inches or so, and put the skirting down into the ground just a bit so we would have less critters digging under it. It has lasted for about 8 years now and we've never had to re-stain it yet. We used Olympic Maximum Stain Sealant on it. Thanks for your note. We love how it turned out too!
Hi. Your house looks beautiful. I was curious as to what was the square footage of your home? I, myself, am a contractor and am looking around to see what people consider fair prices for painting a mobile home. Your article is beautifully written and your home is lovely.
Hi Carlos! Thanks for commenting. Our home is a 26×48' home (without the hitch). So, approximately 1250 sq feet. of living space. You can calculate the size of the exterior walls by the length and width plus the fact that the roof is a 5/12 pitch. So I think the height at the center highest height is 8 feet and the shortest end is 83 inches.
I hope this helps!
Good luck with this. We LOVE our painted siding on our manufactured home.
The whole thing was about 1600$ with two coats including the shutters and the doors.
The McGees
Our home was built pre-1996 (around 1994-95) and it is horrible to heat in the winter time. I am looking into remodeling to make it more energy efficient and saw you commented on what an estimated cost for you to have possibly done this to your own home would have been. What have you done to make your home more energy efficient? Between what I'm paying in a mortgage and what my energy bill cost each month in the winter time (I live in Southern Indiana so this time from can run from October into late April), I could purchase a more energy efficient, stick built home. But, the home is part of my minor daughters' estate from the passing of their father and has to remain in the estate until both girls are of an age to decide what they want to do with the property (at least another 10 years), so there's not much of a choice in regards to being able to move. I figured I'd rather spend some money up front to make the home more efficient and affordable instead of having to pay a minimum of $400 per month electric bill (which the majority of this is just for the heating of the home) for the next 10 years.
Hi! And thanks for visiting and commenting.
Making manufactured homes built pre-1996 is a challenge. HUD made changes to the standards of manufactured homes right around that time. Our home was built before the upgrade in standards as well and it really was a challenge…and to some extent, it still is.
The most important thing we did was to put in all new windows. View my post on that here: http://www.mymobilehomemakeover.com/2013/08/reade…
The entire cost for all of the windows was under 1500$ and we installed them ourselves. It shouldn't cost much per window to have new ones installed as the place provided at the link for that post that has mobile home windows has just about every size mobile home window you could imagine. Even odd sizes…and aren't they all!?!!
We also covered our interior walls with either another layer of wall board, beadboard, knotty pine, or sheet rock. This adds to heat retention.
A real energy $$ saver for us has also been to heat with wood pellets. We have a Harman stove and we burn about 4 ton of pellets a year to heat 1500 sq. feet.
When we heated with our propane furnace exclusively, it cost us over $2400 a year to heat our home. Now…less than $1000 a year. It's clean and much easier than wood, almost no waste more efficient than wood or propane heat.
Our pellet stove has a thermostat on it so it will turn itself on and off when the room meets the desired temp. It generally runs non-stop all Winter, but it is nice that it shuts itself off on those Spring days when it is 50-60*.
One thing we have not done yet that I really think may help with energy costs even more is to insulate under the roof. If you don't see much snow on your roof in the Winter after a snowfall, you are losing too much heat out of your roof. It's melting on impact. If you have a peaked roof double-wide, you can pop open the area around the roof and look in and see a big wide open space without much insulation. Some nice blown insulation filling that space will keep that heat in your home instead of flying out of the top of your house. Blown insulation is not that expensive, and can even be purchased at the big box building stores to do yourself, I believe.
I hope these suggestions are helpful.
For keeping the home cool, which can also be a challenge, check out our post about that here: http://www.mymobilehomemakeover.com/2010/08/in-th…
Good luck to you. Please come back and let us know how you've decided to make your home more energy efficient!
The McGees
Just found your blog and am so grateful! I am thinking about buying an older mobile home. It looks like it is in good shape but I will want to do some remodeling. Painting the exterior was one of the first things I though I would do!
Thanks for all of your helpful advice! I will continue reading,,,
Thank you for visiting and commenting, Kathi!
We love the paint job we got for our house. It has held up through another winter. One thing that we did notice after the first Summer was the way the siding separates in some places as it expands and contracts in heat. It doesn't happen everywhere, but if it is vinyl siding it may do this and you may have a few little separations you will need to touch up. So I recommend having a quart of paint the same color as the one you choose for the house just in case you need to do some touch ups like this. If you visit the page of the post about house painting and look at the photo gallery of the project, I share a pic of this there so you can see what it's like. It's an easy fix, and may not happen at all. But it was the only issue we had with the paint job. http://www.mymobilehomemakeover.com/2013/10/can-i…
Good luck with your choice to purchase a mobile home. We love ours and even if/when we retire and move to warmer climes, will will live in a mobile home again.
Happy house hunting!
Let me start by saying WE LOVE YOUR SITE!!! It was so hard finding tips/advice on mobile home remodeling, in some sorts it seems to be unchartered territory!! Our questions are usually met by looks of confusion as if remodeling a mobile home is unspeakable! :-) We have found all of the information you share to be very inspiring when feeling defeated by the surprises our mobile home renovation throws our way! We thank you!!!
Question about the exterior painting process:
Do you know if the painters used any additives or conditioners when applying with paint sprayer? After some research we have been directed towards different additives to ensure an even spray and to keep hubby’s paint sprayer from clogging, some being mildew resistant(which Behr paint already does), some offering “additional insulation,” and then other basic conditioners for spray application. The Behr site recommends diluting with water for sprayer application. Any opinion or advice on the subject? Convincing the Hubby to jump head first into our complete Reno was a feat in itself, LOL, now that he is on board and excited, I want to make sure we cover all our bases!! Thanks again for sharing your fab experience!
Thanks for stopping by and taking a moment to comment! It sounds like you have gotten some makeover mojo going and that is really half the battle…finding the motivation and believing you can do learn and get it done. It used to drive me crazy when we first started doing our own remodeling and people would suggest you can't do this and you can't do that. I didn't want to hear that. My dad was certified for home inspection and worked managing public housing for decades. Once he told us to stop listening to those people and believe that we can put almost anything in our house that you can put in a stick built house, I went hog-wild dreaming up new things to do. No more going to Lowes and just accepting that I had to buy the cheap chrome painted plastic sink fixtures for mobile homes…no, I bought a beautiful oiled bronze faucet <a href="http:// (http://www.mymobilehomemakeover.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/kitchensink-225×300.jpg)” target=”_blank”> <a href="http://(http://www.mymobilehomemakeover.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/kitchensink-225×300.jpg)” target=”_blank”>(http://www.mymobilehomemakeover.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/kitchensink-225×300.jpg) and put it on a nice big lovely sink that isn't just inches deep!
I just asked our contractor and he said that with a good sprayer setup and the right tip and you should never have to add water to the paint. He said if you do add water it will make it run and you will have drips everywhere. He did a fantastic job and the paint job has now seen two summers and two NY winters and it still looks as great as it did the day he painted it. I watched them paint it and his sprayer was not sophisticated. The cost was so low that rather than re-side it before we retire and sell it, I would invest in painting it again…IF it even needs it.
Thanks for letting us know that we've inspired you. We love our home and really love working together. I've mentioned in some post that some jobs have involved all three- blood, sweat, and tears…tears from both of us! But, we step back, regroup, and refocus to get things done when we get frustrated. There are some things that we get stuck in our heads that we just don't want to do or "can't" do, but with the Internet and Youtube, you can find instruction almost everywhere that can make you feel more confident in getting things done. We do hire out work that we are unsure of that would implicate the safety of our home like sophisticated electrical work, but for the most part, we only hire out when we are too tired or too busy to get something done that we really just want done now.
Good luck to you both! Please visit us on facebook to share pics of your projects if you like. We'd love to see what you're doing!
great post.
Great site for mobile home makeover how about Remodeler contractor in Houston TX/a> any idea or recommendation for this matter? Thanks
Hi Ted! Thank you for visiting our site.
I am sorry to say, we don't know anyone in Texas. I wish I knew a great contractor for mobile home work in every state that I could share with all of you here. We have experienced some real trials working with ones that were not the greatest until we finally found one we trust in NY. Good luck to you in your search and if you do find a good one, please think of us and come back and share it with us. I'd love to start a list on our site!
All the best,
The McGees
Hi Ted, we’re remodeling our 1986 single wide mobilehome. It’s on our Desert property in Ocotillo Wells, CA. It has two tip outs… we’re thinking about adding another bedroom and bath. Your idea of painting the outside sounds great! My husband is a contractor so we’ll be doing all the work. Thank you for the information. I’ll let you know how it goes
Thanks for visiting and posting Carol. I wish you good luck with your remodeling. Is Ocotillo Wells in Northern California? We've thought about moving to that area when we get ready to retire. Our exterior painting went really well and was really inexpensive. Still holding up through sweltering summer and freezing cold here in NY. You're lucky your husband is a contractor. That will really save you a lot of money and he already knows so much! Half of every job we've done consisted of learning how to do it…that takes a lot of time!
Please do come back and share your progress. You can share pics with us at our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/mobilehomemakeover
I'd love to see what you're doing!
All the best,
The McGees
Hi, It was my pleasure to read your story and learn more about the importance in remodeling a mobile home. My friend and I are in the process of purchasing a 1979 double mobile home that I really liked. It has a great layout that I really love. It needs to be completely repaired, I am talking from removing carpet, to changing bathroom tubs, sinks, fixing floors that are almost to touch the bottom floor. I am in Bakersfield CA an would like to know if you have any contacts in this city that can help with an estimate. Please help!!! thank you
Hi there, Bakersfield! Thanks so much for your comment. I'm so glad to hear you have purchased a mobile home and that you're preparing to give it new life!
I apologize that we don't know anyone in the Bakersfield area. We are in upstate New York and we have finally found a person who we trust to do some of the bigger jobs we just don't dare to do. This was not an easy score by any stretch. We had two other people who did not work out well for one reason or another and it was a great disappointment because we like to give people lots of business and referrals if they are good.
The person we found is an honest, humble, family man who we can call a friend. He gives us fair estimates, sticks to those estimates, and does great work. And when something isn't just as we had hoped, he fixes it. Because he operates this way, we have referred him to many people just this year which has given him lots of business. This is the sort of relationship we look for when having someone work on our home. I would recommend asking around, maybe even calling your chamber of commerce to see if there is a list of smaller contractors that are reputable. Ask them for references and always get a contract. Make sure the estimate has a little wiggle room for them in the event that something big goes wrong, but also make them stick to whatever arrangement you have made with them. I also like that we only give a portion of money up front which covers most supplies, and then pay the remaining balance upon completion.
Ask them if they have insurance and ask to see previous work they've done. Also, it's good to find someone that is known in your community and is likely to stay there and/or has been there for a long time. I hope this helps a bit. I know how hard it can be to find someone good. But when you do…be sure to keep them!
Good luck with your purchase and your search.
Happy Remodeling!
The McGees
By the way, how do you like Bakersfield? We are always interested in how people like living in mobile homes in warmer places. We have often thought we'd like to retire to a warmer place and buy a mobile home.
I am about to move my mobile home and will start remodeling it both inside and out. Thanks for this awesome post
Hi Cilla. Thanks again for commenting. It's such a treat to hear of more and more folks deciding to recycle homes in this way and putting their own personal touch and creativity into it. We wish you luck in the projects you are about to undertake. Enjoy the experience and please do come back and share what you've learned!
Happy Remodeling,
The McGees
Love my house, but want to remove the strips between the interior panels. I've been thinking a lot but found your information about painting the outside most helpful and inspirational. Have you some inspirational methods of doing away with those wall strips?
Debra- Thanks so much for commenting.
Your question is the most popular one we get on this site! We have found that covering with bead board, or taking the strips off carefully and filling with DAP and smoothing, then putting a nice textured paintable wallpaper painted with flat paint will give a nice covering for walls. We have also recovered the walls with luan (a thin sheet of wood that is often used as flooring underlayment) and then wallpapered with a quality paper over the luan. We have also used wainscot on lower walls. We've covered a whole room ceiling and walls with knotty pine tongue and groove wood (my favorite so far!). There are many options, but we have not often had luck with simply taking the strips off and filling the seems with a filler and then painting. If you do have success with this and are happy with the result, please do come back and share a link to some photos. People are always looking for inspiration regarding this topic. Any advice after to you do this project would be greatly appreciated.
Good luck with your work and happy remodeling!
The McGees
I see you have a double wide with siding, I am a single parent and to be cost effective and to have money for my kids ect , I purchased a 1996 used single with metal or whatever siding , the inside has been nicely redone but want to redo outside, for now I would like to have it painted while saving for siding, does this work on metal?
Hi Joel. I think I responded to you on another post about this. Yes! You can paint metal siding. Here's what I wrote in my other post to you in case you can't locate it.
Joel, thanks for visiting our site. It's a really smart way to go with a single wide to keep costs down and have the perfect amount of space. There is so much you can do to personalize and improve your spaces in a single-wide home to make it your own cozy home. I think you could very well paint the exterior of your home, even if it is metal siding. There are lots of tutorials online about how to paint metal siding. Just be sure to wash the chalky look to it off well, it must be very clean, then prime it, the paint with quality paint. We painted our home to buy us time before investing in siding. At this point, I don't think we would ever buy new siding. It is vinyl, so it will last forever (so will metal if it doesn't rust) and we would just paint it again if needed, that's how great it looks. We used Behr paint on our vinyl siding and we're going on 4 years without a chip. It looks fantastic and is sicking fast. It drastically improved our 20 year old gray siding and we love it. Paint your shutters a complementary color and it will look fantastic. We used flat paint. You don't want any sort of shine with house paint. As for other things you can do to the outside, google gardens and decks and porches and patios and cupolas and outdoor spaces. Search these on Pinterest too and you will find a million ideas. We also have a home in a manufactured home community with over 280 homes in it. We loved to just take walks or drive around our community and see what other people were doing to decorate or improve the outsides of their homes. Some people were very creative! Please feel free to share pics of your home. We'd love to see the projects you complete or have questions on. You can share them here on our blog or on our facebook page any time. https://www.facebook.com/mobilehomemakeover/ Happy remodeling!
Hi Debra, I removed the strips and used drywall tape and joint compound. I treated the walls the same as floating any other drywall, sanded and then painted. The sanding was very messy so I sealed off and did one room at a time. It has lasted 15 years with only a few small areas that have needed to be repaired. Always the same areas under 2 kitchen windows and 2 seams in one of my bathrooms. No problems anywhere else. I covered every inch of fake wallpaper and got rid of every strip in the house except for inside of closets. Still looks great and it's nice to be able to have painted walls.
Looks great. Nice to see someone use real colour on an exterior! We hope to paint ours next summer and can't wait .
Thanks for your comment, Cowgirl!
We love the paint. This is our first winter with the paint job and we're hoping that it stands up to our harsh NY winters. It was -9 when I got up this morning. Brrrrrrr!
Anyway…the colors came out great and they compliment all of the flowers and greenery we have around here. Good luck with your project…Please come back and share your experience here with us if you would. Everyone is always looking for inspiration and there aren't that many mobile home blogs around to do that on.
Happy Remodeling!
The McGees
The paint job really does make a difference! We also added concrete porches with extended roof lines, and one of the back porches is screened. We love it in the fall and spring, and on early summer mornings. We're still working on our master bath and master bedroom. It's taking forever – "life stuff" keeps taking our remodeling money, but we're getting there. I love your yellow flowers, and that purple bush! I look forward to seeing your future posts.
Thanks for your comment SweetPepperRose!
If you have pictures of the work you've done online, I'd love it if you would come back and share a link to it. It's great to see how other people create new spaces outdoors as well as indoors. Are you in a warm climate where you can enjoy the screened porches for long stretches? We are in NY so I'm not sure a screened porch would serve us very well. Life stuff does always get in the way. And by the way, don't let many people know you do this work yourselves. We have folks over and then they find out we can do stuff…we end up working for other people and then never have time for our own projects :-). We love to help out though and enjoy putting something nice together for other people. It's hard to say no.
Thanks again for commenting, and good luck with all of your projects. We'd love to see pics…you can share links here or on our facebook page.
Happy Remodeling!
The McGees
looking for a person to do work inside and out on my mobile home (198?) model can you give me your peoples company.
Hi there. Unfortunately, the person who does some of the work we don't feel like taking on is in Upstate NY so he isn't likely to travel to the south. Word of mouth is how we found him and we're really lucky to have connected with him. If you see work on someone else's mobile home that you think looks great, don't be afraid to ask the owner who did the work and if they were happy with the work experience. Good luck to you on your projects and happy remodeling!
The McGees
You picked wonderful colors for your home!
As always, you share a lot of great tips! I researched a bit about painting vinyl not to long ago and was told the exact same thing about it needing to be close to the same color or lighter. I think they said it had something to do with the paint trapping heat and making the vinyl expand poorly. Gotta love physics, I guess!
The first time I ever helped replace siding on a manufactured home I really thought they ripped the buyer off cause there was no shell or even a plastic membrane. It was an '86 double wide and it had siding, a little bit of insulation and the interior walls.The siding was attached straight to the studs. I couldn't believe that was all there was too it…
I hope my home can look as great as yours some day :)
Thanks for your comment, Crystal! We are so happy with our house painting endeavor and how it came out. I love pulling up to our house every day and since we added a concrete patio and built a huge pergola on the end, it just looks so inviting. I can't wait until the gardens come up again in the Spring so I can enjoy and entire Spring and Summer with things the way they are now. It feels like it's time for a little break to just enjoy some of the work we've done…and maybe a hot tub for that patio!
I know just what you're saying about how little there is under the siding. We were just amazed several years ago when we built the new wood skirting for the house. We had to take the lower siding pieces off in order to mount the 2×4 skirting frames to the bottom frame of the house. When I realized that there was just this little thin liner tacked on and then the studs…I just shook my head. No wonder so many mobile and manufactured homes have problems with mold on interior walls! Not much of a barrier from the elements there. We have recovered most of the walls INSIDE the house, so that adds some insulation and keeps things sealed tight. We do have insulation in the walls, but it's pre-HUD reg changes from 1996 that required a much thicker standard. Oh well…we work with what we have and we call it "home"!
I have several posts to get organized and up on the site with some pretty big projects that we've done this year. I can't wait to share them!
Thanks again for keeping up with us…your home is clearly loved as you share your hopes and appreciation for our mobile and manufactured owners community so regularly.
The McGees
I HAVE A MOBILE HOME and have been contemplating remodeling. I appreciate your website and will take into account your remodeling journey
Thanks for your comment Roxana. We hope you will return again and again to see what we've got going on. I have a few larger projects that I need to get posted and share that we've done over the last year. Good luck in your project planning!
The McGees