How to Remodel the Walls in a Mobile Home
The walls in mobile homes are thinner than the walls in stick built houses. They lack proper insulation and can always benefit from having some added. If you would like to replace the old ugly paneling in your mobile home and remodel the walls, consider adding R 11 insulation before installing the new wall board.
Doing this will help you to drastically reduce heat loss and drafts, and will also help to keep your energy bills lower. Once you have installed the insulation and attached the new wallboard the wall will be ready to finish.
Things You Will Need
- Claw hammer
- Pry bar
- Cordless drill
- R 11 insulation, several rolls
- Stapler
- 1/2-inch staples
- Duct tape
- Paneling, 4-foot wide by 8-foot long sheets
- Sheetrock 4-foot wide by 8-foot long sheets
- Finishing nails or 2-inch sheetrock screws
- Sheetrock knife to cut sheetrock if used
- Circular saw to cut paneling if used
- Sheetrock tape
- Sheetrock mud
- Mud pan
- Mud knife
- Fine grit sand paper or sanding block
- Paint or wallpaper
Tip
Measure carefully.
Warning
Use care and caution.
-
Use a claw hammer and a pry bar to remove all of the old paneling on your mobile home wall. Use a cordless drill to remove screws that secure sheetrock. Take all of the old wall board off of the wall and dispose of it.
-
Use a hammer to tap in or remove any nails that are sticking up from the studs. Do not remove nails that are there to hold the studs in place; tap them in. Use a screw gun or drill with the proper screw bit to remove or counter sink any screws that may be present in the studs if the wall board was hung using screws.
-
Use R 11 insulation over the existing insulation in every wall that you have remove the paneling from. Do not remove the old insulation, as it is likely very thin and may have electrical wires behind or in front of it. Use R 11 insulation because it is smaller and designed for mobile home walls. Unroll the insulation, measure it to the height of the wall, and cut it to size using a utility knife. Use a heavy duty stapler and 1/2-inch staples to secure the insulation to the studs in the wall by inserting a staple through the paper flap of the insulation, and into the stud every 4-inches vertically.
-
Use duct tape to tape each and every seam where piece of insulation meet. Do this to help prevent heat from escaping and drafts from entering your home when it is cold out side.
-
Measure, mark and cut sheetrock for each wall you have just insulated.
-
Use a drill and 2-inch sheetrock screws to attach the new sheetrock to the walls by inserting the screws vertically every 4-inches along each stud.
-
Use sheetrock tape to cover all seams between pieces of sheetrock and then mud those seams. Allow the mud to dry 12 hours then sand and finish the wall using paint or wallpaper.
The Drip Cap
- The walls in mobile homes are thinner than the walls in stick built houses.
- Use a heavy duty stapler and 1/2-inch staples to secure the insulation to the studs in the wall by inserting a staple through the paper flap of the insulation, and into the stud every 4-inches vertically.
- Do this to help prevent heat from escaping and drafts from entering your home when it is cold out side.
- Use sheetrock tape to cover all seams between pieces of sheetrock and then mud those seams.
- Allow the mud to dry 12 hours then sand and finish the wall using paint or wallpaper.
References
Writer Bio
Sincerity Anna has been working online as a content writer since 2004. She specializes in how to articles on parenting, home repair, crafts, sewing, and design. Sincerity Anna has published nearly 400 articles on Associatedcontent.com. She has also published many articles on eHow.com. She attended the Institute of Children's Literature.
Photo Credits
- Ablestock.com/AbleStock.com/Getty Images
- Ablestock.com/AbleStock.com/Getty Images
More Articles