Mobile Home Skirting: Buyer’s Guide

Mobile home skirting can completely change the look of your whole home, and the installation is quick and easy. However, the purpose of skirting is more than exterior design. Vinyl skirting offers a protective barrier against the outside world. This will help defend against pests using your home as their own and prevent your pipes from freezing in cold weather. Online you will find hundreds of options for mobile home skirting at your disposal. You will be able to choose from various designs of your liking, but before you buy, make sure that you are informed on the different types of skirting on the market.

Types of Skirting for Mobile Homes

First of all, there are a few main design categories that skirting falls into. The most typical kind of skirting is plain vinyl skirting. This is what you will see most mobile homes outfitted with. There are a couple of other options for you to choose from though.

Another popular option is brick skirting. In almost all cases, it is not real brick, but imitation brick. The main reason that this has grown in popularity is the visual effect. This can be a beautiful addition to a mobile home and change the look of the exterior drastically.

The third most popular style of mobile home skirting is stone skirting. Again, this is almost always simulation rock, but the visual effect is amazing. Choosing the skirting that will outfit your mobile home is very important to many people. You want to come home to something that you like looking at! However, there is much more to skirting than just the looks. 

The Quality of Mobile Home Skirting

As with any product, you want to ensure that you get something that is high quality. So, what is important to look for? One of the most important features is the ventilation of the skirting. Certain panels will have slots for air to pass through to the bottom side of the mobile home. This is important as to not trap still air under the home, leading to moisture, mold, and rot. The easiest way to achieve this ventilation is by buying skirting that has premade ventilation slots. Otherwise, you can make your slots in solid skirting. Making your slots is just a tad more difficult.

The next aspect of skirting you should keep in mind before your purchase is durability. Any skirting that is not dent-resistant will need to be replaced very shortly. Purchasing any skirting that is not durable will lead to annoying maintenance work and costly repairs or replacement. You must make the right decision the first time around, and this will pay dividends in the long run. 

Finally, you must ensure the skirting that you are purchasing is weatherproof. Otherwise, it will fade in color relatively quickly. Since most don’t want to take the time to repaint all of the skirting on their home, it will result in a very washed-out ugly color after about a year. Weatherproof skirting for mobile homes can last many years, maintaining its original color. 

Before installation or even purchase, you want to make sure that you have skirting that is going to last and look great too.

Install Skirting On a Mobile Home

Installing skirting is a very typical first DIY project for a mobile homeowner. This is because it is fairly easy and it doesn’t require too many tools. You will need a hammer, a level, measuring tape, tin snips, a chalk line, and a snap lock punch tool. If you do not already have these at your disposal, they are very affordable. 

The first step would be to determine how much skirting you need. You can easily do this by measuring the length of all four sides of your mobile home with the measuring tape. Add the length of all four sides together, and this is how much framing and channeling you will need to buy for your skirting. 

Second, you need to figure out how tall the skirting needs to be around the mobile home. To do this, take measurements from the bottom of your mobile home to the ground. You will want to take six measurements in total. Measure at each corner of your mobile home and then in the middle of each long end of the mobile home. Next, add up all of the measurements, divide the total by 6, and you will have your mobile home’s average height from the ground. 

Third, multiply these two measurements together to get the total amount of skirting you will need to outfit your mobile home. This number is accurate, but it is not the number that you should use. It is a safe bet to buy about 10% (or even more) extra, in case you make a mistake while cutting the skirting or if some skirting becomes damaged.

The easiest way to go about skirting installation is by following one of our DIY home improvement center guides. We have created a skirting installation guide for this very purpose.

Additional Tips

1. Protect Your Plumbing
   
   Make sure that there is not any ventilation next to the plumbing piping. This is especially important for those who live in colder climates. Too much ventilation near the piping could lead to freezing pipes. 

2. Buy All of Your Skirting In One Order
   
   It is important that you get all of the skirting that you will use for your project in one order. This is because any variation in the size of the skirting will lead to difficulty. Skirting is usually made in large lots that vary ever so slightly from each other. Buying all of your skirting at one time means that you will deal with less variation in the skirting you are installing.

3. Buy A Skirting Hardware Kit
   
   It is easiest to get started on your job once you are sure that you have everything you need. A hammer, measuring tape, a chalk line, a snap lock punch tool, a level, and tin snips are needed for the job. However, buying a Skirting Hardware Kit will be very useful as well. This gives you all of the ground spikes and screws required to install your skirting.

Summary

Installing skirting is an essential job for mobile homeownership. It will need to be done one day or another. Doing your prep work and your research ahead of time will make the job much more bearable. Buying all of the appropriate equipment ahead of time will also make the job much easier. Make sure that you have selected a color and style of skirting that you like. It’s of utmost importance that the skirting you buy is durable and worth your money. If you are ready to take on the job, we are here to help!

(Don’t forget about our free skirting installation guide)

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Tags: Brick Skirting, mobile home skirting, Skirting for mobile home, Stone skirting, Vinyl Skirting

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 20th, 2021 at 6:15 pm and is filed under Customer Relations, DIY Project Center, Featured Products, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.