When looking at a mobile home, one may see that there is additional material attached to the side of the home between where the siding ends and the ground for which the mobile home sits begins. This material is called mobile home skirting.
This is called the skirting of a mobile home.
While the name is simple in nature, what it does and how it works are quite a bit more detailed.
Mobile home skirting covers the space underneath a mobile home to protect it from animals, cold, snow, and water. Skirting protects the plumbing work and ensures pipes or ducts do not freeze during winter. An adequately installed skirt will provide storage space where one can tuck away items they don’t occasionally use.
If you’re not sure of the material you need for skirting, there’s always an option to contact a professional to come and do an assessment and give a cost estimate. Experts will advise on the best product depending on the type of mobile home, budget, climate, and homeowner’s personal preferences.
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Mobile home skirting can be made of a variety of materials, but the most common type around the greater Sarasota, Florida, area is made of fiberglass, stone, aluminum, or plastic.
Mobile home skirting is attached to an inner track of the bottom of the mobile home, each additional piece of skirting is then snapped or placed directly next to the previous skirting panel.
For the skirting to work properly, it must fit on the track without any issue and be the length of space between the bottom of the mobile home and the ground on which it sits. If the skirting is not the correct length, then it will largely defeat the purpose of what the skirting does.
The market is awash with skirting solutions for mobile homes. Popular options include Vinyl, concrete, metal foam, wooden foam, and faux rock.
Before one hits the store, gathering the material they’ll need for their skirting is essential. First, they must know the overall dimension of the open space in terms of length, width, and height. These are some of the things their supplier will need answers to.
Also, it saves on cost since one only needs to buy the right size for their home. Other materials include screws, long planks, chalk, and circular saw.
The mobile home skirting is easy to fix, although you may need extra hands. So grab some pizza and call in that favor with a friend or two for a day to help with skirting.
One of the main benefits of skirting on your mobile home is to prevent inviting pesky trouble-making critters under your home.
Mobile homes have their plumbing running underneath the home, and if this is not protected, then animals can get under the home and burrow into the plumbing lines, often causing premature leaks in the plumbing system of the mobile home.
As discussed in previous blogs, the flooring system of a mobile home is wood-based.
If the skirting is not properly installed and maintained then, in addition to the plumbing having issues, the wood-based flooring can have premature damage done to it through animals chewing on the support beams of your flooring system.
In order for your skirting to be kept in good shape, we here at The Mobile Home Dealer, strongly suggest you routinely walk your mobile home identify any issues you see with the skirting, and act quickly to get these issues taken care of.
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A simple walk of your property 1-2 times per month should suffice for the inspection.
If any skirting looks like it has shifted off of the tracks, see to it that you get it back on the track quickly as some skirting products are brittle in nature, and if it is not sitting flat, it can lead to premature breakage of a skirting panel.
Installing your own mobile home skirting
If you want to install your mobile home skirting yourself, some companies do sell kits, but it can require a lot of expertise and hard work. When installing skirting, you also must check local requirements regarding inspections and permits — improper installation could void insurance claims or your home’s warranty.
Suppose you choose to install the skirting yourself. In that case, it’s important to ensure that your home gets proper ventilation, and you have to get the correct amount of panels and accommodate for possible variations in height. Vinyl is typically the easiest material for a DIY skirting installation.
If you have fiberglass or plastic skirting around your mobile home, make sure to take additional care of it when lawnmowing. Weed wackers can often clip the skirting, causing small holes that can lead to larger issues down the road.
When protecting your mobile home we strongly suggest keeping your skirting in tip-top shape as it is a very inexpensive insurance policy for the safety of your mobile home’s plumbing and flooring system.
The Mobile Home Dealers are licensed mobile home brokers in Sarasota, Florida, and the surrounding areas. We provide professional buy and/or sell assistance to our clients. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us by clicking this link. You may also visit our Facebook Page and send us a message
This is Mark Kaiser with The Mobile Home Dealer. We help mobile home Buyers and Sellers improve their lives.
See Also:
- Mobile Home Water Leaks EXPLAINED!
- 3 Ways To Finance A Mobile Home!
- 5 Reasons Why Mobile Homes Are Great Investments!
- Are Mobile Homes Really “Mobile”?
- 5 Reasons Why Mobile Home Parks Are Great!