How to Substitute Underpinning Mobile Homes

Mobile homes commonly have tin or aluminum sheets of skirting, or underpinning, that cover the distance between the home and ground. These not only attempt to keep critters from taking up residence under the home, but also give the residence a more permenant feel. Susceptible to damage from the elements, especially harsh storms or common pests, replacing a mobile home's underpinning with something different could spruce things up cheaply.

Hammer
Drill with bit kit
Level
Chalk line
Metal snips (for paneling)
Measuring tape
Panels of wood trellis or skirting
Wood/metal screws (depending on skirting material)
Railing material for bottom and top of trellis (if not present on home)
Circular saw (for wood)
Saw horses
Pea rock

Instructions

- 1
  Remove the old underpinning from your mobile home by removing the screws attaching it to its top railing at the home's bottom and the bottom rail at the ground.
- 2
  Remove the rails from your mobile home if you're replacing those with new ones. Otherwise, leave these in place for attaching your trellis panels.
- 3
  Measure the distance between the top of your top rail and the bottom of your bottom rail. Do this every few yards, all around the trailer. Write these measurements down on a crude drawing of your mobile home.
- 4
  Add pea rock to areas where the earth dips, helping you to make your skirting more uniformly wide -- and animal-proof -- all around your home.
- 5
  Purchase trellis panels with the smallest holes possible. You don't want larger animals taking up residence. If using an alternative skirting, like faux stone or wood paneling, make sure to buy it wide enough to suit your dimensions.
- 6
  Use a level to test the alignment of your top and bottom railings. If misaligned, adjust the frames before you begin placing the trellis panels.
- 7
  Cut out sections of trellis or paneling to the exact dimensions recorded earlier. A circular saw or wood saw should suffice for trellis material; metal snips will be needed for paneling. Measure carefully where each panel will go. Often ground elevations will change, requiring you to finetune each panel.
- 8
  Screw the corners of the first panel of trellis or skirting to the top and bottom railing, at a corner.
- 9
  Add a few screws along the top and bottom edges of each panel, then continue to the next panel in line.
- 10
  Continue around your mobile home until you've substited your old underpinning with something new.

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