How to Install a Frost Cap on a Mobile Home Skirting

Hold the string of a plumb bob -- a pointed weight tied to a string -- against the corner of the mobile home. The plumb bob's weight should be no closer than 1 inch from the ground. Make a plumb bob out of string and a triangular fishing weight, if you don't have a plumb bob. Mark the ground directly below the center of the plumb bob. Repeat for all corners of the mobile home.

Ask your helper to hold one end of the chalk line on the ground at a corner mark while you stretch the chalk line to the opposite corner mark. Hold the chalk line tight in one hand and snap a line onto the ground. Repeat for all sides of the mobile home at each corner. The chalk line is where the frost cap boards will install.

Level the ground behind the chalk line toward the center of the mobile home with a small shovel. Lay a 6-foot level across the ground to ensure the outline for the frost cap is level all the way around the mobile home.

Measure the length of each side of the mobile home with a tape measure. Cut 2-by-4-inch salt-treated boards as necessary with a circular saw to your measurements.

Drill 1/2-inch diameter holes at the ends of each board and every 12 inches along their lengths with a drill to a 1/2-inch depth. Change out the drill bit to a 1/4-inch bit and drill through the center of each hole. The initial 1/2-inch hole allows for countersinking the ground stakes.

Place the frost cap boards on the ground along the outline of the mobile home. Drive 6-inch long, 1.4-inch diameter metal stakes through each hole and into the ground with a hammer. Repeat for all of the frost cap boards.