Posted by Debra G - VA on July 27, 2000 at 20:17:34:
As far as I know (I am NOT an expert), plywood and standard 2x4’s are fine for replacing flooring. I know that using paneling and drywall designed for mobile homes is very important, but I’m not sure what else is regulated.
I found an article in the 8/2000 Popular Mechanics I thought I would pass along.
Before you start painting wood paneling you need to first
apply an oil based stain blocking primer then coat with
a latex paint. Lonnie may have already mentioned this
info. before but I thought is was good info. to pass
along again.
Yep, I just got done doing this exact project. Looks 100 times better now!
Make sure the primer is oil based. Otherwise it probably will not stick to the wood paneling. Kilz is good, but any old oil based stain blocker should do it. I’d recommend 2 coats of primer before painting…
I’m rehabbing one right now that I bought from a heavy smoker. I didn’t realize how bad the walls were stained until after she moved out and took down her pictures.
I painted the entire inside walls and ceilings with Kilz primer. Its a stainblocker, odor killer oil primer. You can paint right over the wallpaper. Just took down all the nifty trim, painted with primer, then the latex coat, then tacked the trim back up. I’ll soon find out if the Kilz will block out heavy nicotine stains, the buyers I’m sure will call if there’s a problem.
I tore out the one wall that had damaged wood paneling. I put up some new panels I found cheap at Home Depot.
By the way, some panelling is marked “not suitable for mobile homes”. What makes it not suitable? Is this due to a fire rating?
In addition to ideas for making paneling more interesting www.MobileHomeDoctor.com has 150 pages of information about mobile home repair and renovation. No ads, nothing for sale, just all the things I have learned about mobile home repair in the last few years. Ideas, suggestions and contribution (articles not $ are always welcome.
Did you clean the paneling first? With what? Did you have to sand? I’m buying a house that is 100% wall to wall dark paneling right out of the mid 70’s. Yuk!
Posted by Debra G - VA on July 27, 2000 at 09:58:45:
Yes, mobile homes are required to use special fire rated materials. For liability reasons, I would recommend sticking to material rated for mobile homes.