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Drywall for Mobile Home

Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2009 8:01 pm
by suncrest79
I have a 1979 Suncrest Mobile Home and I plan on replacing or covering all the wood panel walls with drywall. I would like to use 1/2" thick sheetrock because it is available in 12' long sheets, as well as 8' long sheets.

I basically have the following 2 questions:

1) Is the 1/2" thick drywall too heavy? Since my mobile home was built in 1979 I'm pretty sure all my walls have 2 x 4's in back of them, as opposed to weaker 2 x 2's that were often used prior to 1972.

2) Would it be alright to attached the drywall directly over the wood paneling? It would obviously be MUCH easier to do it this way than to remove all the wood paneling first. The current wood panel walls are pretty flat, but there may be some minor bulging in certain spots.

3) Would there be any major problems with drywall joints cracking if I taped them correctly? I live in Connecticut, where the average yearly temperatures can range from 10 below zero in the winter to over 100 degrees in the summer. However, it took almost 4 years before I noticed any joints cracking between the wood panels that I used joint compound on (see below), and I didn't even tape them. This makes me think that my particular mobile home doesn't shift THAT much, and maybe I'm overly concerned about this.

Please note that about 7 years ago I used the technique of filling in all the wood paneling with joint compound, then using 2 coats of primer, then 2 coats of paint. And it came out looking much better, almost like drywall.

But about 3 years ago I started to notice cracking every 4 feet, where the panels meet each other. And now the cracks run all the way down the walls every 4 feet.

When I did the walls 7 years ago I removed all the joining strips where the panels meet and just used a few coats of joint compound, but did not use any drywall tape, which may have prevented the cracking now that I think about it.

Obviously my greatest hope is that the everyone who responds to this post will reply that it would be fine to screw 1/2" drywall directly over the existing wood paneling, and that the drywall joints, if taped correctly, will hold up fine and will not crack. But I would rather know the truth if this is not the case.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Joe

RE: Drywall for Mobile Home

Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2009 8:45 pm
by Yanita
Hi,

Welcome to the site.

I have posted a link to a fairly recent post about this. Well it is different as they asked to drywall over wallboard, you want to over paneling. To me the same principals apply....

Removing the paneling is easy. It would not be all that time consuming. To me the benefits outweigh saving a little time.

Yanita

https://www.mobilehomerepair.com/phpbb/v ... 32&start=0

Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 7:02 pm
by Greg
Without knowing what you have for a foundation / Piers it is hard to answer. I agree that the paneling should come off first. If you have cracks now, you will have cracks after you sheetrock. Greg

RE: Drywall for Mobile Home

Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2009 1:21 am
by suncrest79
Thanks for your quick replies Yanita and Greg. I had already read the other recent post and both of your comments regarding problems with cracking, which is my biggest concern.

To answer the question about the foundation, my mobile home basically sits on the ground with skirting. There is no basement, no tie downs, and there is no concrete pad. Basically just hard dirt and rocks, but solid.

As far as cracking is concerned, I realize that at SOME point the drywall will probably start cracking. But if the wood paneling joints did not start cracking for at least 4 years without any taping, or any prep work at all, do you think the drywall will last a lot longer than that without cracking? Especially if taped correctly and if I remove the wood paneling first.

Also, do you think the cracking would be any worse (or better) if I installed the drywall vertically? This would definetely be a lot easier on my back. And my ceilings are only about 7 feet high, so I could pretty much install it so that there are not butt joints at all, except in the corners. And without any butt joints it should be a lot easier to hide the tape lines, I think.

Thanks - Joe

RE: Drywall for Mobile Home

Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2009 6:37 am
by Harry
Hi

Are you sure your MH has "NO tie downs"?

If it has "No tie downs" the MH is not installed correctly.

Harry

RE: Drywall for Mobile Home

Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2009 11:16 am
by Yanita
Well personally I think the drywall will crack much quicker. Typically original wall panels/boards are installed in our homes with gaps between them. Then covered with the infamous battens. Although the battens are offensive to some they do a very real purpose.

Our homes flex, and the gaps between the panels allows movement without visible cracks and covers the ugly gaps.

Now, onto how your home is set up. Your home should be on piers or frost line footers or a concrete slab that would still have piers under your home. Are you saying that your home was just set on the steel I beams directly on the ground? Tie downs are a required by code for all MH's. If possible could you please get us some pics.

This thread is starting to be about 2 different topics...If you can post some pics and start a new thread so we can address the lack (?) of foundation in one and continue the skeet rock debate here.

Yanita

RE: Drywall for Mobile Home

Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 8:42 am
by oldfart
Joe....it's gonna crack. How long and how bad before it does? That I can't say. Mine lasted about 6mo. before the first tiny cracks appeared. Now I've got cracks showing on almost every joint...2 years later. But my home is an older (1970) model. But...I added 2x3 /2x4 studs to the existing 1x2 studs. Still cracked. My home is on peirs but I'm not sure it really matters. The peirs are sitting on a solid limestone ridge! Now in the computor room I did something I've never done. Installed the drywall (3/8th.) vertical instead of horiz. and so far..about 9mo. later..no cracks. Call me a pessimist but I'm still puddy sure it's gonna crack. Now a tip; use paintable caulking in the corners and where the wall hits the ceiling instead of joint compound. So far that hasn't cracked! :) Cut the tape-joint off the sheets that are going in the corner or it'll have a funny look 'cause the sheet is thinner in the tape-joint area. I screwed and glued ad-nauseum and I've been doing drywall work for 20/25yrs. so this wasn't my first time. Audie..the longwinded Oldfart..

RE: Drywall for Mobile Home

Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 12:32 pm
by suncrest79
Thanks for the information oldfart. It is very helpful to hear from someone who has actually installed drywall in their mobile home. Unfortunately, you seem to be confirming what everyone is saying about cracking problems.

However, your experience with installing the drywall vertically gives me some hope. I'm definitely going to install it vertically now and hope for the best. As far as your computer room is concerned, take a look at what I wrote about my vertically installed paneling. It took almost 4 years for it to start cracking, and I didn't even tape it, or use drywall mud. I simply removed the batten, smeared joint compound on the cracks, and sanded.

Maybe our combined experiences hold a secret to installing drywall in a mobile home - it will last longer if installed vertically. Of course we won't know if this is true for a few years.

Thanks again oldfart.

Yanita & Henry - As far as the foundation is concerned I'm pretty sure that my mobile home repairman told me years ago that I did not have tie downs, but he did not seem very concerned about it. He also said that he had seen many other mobile homes just like it in the area. My home is in Connecticut, where wind gusts rarely exceed 60mph, and serious hurricanes are pretty much non-existent.

My home sits about 3 feet off the ground, but I'm not exactly sure how it is anchored, if at all. The only time I really have to crawl underneath is when a pipe breaks and I need to shut off the main water supply until it can be fixed. All I know is that it SEEMS very secure, and I never feel any movement, even when we do get 60mph wind gusts.

The home is 14' x 66', with an attached, enclosed porch that is also 3 feet off the ground. It has 3 bedrooms and 2 full baths, so maybe the size, weight, and attached porch help to anchor it somewhat, but beyond that I have no idea.

Thanks - Joe

RE: Drywall for Mobile Home

Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 7:20 pm
by Harry
Hi Joe

Here's my 2 cents:

It would be best to remove the paneling and clean the studs before drywalling. You might then consider upgrading the insulation and replacing the wall outlets and switches once the paneling is removed.

As far as a "coverup" job I would first consider just mudding the walls before drywalling over the panelling.

JMO

Harry