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I would eventually like to install mouldings in our MH. We've did this in our old house so I have a little experience. The only thing I haven't quite gotten a good idea for is the windows. We have those aluminum windows with metal frames. I don't want to replace the windows just spruce them up for the inside.

So I'm wondering how to add mouldings around the windows while leaving them securely in place. The problem is the screws that hold them in place. The heads are so raised they will either have to be replaced with something flatter or some other measure taken to account for their size. So I'm wondering is if will be sufficient to replace the raised head screws with flat ones?

Hi,

In the last single wide I owned we were able to trim around the windows, the only raised screws where those on the exterior. I know this does not help you.

I suppose if you really wanted to trim these out you could use a dado and make a channel in the trim piece, this would allow for the screws to be recessed into the wood.

You have not completed your profile so I do not know if your home is brand new or older, but either way, most folks succumb to replacing the original aluminium framed windows with traditional double hung double paned windows. It is a huge energy saver over time.

Yanita

Good point. We were hoping this would be a temporary living arrangement, but found we like it more than we thought. So we may be here long enough to replace the windows. I'd just like to make them more appealling to the eye until we do.

I have the same windows. The inside brown storms and the outside aluminum.
The inside frame has the slightly raised screw heads. Yanita has the right idea, but I thought that once you have measured for each molding and cut the mitered joint, use a lipstick to mark the screw heads, press the piece of trim in place and the lipstick will mark where the screws are.

Then just gouge out a little dimple and the screw heads should fit inside.

I have a million weird ideas.

Hi,

LOL, I am sure there are several ways this could be achieved. I suppose there is no wrong or right way for this to be done. Honestly, I am not familiar with the type windows that you folks have, my previous 2 homes did not have raised screw heads.

Good luck and let us know what worked for you, others may need this tip latter on!

Yanita

Will do Yanita.
The inside work will have to wait till summer. Hot out side
Right now I working on painting outside. Today will be 75,
I HATE TALL LADDERS, but not as much as I hate BLUE VINYL.

Happy New Year one and all.

Lorne, weird works sometimes! I think we have a router bit for our drill which would work. I was just hoping to replace the screws with something flat, then cover the metal trim up with the wooden moulding. I may do some test work out in the bathrooms to see which would work best.

I have the same windows you do. I removed the hexhead screws and replaced them with sheetrock screws. As you take out a hexhead, immediately replace it with the flathead screw. One at a time. Then the window won't slip out of place. The moulding lays perfectly flat once screws are replaced. It's just too much work to router out for the old hexheads. Also if the top and bottom of the metal window frame has a small horizontal lip that kind of juts out to the left and right, hold the trim about a 1/4 inch back and it will still look great. I've done most of my windows and doors already. Plus I've added baseboards throughout the house.

Hi,

I admire the energy and time it takes to remove all those screws and replace, but a dado blade is a multiple blade. It is used in a table saw, one pass through the saw and you have a channel that the screws would set into...your home, your way...but this is fast and easy.

Yanita