How can I install Hardiboard (vertical siding) as skirting on my mobile home?
Manufactured Homes February 9th, 2010I have a mobile home that sits on cinder blocks as support. I have to put skirting around it and have considered several options. I would like to use Hardiboard (vertical siding) as a skirt. what is the best way to install it though?
The cinder blocks are only as support under the mobile home, but they are not close to the edge.
February 9th, 2010 at 1:00 am
here’s what i did. mobile home was on blocks with a slab around the perimeter. i set 2by 4’s around the edge with a ram set even with the edge
of the mobile, i had to put up rights every 24 inches between there and the bottom of home to be up to code where i was, and screwed the hardy
plank to the 2by 4’s. remember to leave space to make a door for a
crawl space entrance. if you want to use hardi plank you will need to put
some kind of foundation around the edge to attach the braces to if one
is not there already. one thing about hardi plank is it has to be not touching the dirt and can not be where it would be in standing water, it
will discentigrate if exposed to constant moisture or mud.
February 9th, 2010 at 1:00 am
get some "plastic" (a recycled lumber material) 2×2 and cut stakes to drive into the ground about every four feet around the bottom perimeter. Attach more of the same 2×2 material to the stakes with screws (horizontally on the ground). Screw your skirting to this at the bottom, and to the trailer at the top. You’ll likely want to use some sort of trim at the top edge (like "J metal", "drip edge, or possibly some type of flashing).
February 9th, 2010 at 1:00 am
First, does the cinder block go all the way around the trailer? Or is it used like columns for support? Either way the easiest would be to frame up between the cinder block columns or frame to the cinder block wall ( like in a basement to be able to drywall it.) Your framing is going to have to be good, because Hardiboard is heavy, but a good idea to use as a skirt.
February 9th, 2010 at 1:00 am
Steel pole barn siding works very well. It comes in long sheets and does not require the supports that other systems do It can be dug into the soil about 3 inches and fastened to vertical supports on about five foot increments. These are fastened to the rim joist but the frost does not have enough area to push up on them hard enough to affect the home structurally.
Using hardy board would be unusual.
For the hardy board install dig a trench about 3 inches deep and make up a "F" channel from two pieces of 1"x1" angle tacked about every two feet to set the bottom of the siding in. at the top I would have "U" clips made of at least 14 Gage sheet metal with 3" legs and a 5/8" channel width about 2 inches wide. Drill a hole in the bottom of the channel and screw this to the rim joist with the legs facing down. the top of the hardy board will be captured in the upside down "U" at the top. leave at least 2" clear between the top of the hardy board and the rim joist. space the clips about every two feet. frost pushing the skirting up into the rim joist can make doors inoperable and can cause permanent damage also. to cover the splice between panels make a batten about 2 inches wide and use adhesive to fasten it to only one panel. cover over the gap at the top of the whole affair with steel fascia fastened to the rim joist through the existing siding and caulk the top edge to the siding letting the bottom edge float. This is similar to what is done when installing "stoneskirt"