I bought a modular home three years ago for a song. As an old war horse when it comes to remodeling I am stymied with the wallboards. They are not drywall but some sort of composition with an infused paper on them. Paint doesn't stick, and once you take the little sticks off the seams there are gaping seams that are awful. Any ideas on the right paint to use? I know I should just mud over the whole mess, but I am not that good with mud.

I have found that the best thing to do with the wallboard on modular, double/single wide homes is to sand the surface with sandpaper around 100 grit. Once it's sanded the paint will stick. I recomend using Kilz primer before attempting to paint. As far as the gaps left by the panel strips, once the walls are sanded you can either tape and mud the seams or purchase plain replacement strips at your local modular supply or building supply. If they don't carry them, 1/4"x1" wooden porch screen strips work well also. Plus they hold paint better.

I like ASCS's ideas but another choice (but it won't be cheaper) would be to cover the walls with 1/4" drywall.

You then have a new drywall surface to work with.

We've lived in a double wide for 15 years that was a DUMP when we moved in (divorce settlement)but is a showplace now..I agree with build 4 you, just scuff up the walls to get rid of the shine and prime. Almost every wall in our house was a fake paneling with strips on the seams look that was more of a picture of paneling.. We mud and taped all the seams and I have to say that took some doing to blend the mud, but we were novices then. I later went on to faux finish walls with various techniques that only helped to hide our earlier tries that weren't perfect and I would dare anyone to guess what the original walls were. Don't be afraid to "texture" the walls either. You can use tissue paper and white glue watered down to make a great look that is really inexpensive., believe it or not it hides lots of errors and is great to paint over. I'm no expert but I think it actually hold the walls together in some places. Belive it or not but at the last minute my husband removed a built in in the room I was tissue papering and left a 3x3 inch hole in the wall. I was pretty tired when I got to the wall so I put a couple of pieces of clear packing tape over it and kept on tisue papering and now I don't know where the hole is! Just go for it, you can't make it any worse right?

I have been building homes for over 10 years. Stick homes built on site were where I started. 4 years ago I became involved with stick built modular homes. Please note that a stick built modular home is NOT a manufactured home. A stick built modular home is built using higher quality material than the typical custom site built home. My expert advice is to stay away from manufactured homes and only buy a modular home from a modular home supplier that builds thier homes by hand, using only the highest quality materials, in a controlled and enclosed environment.



There is a stigma associated with modular homes that is mostly based on confusion. The mobile home is NOT a stick built modular home.



When buying a modular home be certain of the following;

1)The builder is reputable and willing to answer all of your questions.

2)The home comes with a warranty.

3)The modular home building plant has been visited and verified by the experienced builder as being of the highest quality in workmanship.

4)The home will be crane set on a permanent foundation.



You may visit www.SupremeModular.com for all the information you will need before making your decision.



The advice this website supplies is free.

From the looks of what I am reading in this thread, most of you are speaking about MANUFACTURED HOMES, not Modular Homes. Terms like "Double Wide", and the meterials in question as described in these posts are NOT in any way related to a Modular Home.

Remember, a true Modular Home is a Stick Built Home using material as good or better than that which is used to build a Custom Site Built (old fashioned style) home.

Hello Homebuild,

1/4 inch drywall is, at least in my opinion, an unacceptale material in terms of quality. 1/2 inch must be used and 5/8 inch X rock must be used for fire rated walls.

If the home you are thinking of buying has 1/4 inch drywall installed, its most likely a poorly build home.

Hello,
I had a modular home built about a year ago after doing a lot of research. I agree with everything said by SupremeModular. I checked out many modular home manufacturers and only found one that I was not pleased with the construction. Also, none of the homes I looked at had 1/4 inch "drywall" with gaps as described above.

My wife and I have lived in this home for a little over a year at this time and are very pleased with our decision.

I am not in the homebuilding industry, but have described the process of purchasing, setting and having the finish site work done from the perspective of a consumer at www.ModularHomeChoice.com

I believe homebild's suggestion of 1/4-inch drywall was misunderstood. He was suggesting that the 1/4-inch drywall be laminated directly on whatever wall panel is already existing, to give a fresh uniform surface with minimal thickness.

Mine was built in 1970. I painted my walls and used an expensive paint. I plugged the gaps with drywall compound, sanded, then made the wall smooth before I painted the walls. You can also sand the walls and apply the paintable wallpaper. I've also retiled the floors, and I'm going to take the carpet out this summer and replace it with bamboo flooring.