Guide To Removing Walls
Think back to the times when you first purchased your mobile home, most of it came pre-designed. Sometimes, we even question the architect in charge of the designs when we see an odd wall jutting out and segregating the living spaces. That also means we cannot have a bigger living room unless we get rid of that wall. The question is, how exactly do we get rid of these unnecessary walls? Is removing these walls even safe? Many have wondered if it is safe to remove walls in a mobile home and so we take it upon us to answer these questions today.
The short answer is that yes, you can remove walls in a mobile home. However, there are many things to take note of before we get you started on how to go about doing so. The most important factor to take note of when removing walls is whether or not the wall that you intend to remove is one that is load-bearing. This means that it is one of the main supports that hold up the structural integrity of the mobile home. If it turns out that they are load-bearing walls, they can be removed if you really want to but there are costs and side effects that may follow it into the long term.
In order to find out more specific details, we suggest ringing up your mobile home manufacturer for the blueprints so that you can easily identify which walls can be easily removed and which walls require the onboarding of professional help.
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Load Bearing Walls
In the event that your home manufacturer is no longer in business, well it will definitely prove more problematic. So, what we have here is one of the ways you can identify whether or not a wall is a load-bearing one if this happens to you.
In Single Wide
For most single wide constructed mobile homes, the good news is that there are rarely load-bearing walls because the weight of the roofs is supported by the roof trusses. Of course, this is just an overgeneralization and different manufacturers had different methods when constructing these mobile homes. Your best bet is to double-check with an expert if the home manufacturer is no longer available.
In Double Wide
Double wide literally means two of a single wide. Double wides are what you get when you put two single wides together and at the point that they are adjoined is known as the marriage line. That is also where the load-bearing walls lie at. While it is possible for these walls to be removed, it comes at a pretty expensive cost and potentially undesirable side effects.
So, most times, we suggest to people that if it is bearable, to simply leave the marriage line alone to prevent incurring extra cost. However, we understand that sometimes there are situations that really call for the marriage line to be tampered with, and in those cases, our advice is to consult an expert and enlist the help of professionals when removing the load-bearing walls on the marriage line.
Removing a Wall in a Mobile Home
So, now that we are familiar with the things that we can modify freely and those that we cannot, we will move on to talk about how we can remove the walls that can be modified freely without serious repercussions. For those of you who are still intending to remove load-bearing walls, we highly suggest approaching an expert for that matter.
Step 1: Turn off electricity and water
This is an important step to take because we would not want any accidental floods or electric sparks going off. So, whichever room you plan to make this rework in, please remember to turn off the electricity and water supply to it. It would be best if you could turn everything off but if not, just that one room is good enough.
Step 2: Test for wiring and plumbing
The next step is another safety step that should not be skipped. We will need to test for wiring and plumbing to ensure that when the walls are removed, nothing of the sort will be damaged. While it seems unlikely, for interior walls, there tend to be wirings lurking around them. So, you might want to check and identify all these points first.
Step 3: Remove trim, battens, and/or flooring
After going through all the safety checks, we can start physically removing the battens or strips that hide the seams at the areas where the wallboards intersect. We will need the seam to be visible so that we can identify where the studs are located. Studs are the things where the wallboards are attached to. Once you have successfully found them, you can loosen the bond between the stud and wallboard which will make the next step significantly easier.
In the header, we mentioned flooring as well but it is not strictly mandatory for you to remove the flooring unless the interior wall that you intend to remove is sitting on top of it.
Step 4: Removing the wall
Before we get too excited, it is recommended that we remove the wall one small piece at a time starting from the top or bottom corner. Not only will this help us minimize damages, but it will also allow us to check whether or not the wall is load-bearing. If it is, it would be good to consult an expert. Otherwise, you can keep at it.
Step 5: Loosen bottom plate from the subfloor
Once we have removed the contents of the wallboard, what is left is the bottom and top plate. To remove them, all we need is to grab a hammer to get the nails and staples out of them.
Step 6: Remove top and bottom plates
Once the tools holding the plates in place are removed, you can simply cut out the top and bottom place from the floor and ceiling. If you like it, you can also remove the vertical stud connecting the bottom and top plate in a similar fashion.
Conclusion
That is all from us! A fair warning though, that this is not suitable for amateurs with little construction knowledge and experience. So, if you are new to DIY construction (or deconstruction, in this case), it may be best to leave it to the experts.
I’m a 20-something stay-at-home mother and wife. I have an amazing husband, a beautiful daughter, two loving dogs, and a lazy cat. I wouldn’t change my life for anything! I love to read, listen to music, cook and blog!
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