decorating

[kim]

How do I go about redecorating? Can I put in wood flooring? How do I paint the walls? Repair the walls? Does anyone have any ideas?

[Threnody]

We're planning on putting vinyl in the den and hardwood in the living room of ours, as well as painting the den and master bedrooms with colors that coordinate the original wallpaper. (It helps when your best friend is marrying a contractor. )

You may or may not have to put a primer coat on your walls- in a closet do a paint test and see whether or not it bleeds through. You can remove the batten strips, patch the seams with spackle, then paint away. We are using a textured paint made by Valspar for the Master Bedroom and retreat, and so far I don't forsee any problems with it.

[Tracy]

you can redecorate anyway that suits your fancy - for the most part. The major limitations are moving walls and installing tile. Both require knowledge of structural issues in your home. Most floors in manufactured homes aren't equipped to handle the weight of stone or ceramic tile floors. However, many manufacturers are using laminate flooring now. Pergo, Armstrong and Mannington are just a few makers of this growing trend in alternative floorin options.

As far as painting - do make sure you test an area first. Depending on what was used to cover your walls, painting them may cause the wallpaper to bubble off. Test an area in a closet first, let it dry and check on it. If it looks okay, you're all set. Otherwise you'll have to prime them first. You can paint right over your batten strips, or you can remove them, add drywall tape and mud the seams just like they do in "tape and texture" homes. The only issue with this is that you have to be good with a mud knife. Or use a "texture" paint to hide blemishes. If you want to leave to batten strips, caulk down both sides of the batten, wipe off the excess, then paint, this gives a bit more of a seemless professional look.

Tracy

[Catherine Schmitt]

I did thorough research on redoing my floor. Was told if I put any kind of vinyl sheet or vinyl squares, I would have to install a "subflooring" as they won't install directly over the floor our homes come with. Only carpeting can be installed right on top of the plywood. That extra subflooring adds another $2.50/sq foot if I remember right. Not worth the installation charge as it comes out to much higher than I anticipated. So I stuck with carpeting.

[Karen]

I bought a repo home...while looking I saw some awful paid jobs so I am afraid to paint in my home...but the living room wall has stain from the ppl before smoking..I have tried cleaning it ..it is not coming off. This is a 99 Caviler and the wall feels like vinal almost..not sure what to do about painting.

However, talking about floors while looking at used mobile homes I saw one that had all the carpet removed and they had put the vinal flooring that looks like wood you see it in alot of business places. Anyway it looked great I was really shocked but it gave a clean unified look to the trailer

Karen