A mobile home without skirting just doesn’t look finished or high-end. So skirting for a mobile home is just as important as siding, or even more so considering the safety features of mobile home skirting.

Skirting is the panel or wall of material that touches the ground at the bottom of a home. Mobile homes always have skirting, unlike other homes. This is why there are so many great options for mobile home skirting.

What Is The Purpose Of Trailer Skirting?

The purpose of trailer skirting is defined as “reducing aerodynamic drag caused by air turbulence.” To put that in layman’s terms, it reduces the amount of disturbance from the wind.

But that’s not the only purpose. There are two more primary purposes of trailer skirting products. The first one is to reduce the amount of moisture that is allowed underneath the house and the other is to simply make the trailer look more finished.

Types Of Mobile Home Skirting Panels

Like siding, there are many different types of mobile home skirting products. Each type comes at a different price and with its own pros and cons. The more expensive types are usually sturdier while the flimsier types are cheaper.

They also each look quite different. You can completely change your exterior design style just by changing your mobile home skirting.

Unlike solid homes, mobile homes always need skirting panels and not just vinyl siding and crawl space.

Vinyl

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Price: $360-$1,300

Vinyl skirting is the most popular type of mobile home skirting. As you can see, the price range is quite large because there are so many different types of vinyl skirting. In fact, vinyl skirting panels come in different thicknesses and textures.

If you add insulating skirting for colder climates or winter months, you can expect to pay at least twice as much as you would for single-layer vinyl skirting. So, if you normally paid $1500, you’d then pay $3000 for insulated vinyl skirting.

Simulated “Rock”

Price: $680-$1,400

We say “rock” skirting because it isn’t really rocks. It isn’t the same texture as rocks, but it does look like it was made to replicate rocks. These mobile home skirting panels are available in almost any neutral color.

The more popular colors are gray and brown. Despite the way they look, the simulated rock skirting is made from plastic, not stone. This is the cheapest way to get a more natural look instead of vinyl.

Faux Stone

Image from Pinterest.

Price: $1,000-$2,800

Faux stone skirting is different than simulated rock skirting. Faux stone skirting panels have a similar texture to real stone. The panels with faux stone skirting are made from polyurethane. This makes it quite durable.

But as you can see, it’s quite a bit more expensive than other options. But if you’re selling your manufactured home, it’s a wonderful choice because it raises the value of your home whereas vinyl skirting can actually lower it.

Concrete

Price: $680-$1,500

This is one of the most durable skirting options for mobile homes. It is also one of the most permanent. It can really make a mobile home feel more permanent, which is almost always a good thing.

The downside is that concrete skirting panels, usually made with cinder blocks, are also almost always labor-intensive. It will take a long time to install on your manufactured home and will need to be done by a professional whereas another type of skirting has easy installation and can be done DIY.

Brick Skirting

Price: $700-$2500

You can create brick skirting just like concrete skirting with blocks. But another option that is much cheaper is to get faux brick skirting panels which are more akin to faux stone skirting. It all depends on your priorities.

Brick is more expensive than cinder blocks but faux brick can actually be just as expensive as real bricks. The installation is different, however, with real brick skirting being much more difficult to install.

Wood Skirting

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Price: Varies

The thing about wood skirting is that you can completely customize it. Wood skirting isn’t generally something you buy as wood skirting. It’s usually something you customize and build to meet your own needs.

The price of this type of skirting is so hard to pin down because it largely depends on the type of wood that you use. Whether it’s oak or pine, OBS or plywood, covering the whole side or simply in a lattice. All of this matters.

Metal

Price: $500-$2000

Talk about unique! Depending on the type of metal you use, metal skirting panels can be quite cheap or quite expensive. You can get flat metal skirting or you can get imprinted metal skirting with amazing designs in it.

Most metal skirting comes in panels and installs just like vinyl skirting with predrilled holes in them. This makes it easy to install because the only difficult part is drilling the holes in metal materials.

Foam

Price: $1000-$3000

Foam skirting panels are one of the most energy-efficient types of mobile home skirting. It may not look the best in everyone’s eyes, but it does work surprisingly well in insulating your home, or rather, under your home.

The reason that foam skirting panels for manufactured homes are so expensive is that they come in small panels and are made to be energy-efficient. Whereas other skirting panels come in 4-5ft panels, foam insulated skirting comes in 2-ft panels most of the time.

Underpinning A Mobile Home

Skirting is often confused with underpinning, but it doesn’t reinforce foundations like underpinning does.

However, if you choose something like cinder blocks for your skirting, it can be used as underpinning to make the mobile home sturdier than ever. In this case, it’s an extension of the original foundation.

Not too long ago, most mobile homes were actually mobile. But these days, with the threat of tornados and hurricanes looming above, we’ve learned to make mobile homes more durable. There was only one way to do this.

To nearly eliminate the “mobile” part of mobile homes. So now, most mobile homes aren’t really mobile at all. They are manufactured homes that were built away from the property that the foundation for the home is on.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)FAQ

Does Mobile Home Skirting Need To be Vented?

In short, yes it does. Because adding the skirting to reduce moisture is counterproductive if it adds more moisture by not being vented. So make sure that the moisture can escape and that the air can circulate underneath the home.

You can add vents to the mobile home skirting yourself but most of the time, if you hire someone, they will vent it for you at no extra cost. Vents are cheap and can be placed periodically over skirting.

What Is The Cheapest Way To Skirt A Mobile Home?

That depends on whether you want to hire someone or not. If you hire someone, then you can ask them to choose the cheapest options. But if you don’t then mobile home skirting kits are the cheapest.

Mobile home skirting kits are designed so that anyone can use them. They often come with vents, hardware, and anything else you need to install them. Just make sure they are compatible with your mobile home.

Do You Need A Vapor Barrier Under A Mobile Home?

While adding ventilation can do most of the work for keeping away moisture, avapor barrieror moisture barrier can help too. Most manufacturers require new homes to have a vapor barrier if they add skirting.

Vapor barriers are usually added to the ground to prevent moisture from the earth and vice versa. But there are many other ways vapor barriers work, including being attached to the inside of the skirting.

How Do You Measure For Mobile Home Skirting?

The first thing you do is measure the length and width of your home and round the total up. This is how much skirting you need. Because most skirting comes in set heights, this is the most important number.

Measuring height is primarily important if you have different heights along with your mobile home. For example, mobile homes built on a hill are much more difficult to measure but it can be done by measuring slants.

You also need to check with local codes because different states and different districts have different laws about mobile homes. Sometimes, they aren’t even considered a real home, other times, there are restrictions on types of skirting.