Replacing Your Mobile Home Door

If you have a mobile home, also called a manufactured home, you are already aware of the basic differences between it and a standard house. When it comes to doors, they may look very similar to a door on a regular single family house, but the material is typically lighter, and the installation process is slightly different as well. When it comes time to install a new mobile home door, the following tips can help.

Measure the Opening

If you don't already have a door on the mobile home to measure, you will need to take measurements based on the rough opening. Without a door on the mobile home, you need to measure the opening of the wall. However, if you have a door on it currently that fits well, you can use that door to get the right measurements. To get proper measurements for the new door, measure the opening, instead of the frame itself. Door frames vary based on the manufacturer, and this could give you a door of the wrong size. Just measure the opening for the door itself.

Ignore Standard Door Sizes

Go inside the house to take measurements for this type of door, measuring the opening and ignoring measurements for the frame. There may be standard sizes for this type of door, but don't only go based on that. Older and newer mobile homes, or single versus double-wide mobile homes, can have different sizes for their doors. There is no single measurement that every single mobile home door is made by. There are also some mobile homes that previously had a custom-made door to be larger than the standard door, so you will need to take the right measurements for a door that fits.

Know the Type of Door

You will also need to know what type of door was on your home before, because this changes the size and the installation slightly. In most cases, you have a standard swinging-out door. However, some homes have a combination door where one part swings in, and the other swings out, which is called a storm door. If your home has a door that swings in, but not a second storm door, the home was built for a combination door, but someone removed the outer door at some point. Since the opening was built for two doors, you can decide whether or not you want to get a combination door with the outer storm door.

Decide on the Look of the Door

There have been a lot of advancements when it comes to mobile home doors. While many of them still have the aluminum appearance of a typical manufactured home, there are others made to look like wood doors. You can still use a typical wooden door if the measurements are right, but you will need to reinforce the frame so it is sturdy enough to support a heavier door. If you don't want to do this, there are lightweight doors that simply look like wooden doors.


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