A mobile home skirting is one of the essential yet often neglected parts of a house. It is generally located at places that are often not noticed by homeowners, but form an integral part of the house construction as it provides the cover for the drains and pipes and ensure their long life. Hence, it is essential to put the perfect skirting in your house, and there is nothing better than to create something on your own. There are a number of building materials available for creating the mobile home skirting, the most commonly used skirting are generally made up of vinyl, COB, wood and sometimes a few other materials depending upon the needs, preferences and requirements. Here is a description of some materials for building mobile home skirting in an ecological manner.
1. COB
One of the most ancient, yet still commonly used materials for building the skirting is COB. COB can be described as a system of creating the building materials out of straw fibers, sand, local soil and can be very easily sculptured and set into place when it is wet.
The COB walls that are used as skirting usually are usually about 8” to 3” thick and provide great passive cooling and even thermal heating via the sun. If you put a COB wall outside it would reduce the amount of heat that enters your house and the vice versa. COB adds a lot of weight to your house structure but it also adds a lot of strength to the construction.
COB would not only enhance the strength of your skirting but also add a more natural look to your house. If your home is located in an area, which suffers from frequent snowfall and windy rainfall, then it is advised to use a rich coat of sand/lime on the plaster that you create using the COB since it is much more resistant to the elements of nature and even provides a very natural aesthetic look. COB is entirely a natural and eco-friendly building material and hence it does not harm the environment in any way.
2. Wood
Wood is one of the most used building materials in the world. It is easily available and can be easily worked upon even by amateurs. The primary aim of skirting is to protect your home’s fixtures and pipes from damage due to exposure to the elements and excessive moisture. Skirting of your house can be constructed using wooden materials, but you have to keep in mind certain facts. The wood that is to be used must be pre treated to be termite and rodent resistant. The panel of wooden skirting that needs to be installed needs to be water resistant. For a longer life, a couple of lush coats of water resistant paint may well do the trick. You can shape the wood at hand into any design and shape that suits your needs and taste, and all that you need to do is cut the panel in the desired size to fit and then patch it in the desired place. While using wood you must make periodic inspections to assess any damages due to rodents and other insects. Timely inspection would allow you to take care of the damages, if any, at the earliest. Using wood as the skirting material is perhaps the best eco-friendly way to make your own perfect mobile home skirting.
3. Earthen materials
Earthen materials are very much like COB, as they are materials that would provide high mass strength and protection to the base of the house and provide best protection to the skirting. However, these are very heavy and high mass materials that add to the bulk of your house construction. Generally, an optimum mix of clay and straw fibers are used in the creation of this material. Thick enough skirting can be very good for providing a vintage look to your house and in providing the perfect natural protection that you can easily create yourself with little assistance. Using earthen materials may sometimes require you to have extended roofs for protecting the material from direct rainfall for its prolonged life. These materials are fully natural and hence very eco-friendly and provide the best protection to your home without much damage to the nature and environment around you.
Conclusion
These eco-friendly mobile home skirting provide additional strength and good looks for your home. Generally, people prefer to use artificial vinyl and plastic materials to create the skirting for their home; these materials are a little cheaper but have an adverse effect on the environment. If you love and care for Mother Earth then these natural materials may be the solution to all your skirting needs, as they would not only allow you the comforts of having a great skirting at home but also give you the peace of mind that your home is one-step closer to the nature.
