The most popular choice, and for good reason. Vinyl is the least expensive material, it installs quickly on a rail-and-panel track system, and it does not rot, rust, or attract termites. It comes in solid and vented panels, so you can hit ventilation requirements without cutting anything extra.
The tradeoffs are real but manageable. Thin economy vinyl gets brittle after years of UV exposure and can crack, and a rock thrown by a mower will punch through a panel. The upside is that a damaged panel pops out and a new one snaps in. Repairs are cheap and fast.
For most homes we service, quality vinyl is the practical default.
Molded from high-density polyurethane or a polymer composite, these give a manufactured home a permanent, site-built look without masonry. Being foam-based polymer, they are light, they do not rot, and insects ignore them. They cost more than vinyl and the color can fade over many years of direct Florida sun, but individual panels are still replaceable.
If curb appeal is your priority, this is our next pick after vinyl.
Aluminum or steel. Durable, stands up to impact better than thin vinyl, and critters cannot chew through it.
The catch here is corrosion. We are coastal, salt-air, high-humidity, and unprotected or scratched steel starts to rust. Aluminum and quality coated panels handle it far better. Metal also dents, and a dented panel is harder to hide than a cracked vinyl one is to swap.
Reasonable inland. Near the water, favor aluminum.
The most permanent and most impact-resistant option. It looks like a real foundation wall, it will not blow off, and nothing chews through it.
The downsides are cost and rigidity. It is the most expensive to build because it needs masonry labor, and because it is rigid it does not flex. A manufactured home can settle or move slightly on its piers, and a rigid wall can crack. Block skirting has to be built with proper access panels and ventilation openings designed in from the start, not added later.
Worth repeating: block skirting is still not a foundation, and it does not replace tie-down anchoring.
Pressure-treated lumber, plywood, or lattice. Inexpensive, easy to customize, and it looks great when new.
We are cautious about wood here, and we will say so plainly. Our humidity, ground moisture, and termite pressure are hard on it. Even treated lumber sitting near damp soil eventually wants to rot, warp, or feed pests, and it needs the most ongoing maintenance of anything on this list: sealing, painting, and periodic board replacement.
Wood can work for a budget or a rustic look. Go in knowing it is the highest-maintenance path in this climate.
5.0 ★★★★★ from 35 Google reviews
This is the section we wish every owner read before buying skirting on looks alone.
Manufactured homes are built to the federal HUD code, and that standard calls for the under-floor area to be ventilated. A widely used rule of thumb is one square foot of net vent opening for every 150 square feet of floor area, placed on at least two opposite sides so air can cross the space, and covered with corrosion-resistant mesh to keep rodents out. Requirements vary with your home and setup, so confirm what applies to your address with your local building department.
When you skirt a home you are enclosing that space, so the skirting has to carry enough vented panels or dedicated vents to meet the requirement. Solid-only skirting with no venting is how you get a damp, musty cavity and a sagging belly.
Now the part that surprises people: more venting is not automatically better. In a humid climate, open vents also let warm, moist air into the crawl space, where it condenses on cooler surfaces. Ventilation and the ground moisture barrier are designed to work as a pair. Cover the soil, vent correctly, and the space stays dry. Over-vent a home sitting on bare damp dirt and you are just importing humidity.
Under your home, two layers manage moisture. The belly wrap, the sheet stapled to the underside of the floor joists, holds the insulation up and keeps moisture, insects, and rodents out of the floor cavity. The ground moisture barrier, laid across the soil, stops moisture rising out of the ground in the first place.
Skirting sits outside both of them.
So the right sequence is a sound ground barrier and an intact belly first, then skirting with correctly sized vents on top. If your belly is sagging or your ground is bare dirt, new skirting over the top just hides the problem behind a nicer-looking panel. We would rather tell you that during the estimate than take the skirting job and watch it fail.
We install durable materials suited to this climate, keeping proper access points so the space can be inspected, maintained, and repaired later. Every installation is planned around your home’s existing moisture and vapor barrier systems rather than treating the skirt as a separate product.
Damaged, missing, or badly installed skirting lets animals, debris, and moisture in. We repair or replace the failing sections to restore protection and appearance, and to keep you compliant with community or inspection requirements.
Hurricane season runs June 1 through November 30, and coastal counties like ours sit in the highest manufactured-home wind zones. That shapes how we think about skirting.
In a serious storm, lightweight skirting is designed to be the sacrificial part. Vinyl panels can blow out, and letting them release actually relieves wind pressure under the home rather than turning the whole skirt into a sail. Losing panels is not the failure. It is the design working.
What keeps your home in place is not the skirting at all. It is the tie-down and anchoring system. No amount of heavy block or metal changes that. When a manufactured home moves in a storm, the problem almost always traces back to the anchoring. If you are already investing in the exterior, it is the right moment to have the anchoring underneath checked too.
On pests, the ranking is straightforward. Block and metal are hardest to breach, vinyl and faux stone are solid as long as panels stay intact, and wood is the weak link. But the vent mesh and a sealed belly matter more for keeping critters out than the panel material does.
Skirting alone does not stop moisture, but it helps protect under-home systems when paired with proper moisture and vapor barriers.
Many mobile home communities and inspections require properly installed skirting. Confirm the requirement for your setup with your community or local building department.
Only if installed incorrectly. We install with airflow and moisture control in mind.
For most homes, quality vinyl gives the best value: affordable, rot-proof, termite-proof, easy to vent, and simple to repair. Faux stone is the pick for curb appeal, and near the coast choose aluminum over steel.
Yes. HUD-code homes need under-floor ventilation. A common rule of thumb is one square foot of net vent opening per 150 square feet of floor area, on at least two opposite sides, with rodent-proof mesh. Your local building department can confirm the exact requirement.
It helps block wind-driven rain and debris, but it does not anchor your home. In a strong storm, lightweight panels can blow out by design. Anchoring is what holds the home down.
The belly wrap is stapled under the floor joists and holds insulation while blocking pests. The vapor barrier is the ground cover stopping soil moisture. Skirting is the visible exterior finish, installed after those layers are sound.
We usually advise against it. Humidity, ground moisture, and termite pressure make wood the highest-maintenance option, prone to rot, warping, and pest damage.
Let us look at the whole picture with you: the material, the ventilation, the belly, and the anchoring underneath.
East Coast Vapor Barrier is owner-led by Shawn Callahan, holding Florida Insulator and Home Improvement Contractor License IH/1143670. We serve Melbourne, Palm Bay, Cocoa, Titusville, Vero Beach, Daytona Beach, Barefoot Bay, Micco, Merritt Island, Melbourne Beach, Saint Cloud, and Edgewater.
Call 561-909-7759 or reach us through our contact page for a free quote.
Notifications
