Small town business owners

If you have a mobile home and want to expand it, you may want to consider joining two mobile homes together. It's possible with some framing and roofing timber, a bit of plywood and a heavy dose of building acumen. In most cases, you are likely to need a contractor to help with the work, but here's a brief overview of the process so you can see what it involves:

1. Preparing the mobile homes for joining

To prepare the homes, remove the external siding or cladding from the sides of the homes that are going to be connected. In most cases, it makes sense to join the homes on their wide edge -- that creates a square shape that fits in most lots more easily than the long shape that would result in putting together the short ends. Once the siding is gone, you can access the home's exterior frames, to which you are going to add a basic wall frame.

2. Building the wall frames

Measure the sides of the mobile homes, and build a basic wall frame equal to each side. Match the frames up on the ground, and cut short pieces of timber to tie the frames together. Starting at the top of one of the frames, attach one of the short pieces of timber so that it is extending over both pieces of timber, but don't attach it to the other side yet. A bit lower than that, attach another piece of short timber to the other frame, and continue this pattern -- alternating which frame you attach the tie to -- until you reach the base of the frames. Do this on both edges of the frame.

3. Attaching the wall frames

Attach the frames to each of the mobile homes by screwing it to the existing frame, and position the new trailer so that it is flush with your existing trailer. Use the timber ties to gauge the relationship between the two frames, and use pads and piers to adjust the second trailer until it is perfectly level with the original trailer. When everything is positioned, attach the unattached end of each tie to the corresponding frame.

4. Covering the attachment

Finally, to attach the trailers, you are going to cut a doorway into each trailer at the same point. Then, you must add plywood flooring and gypsum walls to the small space between the doorways. Finally, fill the rest of the frames with insulation, and cover the exposed sections on each edge with plywood and siding to match the ends of the mobile home.

5. Connecting it all together with roofing timber

Once the two homes are connected with your timber framed walls, it's time to strengthen and secure everything with roofing timber. Essentially, you are going to work with a roofer to build a pitched timber roof that extends over both mobile homes. This creates a cohesive traditional look, and it can make your home more efficient especially when you add insulation and an attic fan.