I was recently introduced to a great blog called Front Porch Ideas and More. They feature beautiful porches on all types of homes and have lots of great tips and advice on the subject.
They also have a Pinterest Board for manufactured home porch ideas which is where I found the following photos and while lots of the homes were originally featured on Mobile Home Living, I had never thought to collect all the great porches we’ve had on here and put them in one collection. I owe Front Porch Ideas and More a great big thank you!
Porches are an American tradition. Many of us were practically raised on a front porch, I know I sure was! It was our family’s gathering place – the place we received life lessons, learned about our ancestors, and shared our dreams. I couldn’t imagine growing up without my grandparent’s porch!
Aside from being a great gathering place for family and neighbors, porches have many other advantages – extended living space and energy savings are two of the best.
I think every home needs a porch, especially manufactured homes. Add a covered porch to a factory built home and you can make it look just like a traditional site-built home (if that’s what you want). It’s a great way to add depth and dimension to a house which is the most important element in curb appeal.
Building a porch or deck onto a manufactured home is a bit easier than building onto a site built house. Since most areas don’t allow a true attachment to a manufactured home the building aspect is just a tad bit easier – you won’t have to modify the home much. The porch and roof will simply ‘butt against’ the home instead of being attached via framing. You should definitely check your local code before building!
This first example includes photos of the building process and was found on a great little blog called Butterfly Musings.
If your home is high enough off the ground your options for roofing are broadened. You can design the roof to simply continue down from the homes roof pitch which is what they did.
The single wide below was one of the first featured home that I featured on Mobile Home Living. It’s special to me because we bought our single wide without knowing the manufacturer so I began researching online and came across this home – its an almost exact replica of our home! You can read more about this home here and here.
This single wide has a combination porch and deck that circles around the home. It’s perfect because this home happens to be right beside a beautiful river and the view is awesome!
This next double wide manufactured home has a beautiful porch! Faux rock panels are used on the columns and it really makes a statement. This home was found on FauxPanels.com.
The single wide below is beautiful! Not only did it get new log siding but it also got a complete front porch. You can see the original home in the lower right corner – the transformation is gorgeous! The image is from Modulog.com.
The website mentioned previously, Front Porch Ideas and More, featured this great double wide porch. It’s a traditional design but it does everything a porch needs to do – add dimension, keep rain away from the front door and extend living space. You can see the framework in the top image and the end result on the bottom.
This Cape Cod style manufactured home was found on Realtor.com and can be bought for $159,000. Not only is the porch awesome but the landscaping makes it even more beautiful. Notice the curved sidewalk, the owners really used lines to their advantage, curved and straight lines.
One of my favorite blogs is My Hearts Song. Geneva and her husband have completely remodeled their single wide and the end result is spectacular. She does a great job of sharing their projects with her readers and answering questions. My Heart’s Song is a must-read blog for every manufactured homeowner.
This is their front porch construction and below is the porch beautifully decorated which is one of Geneva’s many talents. She can come decorate my home anytime!
The double wide below is one of the most popular featured homes here on Mobile Home Living. It’s a great home with lots of customization, including a wrap-around porch that runs the entire length of the front of the home and the width. You can read all about the home here.
Did you know that Better Homes and Gardens once featured a single wide remodel in their magazine? We featured it here on Mobile Home Living too! One of the weird things about the feature was the fact that BHG called the home a trailer house – I just always thought that was weird (and sorta rude – why couldn’t it just be a mobile home?) Anyway, it’s a gorgeous home that went through an extensive remodel but the end result is astonishing.
Here’s the home in the midst of construction. The owners added double the square footage with the addition of a screened in front porch and roof-over.
The single wide after the porch and roof-over has been completed:
The interior of the covered and screened in porch:
Here’s the home from a distance with the woodlands landscaping:
There are 9 great manufactured home porch ideas for you. There’s lots more on the Front Porch Ideas and More Pinterest board and I’ll try to add another article with a few more. If you have a great porch or deck on your mobile or manufactured home please share it with us – we can always use more ideas and inspirations!
As always, thank you for reading Mobile Home Living!
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Thank you so much for sharing this information. I am remodeling now. I've been reading and taking notes with total joy for about 2 hr's. Found so many answers and Great ideas. Also thanks for the support for us who have found the joy in mobile home living.
One of the best choices l've made in my adult life. I have heard many people make jokes and talk down with out knowing anything about these homes. Even family. However, so happy to say it is such an enjoyment to see the looks on their faces, when they see my home
And no mortgage. Thanks
Hi Sheryl,
Thank you for such a kind comment. It makes my day! Having no mortgage is the single smartest thing we did - it allowed us to take a brake from the struggle and catch up. We were able to save and even went on a vacation! That wouldn't have been possible if we would have had a monthly payment.
Thank you so much!
Our porch is almost identical to #5.
We love it. With 4 rockers and a double swing, we have many wonderful
hours there, esp when we have get togethers. Porches rock!
Number 4 is my favorite as well. It does not even give a hint of being a manufactured home to me. Love your site. Lots of ideas. I will be glad when I get to move forward on the transformation of my own. I have a delivery job that takes me to some really fine homes. Then I come home to mine. lol. But, I have peace here. It cost me nothing as it is paid for. I just need to go ahead and transform it. I have always loved mobile homes. It began when I visited my aunt Bobbie. it was a sweltering hot day. I walked into her home and it was so cool and refreshing as she had something most people didnt, an A/C. lol. But she had it so inviting and relaxing inside. Live plants, cozy living room, shades blocking the sun out. A home is definitely where the heart is.
My wife and I live in a 2010 single wide and would like to teplace the carpet in our living room for a hardwood floor look. The kitchen/dining room area has a rustic looking linoleum which looks like square tiles of wood and it good looking. What would be the best way to do this and what type of material would best. A friend of mine told me you can not put hardwood floors in a "trailer." Of course I corrected him telling him this isn't a trailer, there are no wheels, etc., and they haven't used that term since the 70's. Manufactured homes are extremely well built and especially when they are permantly placed as ours is.
Love your website, and Thank You fir all the information.
Hi Michael, You can lay hardwood or laminate in a manufactured home. I installed 14mm laminate in my 2010, 2100 sq ft double wide last year. When I was researching how to install it, one of the things I found out is not to lay down laminate on top of carpeting, there will be too much give and stress. I had to tear up the carpeting before I laid mine. There was a MILLION staples and I'm not exaggerating. LOL! Also, if you take up the carpet expect to find it is laid under your wall studs. At least mine was. Good luck.
Interesting opposing viewpoints. I once had to tear out carpet the entire length and width of a 1975 singlewide, and swore never again. During construction, They did indeed lay the carpet down first, then put the walls, counters, etcetera on top of it. What a nightmare.
My 1996 doublewide needs new flooring, and the floating laminate sounds like a great way to avoid weeks of pulling staples and carpet fragments loose from the walls. I have seen the ripple effect from improperly laid flooring on both old carpet and bare plywood, and have to blame the installers (along with cheap laminate). A new floating laminate should last as long as I'd need it. :-)
Thanks for both opinions, ladies.
Hi Michael!
Good for you giving them the correct information!
You are probably a great candidate for laminated 'floating' floors. I love it because they can be installed over carpeting and there is a lot of give if installed correctly (you leave at least a 1/2 inch perimeter from flooring to wall and use trim to hide the difference). Leaving the carpet down gives you a lot of benefits: added insulation, no need to rip carpet out, and a nice padding for the new floor. We bought our floating floor at Lowe's and it was either .69 or .79 per square foot and it has held up great over the last 4 years.
Thanks so much for reading MHL!
Just found you. Love the pictures and write ups. Just purchased manufactured home that has overhang in back of the house that I call patio and kitchen door that leads out it. I had wobbly red bricks removed and it's prepped to have concrete poured Monday. I want to screen it in so that we can enjoy sitting out without bugs and kitty can go out safely. I'm having someone make the screen enclosure, however can you steer me to some examples? Current home has white vinyl fencing and house has white trim. Not a fan of the vinyl look but I'm going to work with it. Instead of regular doors opening out into yard I was thinking of a more sleek screen slider, eliminating lots of hardware. Any suggestions much appreciated. Looking forward to looking at more of your categories.
Hi Cookie,
I'm not sure I can help as it is really hard for me to find images of manufactured homes (which is why I started this site in the first place). I have 490 articles but none are about screened in porches. Could you maybe Google and see if you can find a photo you like and copy it? That's how I start all home improvement and decorating projects - I just find an image I like and copy it best I can.
Best of luck! Sorry I can't be more help!
I have a 50 x 30 manufactured home built in 2010 (my first home and I'm a very proud first time home owner!). My pet peeve with this home is the ugly white skirting on the bottom and would like to switch it out and then maybe possibly put up a small, front porch. Could you give me any ideas on how much this would cost? I got my mortgage through USDA Rural and Development loans and I'm having a hard time convincing them that this would be good for the property value as well as insulation for the pipes in the sub zero Minnesota weather (the skirting). Thanks!
Hi Marcia!
It's usually about $1500-2500 to have the white vinyl skirting installed and that's usually the cheapest skirting. Unless you go with a cheap tin or metal or recycle materials (wood, rock, etc) you'll likely be looking at a couple thousand at the least.
A small porch (8'x8' or so) usually runs between $800-2000. For both, I would budget at least $4000-5000.
Best of luck!
Hello Crystal,
I have fallen in love with a new concept of a new home, and it mobile home living. The stories of the transformations of the manufactured homes is the best keep secret ever. I have been searching and searching for a new home idea that is off the grid and affordable. I live for rehab and DIY I can hardly wait to transform my new home from a manufactured home. Thank you for sharing this website.
Hi Savannah,
It's great to hear from you! I'm so glad you find MMHL helpful!
I stumbled on your site today by doing a search of mobile home makeovers and I greatly appreciate your posts! I felt a sense of hope for ours, it is not old but it could use a face lift. We did take our guest bathroom down to the studs last summer and used bead board, wood grain laminate flooring and replaced the tub shower with walk in shower. We also added a deck too, which felt like another room addition. Our kitchen has freaked me out a little with the press wood cabinet doors so I have pretty much gave up on it until now. If you have any kitchen ideas or pictures of small kitchens please send them my way! Your site has definitely inspired me to keep trying and I needed that greatly! Avid follower now, thanks again for creating your site!!
Thank you so much for writing that comment! It made my day!
I was in the exact same place a few years ago. I wanted to remodel and decorate but I couldn't find much on mobile homes, so I started MHL, some how it caught on and now I get to be inspired every day! These homes and homeowners really know how to make a house a home and I'm sure yours is no different. Perhaps when you get finished you'll let me feature your home? I'd be honored!
Thanks again for such a moving comment. I appreciate you reading MHL!!
All nine of these are great ideas! I have been thinking about adding a porch to my manufactured home for a while now and this has inspired me to take on the project. Number 4 is my favorite, the home is unrecognizable!
Hi Ben!
You can't beat a good porch on a home! Thanks so much for commenting!
I would love to email you a picture of what my husband did for our front porch on our mobile home
Hi Jennifer!
I'd love to see it and feature it! Please send it to crystaladkins@mobilehomeliving.org.
Thank you so much!