Gutting Our Double Wide Kitchen

Our most recent project in our home is gutting our double wide kitchen. We are working hard to create a budget friendly remodel that is both functional and pretty.

Gutting our double wide kitchen in our mobile home, includes tearing out all of the kitchen cabinets, some of the flooring and sheet-rock. Here is a look at the process as we work towards creating our simple kitchen without going into debt.

Gutting Mobile Home Kitchen Walls

To gut the walls in our kitchen, we started with the wall that didn’t have the kitchen sink on it. Because, this wall is where the former pantry was, the sheetrock had been replaced and was very easy to remove. It was a simple process of finding the screws, unscrewing them and then removing the pieces.

The wall where the kitchen sink is, was not as easy to remove. There were many staples, and the wallboards are glued onto the studs. This creates a huge mess as it all comes off in pieces. To remove the glue and left over wallboard pieces from the studs we use a metal chisel to scrape the excess pieces off. Then, we use a hammer to remove the staples or to hammer them into the studs.

Replacing Walls In a Mobile Home
Gutting A Double Wide Kitchen

Gutting a Double Wide Kitchen | Video

Removing Kitchen Flooring in a Double Wide Mobile Home

Several years ago, we put hardwood flooring in the main areas. For this section of the floor, we had to remove the hardwoods. We will need to replace some of the sub-flooring. Then, we will be installing hardwood flooring back in this space.

As we gut the kitchen, we are also redoing our laundry room. I will have a full post on that later. We are making the laundry room larger. That is why you can see the walls removed between the laundry room, kitchen, and master bedroom closet. Again, more on that later.

We did remove our old heating and air system. It is original to our 2002 Clayton home and no longer worked properly.

We knew that there was a soft spot in the floor from where the previous owners had allowed the unit to leak onto the floor. Since we have everything torn out, now is the time to correctly replace the flooring and do things correctly.

So, we will be pulling up the bad sub-flooring and replacing it with new pieces before putting the hardwood floors back in.

Remodeling a Mobile Home Kitchen

What are Mobile Home Cabinets Made Out Of

Our kitchen cabinets were made with MDF material and then covered with styled paper wrapping. According to Clayton Homes, MDF is medium density fiberboard and it is a composite material made up of wood chips. It withstands heat and humidity well which means it will not expand and contract as much, is a very affordable prefab home product and doesn’t have the inconsistencies that wood can have.

Why We Are Replacing Kitchen Cabinets in our Double Wide

Our cabinets have needed to be replaced for a very long time. Water damage and a lack of care from previous tentants, didn’t leave us much to work with. If the cabinets were in good shape, I would have chosen to paint them and then update the countertops. In our situation, getting new cabinets was the only choice I had.

Our new cabinetry will be solid wood shaker style cabinets from Lily Ann Cabinetry. They have graciously shared a code with me to share with you, my followers. You can use code, SARA3810 to save 5%. While I can’t wait to assemble the new cabinets and get them installed, we have to remove the old ones first.

Double Wide Mobile Home Kitchen Remodel

Gutting a Mobile Home Kitchen | Cabinet Removal

Mobile home kitchen cabinets are easy to remove. When most people think of a kitchen cabinet, they think it is one solid piece. In our situation, it appears that they were pieces that were put together as they were built. Therefore, the cabinets came out in piece, not one solid cabinet.

To remove the cabinets, we used a hammer to get most of the fronts of the cabinets off and the sides. The countertops were screwed into place, and so we had to use an impact to remove those. There were also a few screws through the bottom of the cabinets into the floor. Removing the cabinets was an easy task.

Since I do a lot of cooking and dishes in this space, I chose to leave the sink for as long as I possibly can. We removed the cabinet around it and then screwed in 2×4’s to hold the sink in place. It’s not the greatest set-up but it prevents me from using the bathroom as a place to wash dishes.

Double Wide Mobile Home Kitchen Remodel

Whats Next in Our Double Wide Kitchen Makeover

I shared the original plan in a post called, double wide kitchen makeover. In the next coming weeks, we will have the sub-floor fixed, two new windows put in, assemble our Lily Ann Cabinets, and hanging shiplap on the walls.

Then, it will be time to start installing all the pieces and putting everything back together. I look forward to seeing our vision come to reality.

Thank you so much for stopping by. You can follow me on my social channels and don’t forget to subscribe to get the latest news directly to your inbox.

Sarah

Thank you for sharing!

6 thoughts on “Gutting Our Double Wide Kitchen”

  1. Lots and lots of work but, know it will be so worth it when you are done. Praying for energy and staying healthy, thank you for sharing your journey.

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  2. I want to tell you about our 1999 Norris double-wide. Norris is also made by Clayton. We took their floor plan flipped it and then flopped it so it was facing the way we wanted and had the side door on the right side by the driveway. We had been talking about getting a new furnace for a few years. In 2018 we cut the cord, got rid of the satellite and got a new antenna for the roof. When my husband put a booster on the antenna he had to find a place to plug it in for electricity. He brought the cord into the laundry/utility room. When he was trying to thread it through the floor he found out that the furnace was leaking. The floor was all wet and starting to separate. We called our homeowners insurance company. A couple of years ago they added a small amount on per year to cover things like that. The insurance company told us to call a certain HVAC company. He came out put in a claim for us. The insurance gave us enough for a new furnace and a new central air conditioner. We had a $500 deductible to pay. We had the new equipment installed in Nov 2018. What a relief!! It felt like winning the lottery. We also live in rural Missouri in Central Missouri. We love our 1999 Norris. When we bought it we had white cabinets put in and I’m so happy we did that. They still look good after 21 years. BTW, the HVAC company owner told us afterwards that he didn’t think the insurance company would pay for it. They surprised him!

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  3. OMG! Finally, someone who has a home with almost an identical layout to ours! Our washer and dryer stuff is actually on the opposite wall to yours, which gives use more room. Was there a stupid little wall between the kitchen and the dining room? That’s my next thing to rip out and relocate the thermostat and light switches, because we would love to have a larger fridge, like yours! When we moved in, the kitchen and living room were separated by a fireplace and a wall surrounding it. I ripped that all out, put the fridge where you have yours, tiled the area where the fireplace was and put in an island, like you did (that I need to finish lol) Love, love, LOVE that I found your page! Oh, I also just noticed our over-the-sink window is nowhere near as large as yours….my Mother is going to have a FIIIIIIIIIIIIT when i get to taking things apart @_@

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