single double triple xxx...wides

I"m finally looking at land here in Floyd  Va.... almost every parcel has a doublewide on it...  some are shells....does anyone have any ideas on how to inssulate it make it strong like bull.. maybe strawbale or cob it inside and out? I"ve seen foam as an insulator but its not that ecological....I"m  gettin old already LOL so I don't know how much I can do but I will try...(ok enough complaining) I really would rather do the gardens....  9 acres on the blueridge parkway southfacing gentle slope down to a creek wetland...  the possibilites stagger the imagination... anyway  someone(maybe me) needs to do a tutorial on salvaging these existing deteriorating structures... any help would be appreciated...  thanks  Sam

Do a search using the "Search" button on the upper right of this window.  There was someone just a week or two ago that was talking about using cob to replace the insulation in a mobile home.  They also replaced the windows with double-pane windows.

HouseAlive (strawbale advocate, Cob building, natural building, natural design & appropriate technology) advocates hiding behind mobile homes and building your cob dream out of sight and code police. 

The idea being to setup as many of these as you need and then knock out the floors and put in the structure (poles) and natural flooring, next clean out the walls from the inside and loose the paneling, insulation and any other non-natural material, then replace with cob and/or strawbale.  Leave siding outside so no one's the wiser.  Keep going this way, loosing anything old, rotten or toxic and building new/natural on the inside, while recycling anything you can such as wiring, fixtures, sinks, etc.

It's not exactly what your asking for, but it is a great way to green up these old dinosaurs - using a doable, one step at a time method.

Wouldn't a video blog of a project like this be super!

Word of warning, some green building methods can weigh many tons. I thought about doing cordwood insulation inside our singlewide, then I calculated the load on the frame - youch! Plus there's a chance we'll be moving it off the property in 15 years, and you don't want to tow that.

Just keep an eye on the weight. May need to put your insulation on the outside. Straw bale on the inside may be a good idea, as it is by default kept away from moisture. Too bulky for our singlewide.

Someone once said that if you want to add insulation, you get the most bang for the buck by addressing these areas in this order:

[li]Attic[/li]
[li]Basement[/li]
[li]Exterior walls[/li]
[li]Floors[/li]
[li]Crawl spaces[/li]

if you take care of the attic before the basement, that is definitely a concern for weight. Cob is structural and can hold the weight of the roof, as long as the foundation will hold the weight of the cob. Though if I had a trailer that I wanted to "green" I think I would utilize it's studs as a pre-made form for light clay (straw tossed with clay slip until coated, then stuffed into a form) which is much lighter than cob and has a better R value  for insulation. Cob is a good thermal battery, but not a great insulator.  Use cob for an interior partition that will house the flu for your rocket stove heating system (and since we are also talking about concern for weight, ensure that this wall has foundation roots).

I believe those are the very reasons I was told to start with the floor and supports, because of weight and the removing of some supporting walls to have a better floor plan for cob/straw than that of 2 or 3 trailers placed together.  The idea being that you go all the way down to the ground and build something permanent.

And my suggestion is definitely NOT a remodel of a MH, and why I said it really doesn't directly answer Samiam's question.  It is more of a 'recycling' of the older MH's into something you might not be able to build outright.  Something healthier, safer and way more pleasing.

For a natural remodel - I would start by adding more supports (mason blocks) under the frame of the MH, and find the internal load baring walls and roof supports before ripping anything down.  Then, remodel away!

Years ago I saw pictures of a wonderful adobe looking house.  Rather small, but had a little two story area on one end.  I was really surprised to read that it had been a mobile home in the beginning.  The owners used straw bale and cob on the exterior, remodeled the interior, very well done. 
Then city/county government stepped in, deemed it unsafe and made them tear it down... 

At http://www.greenhomebuilding.com/QandA/cob/misc.htm , there are some Q and A's that address what you want to do.  Scroll down the page a bit to find it.

Good luck!