I am 57 in NY. I was reading the posts about SW or DW mobile homes. There seemed to be a lot of concern about the fact that the standard sizes of building materials do not fit in a "trailer". I bought my 16 x 80 in 1996. While it is true that nothing ever seems to fit right that does not mean that you can not go to Lowes or HD to get the stuff to remodel with. I rented this home out for 3 years and the people just about tore it up. Major remodeling was needed.

1) The wood structure of the outside wall was not water damaged so that much was ok. I installed vinyl siding got at Lowes. Standard

2) The entire bath was a mess except for the floor under the tub and the tub itself were ok. I replaced everything else...sheetrock, wall tiles, flooring with ceramic tiles, toilet, upgrade from 30 to 50 gallon water heater and ceiling fan. Standard.

3) The 3 bedrooms were basically ok except they required new sheetrock and either paint on 2 and paneling the 3rd. One bedrrom floor had a 24" hole cut out of it which I found had been used to store "wacky tobacky". Standard sizes used.

4) The living room and adjoining dining room were fine as far as not being torn apart. I installed a material which resembles Knotty Pine on the walls. It comes in 3 1/2 " by 1/4" by 8' and is tongue & groove. $9 for 6 pieces. I put this on at a 45 degree angle coated with clear poly. Only availible at Lowes that I know of. The ceiling I changed from a flat 81" to vaulted 95" at the center. Standard sizes.

5) The kitchen was the worst. Enough said that I tore out everything in the kitchen down to the 2" x 6" studs and replaced everything including the floor. I used standard sized cabinets, counter top(granite), sink and ceramic wall tiles between the upper and lower cabinets. The new cabinets were somewhat larger but that only made the floor space 3" by 4" smaller. Add new wiring, a range, ceiling fan and frig. The kitchen was the most cost at $2100. All standard sizes got at HD, Lowes and a local supplier.

6) Laundry room was surprisingly fine. Painted it.

7) Throughout the home the people managed to break or crack all but 1 window. The old windows were odd size of course but with some added wood to the openings I was able to buy windows from Home Depot. Standard sized windows.

8) Water pipes froze a lot causing damage inside. The problem was that the 18" space underneath where the gray plastic water lines were gets cold here in NY. Pipes freeze. And the only place to get those kind of pipes was at the MH supplier. So I bought 1 fitting from the MH supply enabling me to change from the 13/16" goofy size to standard PVC. That cost $8. Then I ran the pipe straight up so it would get the water inside the home sooner and not freeze. I ran the pipes thru the walls. Adding an in-line heater, connected to a switch so it could be turned off, in the PVC for the 18" and no more freezes and no more damage.

9) add an enclosed front porch and rear deck.

You may say it is my own fault for not checking up on the people renting the place. I agree. So why fix it instead of junking the thing? 4 years ago I kicked those folks out. Then quickly met a lady on-line from dixieland. We conversed. Short story we married in April 2005 and I hauled her up here to Ny and snow country where upon she saw the trailer and said, "ya'll had better fix me up a proper home or git yer own supper". lol

So where I had a trailer valued at $500 and almost junk I now have a home recently valued at $10,750 for sale. I spent $4000. We have 3 possible buyers and will be moving back "down home" to dixie by end of 2007. So whoever tells you that you can't fix your mobile home with standard sizes is mostly F.O.S. Except for the front door which has to stay 77". Thru all the repairs the "dixie chick" held out and managed to cook around the mess. The step-kids were not happy but they had no choice. I asked my southern girl why she put up with that mess. "knew I had me a good old man".

Just fix it. It'll work.

Have a good day. YA'll