Vinyl siding repair

I need to repair a mobile home, that has had rocks thrown at it, some of the holes are 2-3inches round, can i just fill these holes with an exterior caulking? I have very limited funds, so I am looking for the cheapiest way to fix this. No way could i afford to replace the vinyl some areas have 5 or 6 holes and the place is 15 years old.

 

Hi xMSGx, I certainly understand limited funds . Doing a lot right now with the cold weather would be difficult, because vinyl will simply snap when cold, especially if it is older.

My thoughts would start with looking around the house to see if there is a wall of siding you can sacrifice. It can be one people see less so it can be left ugly for awhile, or one that is in plain view, if you will be able to buy (or borrow) just enough for that one section.

Anyway, the option involves stealing good panels and repairing what needs attention, then dealing with the vacant area in some other way.

Now, if this is a standard type of siding, a piece cut to fit over the damaged area can be glued in place. The trick would be getting a good match on the color. But if the repair part and the existing match, a patch might get you by. Won't look real good.

Even stealing from other areas of the house it will be difficult to match colors as exposure to the sun changes all colors and different sides of the house see different amounts of sun.

As for borrowing some siding, if you are bold enough, check out some siding project in your area. Scraps are usually available just for picking them up and often some are rather large as contractors don't like working with pieces. Also, siding comes in boxes of 2 squares per bob, and if there is any left over, lumber yards often won't take back open boxes. And contractors get tired of saving or dragging them around. They will often have a pile somewhere they wouldn't mind getting rid of, maybe at a small price. Color and style will still be a challenge, but it can be cost effective.

Bud

 

Thanks for replying, I actually thought about gluing pieces over the holes, I just needed someone else to tell me the same idea I had lol. the problem with picking one side of the house is, all sides have a hole somewhere. I was considering patching the holes like u suggest, then later when i have more money, rent a paint gun, and paint the mobile ( i know how to paint exterior vinyl siding) need a good quality latex primer, a good latex paint, and a very good cleaning with some TSP

 

My son bought a house a few years ago and the previous owner had patched the vinyl siding in a few places. He drilled and pop riveted pieces of identical siding over the holes. It blended in fairly good - you have to look for them to find them

Oh and when you paint, add some emulsa bond to the 1st coat. You can skip the primer if you want. Just make sure the vinyl is clean. TSP works well but must also be rinsed well! Also most vinyls are color sensitive so it's best not to go to a darker color although SWP [maybe other paint stores too] has an additive that they claim addresses that issue.

 

Are you referring to the siding on the mobile home itself or the skirting? Yes, you can hot glue or epoxy matching pieces over the holes. Not the best repair, but will hold until funds loosen up a little.

 

Not the skirting, it has a permanent foundation

 

Yep...I have siliconed (may have been Goop?) repair patches on a couple of places before.
Instead of just cutting a square or circle, I just cut a piece wide enough plus maybe an inch on each side..then cut the nailing flange off, then cut it right at the middle "bend". This gave me 2 pieces to patch a hole in both the upper and lower section of the siding.
You could probably just cut the nailing flange and use the whole piece if it would cover more holes.

You need to tape them to hold them til the adhesive sets.

I was lucky and had some left over siding...but it was real surprising how unnoticable it was from 10 ft away.