The screws holding your shutters often work loose from vibration. When they do, tighten them. If the screw holes seem stripped, fill them with a sealant like TenX. Allow the sealant to set for a few minutes. Reinstall the screws. As the sealant cures, it forms a solid bond.
Polish rust off your shutters with steel wool. Replace rusting screws with cadmium-plated ones. Paint the shutters to retard further rusting. Paint often enough to maintain the attractive appearance of your home. If you use spray paint, take the shutters off first. Wash and dry them thoroughly before any painting.
Whenever you attach address numerals or other decorations, avoid driving nails and screws into the aluminum skin. Each hole drilled in your mobile-home skin creates a leak potential. Worse danger arises if you drill or nail into electric wires. You can drill holes safely around the base of your home, for skirting. But for anywhere else, try to obtain a wiring diagram from your mobile-home manufacturer. Otherwise, play it safe: use adhesives to add decorations outside your home.

Awnings, porches, and patios add beauty to your home. They provide a retreat from hot sun and shelter from rain and snow. Prompt maintenance for awnings, carports, and patio roofs prolongs the life and beauty of these accessories.
Every spring and fall, when you’re inspecting the roof anyway, look at the seals where your awnings or patio top attach to the roof. Clean away weathered caulking. Tighten mounting screws. Then reseal. Polish the rust from steel support poets with steel wool. Protect the posts with a coat of rust-deterrent paint.
Freezing and thawing rots cement. It also crumbles as it ages. That’s why the support footings should rest at least 3 inches inside the perimeter of the cement pad. Clean away the loose chunks. Peg a board along the edge of the pad, so your patch work comes out with a straight edge. Fill the gaps with an easy-to-use mortar premix, such as Bloc-Bond. Tighten loose footing bolts as often as necessary.
Awnings and carports damaged by wind probably need parts only your dealer can supply.

Weatherstripping blocks those icy winter drafts from entering around your doors. If your home has felt or foam weatherstripping, these soft materials tear, pull loose, or wear out. They need replacing from time to time.
Foam-rubber weatherstripping comes in coils. There are several widths. One side has strong adhesive backing. To install this type of weatherstripping, first clean all the old weatherstripping and adhesive material from the door jamb. Pull off the backing paper and apply the sticky side of the foam stripping across the top of the jamb. Snip at the appropriate length with scissors. Press the strip firmly into place. Similarly, apply more strips down the sides. That’s all there is to it.
Apply felt stripping in the same general manner, except that you apply contact cement to the door jamb to hold the felt strips.
Cold enters your home through windows also. The answer, of course, is to insulate them. Storm windows offer one solution. However, conventional glass storm windows break easily. Snap-in plastic windows don’t. One plastic window consists of long strips of plastic moulding and a thin sheet of clear plastic the size of your window. A strong adhesive backs the moulding, so it adheres to the window frame. The plastic window edges fit into fold over grooves in the moulding.
Here’s how to install it. Measure the moulding around each side of the window frame. Deduct about 2 inches from the top and bottom measurements so those mouldings will fit between the side mouldings. With scissors, cut the plastic moulding material into strips that fit the window frame. Peel the backing from the adhesive. Position and press the strips around the window frame. Open the mouldings and you can see grooves which hold the window. Center the plastic pane so its bottom edge fits about ¼ inch into the moulding grooves. Fold up the bottom moulding and press firmly. You’ll hear it snap into place. Repeat with side and top mouldings.
Anytime you want to take these storm windows down, just pry open the moulding. Take out the plastic pane, and press the moulding closed. Store plastic panes in the back of a closet or under your sofa until you need them again.