Yesterday we bought a 1982 Star (haven't heard of that brand before) 14x54 2bed/1bath in really good condition about 25 miles south of Portland, OR. It has a rubber roof cap over foam sheet insulation (2" I think). It has some newer vinyl windows on the front door side and the rear (bedroom), and stock windows in the bath, the large bay window in the front (kitchen) and one other on the back door side - more on the latter later.
We got it for $3200 from a guy who recently retired and will be motor-homing around the country, so he wanted a fast sale. (He bought it for $5500 four years ago.) We saw his craigslist ad about 15 minutes after he posted it - he got calls wanting it while we were looking at it (and another twenty or so while we were waiting on park approval; one guy even offered to give him $500 over his asking price, but thankfully he's an honest guy).
We're going to do some work before we move into it, then finish the projects we started on the one we're in now after we move out. We've been living in a construction zone with this one for the past year and had enough of that for a while.
The odd thing is the previous owner (prior to the one we bought it from) sheetrocked the exterior walls in the livingroom and down the hall. Where the sheet rock ends at the mirrored panels in the corner of the livingroom, there is no trim and it just sort of abuts the mirror trim. (I don't like the mirrors, DH does.) Where the overlay sheetrock ends at the kitchen on each side, he tacked up a quarter-sawn piece of trim, and textured the overlay using a roller.
It's not the worst texture job I've seen, but it gets an honorable mention. Oh, and he sheetrocked over the afore mentioned stock window (which looks over the crappy carport that goes with this space and needs to be rebuilt). The newer vinyl windows on the other side of the house were installed with the fin exposed, every hole has a screw and the caulk looks like it was applied with his willy.
The way the texture is thicker and even less uniform around where that window is, I suspect that he sheetrocked around it then decided to cover it afterward. I will probably be putting a vinyl window there as it's the only window on that side of the home and I don't like having a 'blind side'. I'd like to be able to see out that window if someone is messing around the carport.The OEM sheetrock is wallpaper clad in a dated print with a woven texture. In the kitchen the lower half of the wall is paneled as a faux wainscot. I haven't pulled the electrical outlet covers in the livingroom yet to see what's behind (the outlets are recessed so the guy didn't put spacers in them to compensate for the extra sheetrock) to see if the 'wainscot' goes into the livingroom and all the way down the hall.
I don't know what the motivation to do the overlay was. I can only estimate that he did it because he didn't want to deal with the wainscoting (or there are big holes in the walls
). If it had been me, I would have used a thin coat of mud to fill in the texture of the wallpaper, then installed bead-board and chair rail over the faux wainscot (but DH doesn't like wainscot/chair rail so that's out). There's also the unknown condition of the walls under the sheetrock. (The guy we bought it from was no help in that. He just bought it to live in until he hit retirement age and didn't do anything with it.)The interior wall has a layer of embossed (tulips) wall paper which is peeling at the seams and was painted over at some time, so that need to be removed as well.
So I'm wondering if I should take this sheetrock down and start from scratch or just sand down the bad texture. (I've got a new 18v DeWalt orbital that would work on this. What grit should I use? I've got some 60 but that may be too fine.)
I'll be doing the light duty work and have a handyman friend who is going to help with heavier stuff. DH won't be involved with it - other than asking when it's going to be done.
He has no mechanical aptitude at all, bless him. If you hand him a screwdriver, it better be in a glass with orange juice and vodka! 
We're the Odd Couple. I'm Oscar and he's Felix. He wears the apron and I wear the tool belt. He fixes dinner. I fix everything else. (And the way he cooks is more than compensation!!!!)Here are a couple of pix the seller posted on craigslist so you can see a little of what I'm talking about:
[attachment=1]1981 2-1 952sf. Living.jpg[/attachment]
[attachment=0]1981 2-1 952sf. Fporch.jpg[/attachment]
So what input do you have for me on this? Should I leave the sheetrock up or take it down? Any other input is welcomed!
Thanks in advance!
PS: And OldFart thinks HE's long-winded???
).