Cold weather skirting around RV
I have a good list of materials for insulating the underbelly of the RV and plan on starting that project next week. After volumes of reading about cold weather/snow camping, skirting is one item that...
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My TH has an open belly and exposed holding tanks. I added 120V Ultra-Heat stick on heaters to my grey and black tanks. I added the Home Depot/Lowes Frost King heat cable to my exposed hot & cold water lines that runs side-side between the two tanks, then covered the lines with foam pipe insulation. I bought the heat cable a few feet longer than needed then taped it to the drain lines of the holding tanks in a loop, then wrapped with leftover fiberglass housing insulation then wrapped with heavy plastic.
I skirted my trailer with the thinnest OSB I could get. I backed it with 1" foam insulation (the stuff with the foil on one side). My trailer does not have an overhang/skirt along the sides. I cut ~6" pieces of 2x4 and screwed them along the floor with them being inset slightly from the edge. I screwed the OSB/insulation to the 2x4s, so the outer edge of the OSB is inline with the outer edge of the trailer. Any holes around the skirting (tongue rails, entry steps, ect) I filled with pieces of a foam mattress; squeeze it up and stuff it in the hole and it expands and reduces air flow.
My fresh water hose got a length of the Frost King heat cable and covered with foam pipe insulation.
My trailer did just fine in -20*F temperatures last winter. The OSB looks like******since it has been exposed to the elements for 12-13mo now, but I never planned on being in the same spot this long. If I would have known I would have been hanging around longer, I would have painted that stuff. It is starting to bow and curl in some spots. I must say I'm on a gravel pad so I dug down a couple inches and stuck the sheets down in the ditch and then backfilled to hold the bottom of the sheets in place.
All this cost me maybe $300. Cost is just OSB and foam (however many sheets you need, and depending on how you frame and attach, a few 2x4s). My neighbor just did his 37' FW just like I did, but he is painting his OSB so it will hopefully last longer, as he plans on staying for a few years.
I skirted my trailer with the thinnest OSB I could get. I backed it with 1" foam insulation (the stuff with the foil on one side). My trailer does not have an overhang/skirt along the sides. I cut ~6" pieces of 2x4 and screwed them along the floor with them being inset slightly from the edge. I screwed the OSB/insulation to the 2x4s, so the outer edge of the OSB is inline with the outer edge of the trailer. Any holes around the skirting (tongue rails, entry steps, ect) I filled with pieces of a foam mattress; squeeze it up and stuff it in the hole and it expands and reduces air flow.
My fresh water hose got a length of the Frost King heat cable and covered with foam pipe insulation.
My trailer did just fine in -20*F temperatures last winter. The OSB looks like******since it has been exposed to the elements for 12-13mo now, but I never planned on being in the same spot this long. If I would have known I would have been hanging around longer, I would have painted that stuff. It is starting to bow and curl in some spots. I must say I'm on a gravel pad so I dug down a couple inches and stuck the sheets down in the ditch and then backfilled to hold the bottom of the sheets in place.
All this cost me maybe $300. Cost is just OSB and foam (however many sheets you need, and depending on how you frame and attach, a few 2x4s). My neighbor just did his 37' FW just like I did, but he is painting his OSB so it will hopefully last longer, as he plans on staying for a few years.
