fiberglass or stick built

It seems to me that I read about more problems with fibreglass than aluminum siding, delamination, dull and losing shine etc.
I have an aluminum siding one and am happy with it, although I must admit I think the new shiny fibreglass ones looks good.

I came from hail country so I don't buy alum. anymore. Our last alum. sided 5er didn't have a vapor barrier under the siding and it was windy inside. I still like the looks of a well kept alum. RV. Craig

wandering1 wrote:

sch911 wrote:
Never heard of an RV referred to as a "stick built". A house or building yes, RV no. Sorry....

X2

Stick and tin is a common term for RV's although it's a wood frame with aluminum siding.

N-Trouble wrote:

donn0128 wrote:
To answer your question.
Aluminum siding= lighter, easier to repair, easier to damage, butt ugly, harder to wash and wax.
Smooth siding=And there are different types. Smooth fiberglas=looks way nicer, much easier to wash and wax, harder to repair,
The other type, frilon= pebble finish, sort of heavy, fairly easy to wash, hard to wax.
Generally speaking aluminum and frilon are found on low to medium cost trailers.
Fiberglas is found on medium to high cost trailers. Personally if giver a choice I would pick smooth fiberglas any day of the week for it's good looks, and ease of wash and waxing.

Also worth noting fiberglass will have much better insulating properties (both thermal and sound) than aluminum.

IMO the only advantage aluminum siding has is weight savings. All other advantages go to smooth fiberglass.

This is what I have found as well.

donn0128 wrote:
To answer your question.
Aluminum siding= lighter, easier to repair, easier to damage, butt ugly, harder to wash and wax.
Smooth siding=And there are different types. Smooth fiberglas=looks way nicer, much easier to wash and wax, harder to repair,
The other type, frilon= pebble finish, sort of heavy, fairly easy to wash, hard to wax.
Generally speaking aluminum and frilon are found on low to medium cost trailers.
Fiberglas is found on medium to high cost trailers. Personally if giver a choice I would pick smooth fiberglas any day of the week for it's good looks, and ease of wash and waxing.

Also worth noting fiberglass will have much better insulating properties (both thermal and sound) than aluminum.

IMO the only advantage aluminum siding has is weight savings. All other advantages go to smooth fiberglass.

I think stick built refers to wood studded walls rather than aluminum studs. Generally the lower cost trailers have wood, moderate to higher priced have aluminum but there are exceptions.

Our current Winnebago fiver has a gelcoat fiberglass, high gloss and looks great. Very easy to keep clean and waxed.

Not sure what our prior trailer had. It was lower cost with a smooth but not high gloss finish. Looked to me like a very thin plastic sheeting. After 9 years it still looked great but nowheres near as nice as the gelcoat.

The biggest problem I've had with the corrugated aluminum siding is how easy it dents. Small little nicks and dings show up quickly.

sch911 wrote:
Never heard of an RV referred to as a "stick built". A house or building yes, RV no. Sorry....

X2

It's Filon not frilon and aluminum siding may be butt ugly to you but lots of RV owners love the look of aluminum siding. It's also fiberglass not fiverglas. We prefer gelcoated fiberglass however it's far from cheap and mainly used on higher end RV's as standard or may be an option also.

To answer your question.
Aluminum siding= lighter, easier to repair, easier to damage, butt ugly, harder to wash and wax.
Smooth siding=And there are different types. Smooth fiberglas=looks way nicer, much easier to wash and wax, harder to repair,
The other type, frilon= pebble finish, sort of heavy, fairly easy to wash, hard to wax.
Generally speaking aluminum and frilon are found on low to medium cost trailers.
Fiberglas is found on medium to high cost trailers. Personally if giver a choice I would pick smooth fiberglas any day of the week for it's good looks, and ease of wash and waxing.

RV trailers are built in different ways, and have different issues - each manufacturer is a bit different. Aluminium sided exteriors could have wood framing - literally "stick-built", aluminium welded frame, steel framing. Fiberglass exterior can be the same, or might be a fiberglass monocoque construction - all fiberglass laid up kind of like a boat. It could be foam cored panels or in fact plywood cored panels with a fiberglass outer layer. You have to ask more questions than what the siding is made of...

Brian