Azdel or not?

Stclairm wrote:
I keep seeing so many stories about fiberglass walls delaminating and the such with luan as part of the construction. I see people who don't even have water damage and the walls are coming apart. So, would you only buy a trailer that uses Azdel or is there good reason to buy one that doesn't have it because the manufacturer has a superior reputation for wall construction and longivity?

To start with, I think Azdel is a great sheathing product. Understand that wall sheathing has two primary jobs. Prevent wall "racking" (front to rear movement) and provide a very smooth sub-surface to apply the finish, typically some type of flexible fiberglass product like Filon.

Delamination is caused by water intrusion that de-bonds the exterior finish to the sheathing. Typically this come from the area where the roof attaches to the side wall or from around windows. Continuous water intrusion ruins the adhesive. If the sheathing is any type or organic (wood) it will rot. If the studs are organic, they will rot, If the floor is organic, it will rot.

Azdel is a little like locking the barn door after the horse is out ! If there were no leaks, an organic sheathing (wood) would be fine.

Organic sheathing and organic wall studs are much cheaper than non-organic (Azdel and aluminum). Several manufacturers experimented with non-organic floors, but they did not decrease the distance between floor joists or add extra bracing and they found out (the hard way) that honeycomb floors do NOT hold up to foot traffic.


Segue - Coachmen heavily advertises the use of Azdel, but they do NOT use it in all of the their products. Even in the products that they do use it, they don't use it in the front or rear walls. My guess is that they can not keep it attached to the studs because of the severe amount of racking those two wall get.