Azdel wall construction

I like the idea of Azdel, but remember that it isn't a cure all. If you get a leak, even with Adzel, that water will continue to drip down until it hits your wood floor and can rot and mold on the floor instead of the walls. You won't have rotted walls... just a rotted floor. That leads me to this quote...

BillyW wrote:
I'm also intrigued with the Azdel product for the walls, but I won't sacrifice the floor plan or other features I want just for that. Good preventive maintenance will render it mostly meaningless too.

This is the best answer. I would love Adzel in my Jayco (at the right price), but proper care and maintenance is the key. Personally I store my trailer under a Carolina Carport, keeping it out of the weather as best I can. You need to stay on top of maintenance though, or anything will leak. Adzel construction won't save you from poor maintenance issues... it will just delay the inevitable.

BillyW wrote:
I'm also intrigued with the Azdel product for the walls, but I won't sacrifice the floor plan or other features I want just for that. Good preventive maintenance will render it mostly meaningless too.

Easy to pontificate and say it won't happen to you but the reality is leaks can happen to anyone, regardless of how they may think they're carefully maintaining their trailer. Our brand new Freedom Express sprung a fairly significant leak that showed up during a torrential downpour on it's second trip out. For the life of me I couldn't see how any way water could be getting inside the trailer, but it did. The problem was later solved at the dealership by a reapplication of all the side wall seams with clear ProFlex ... but at no time could any one of us actually see where this water may have gotten in.

I'm also intrigued with the Azdel product for the walls, but I won't sacrifice the floor plan or other features I want just for that. Good preventive maintenance will render it mostly meaningless too.

Have Azdel walls in my Camplite. Very nice.

And if you look closely, only the outside layer against the fiberglass is Azdel. The inside of the panel is still luan.

The old, no longer produced, Koala's by Skyline had sidewalls, and the front and real panels made of Azdel, and both inside and outside where luan is normally used, was Azdel.

Skyline did cut some corners in the build quality, but definitely did not with their wall construction.

proxim2020 wrote:
Having it in the sidewalls only isn't anything to scoff at. That's quite a bit of real estate on a trailer. The Coachmen vacuum bonded Azdel walls are definitely a few steps above the traditional pinch rolled luan walls. If Azdel trailers carry a premium, then it must be a small one. I found that they were priced in the same neighborhood as traditional fiberglass trailers.

proxim2020 wrote:
Having it in the sidewalls only isn't anything to scoff at. That's quite a bit of real estate on a trailer. The Coachmen vacuum bonded Azdel walls are definitely a few steps above the traditional pinch rolled luan walls.

Presumably you'e referring to my post in which I indicated that just the sidewalls in Freedom Express and Apex trailers are Azdel but nowhere am I "scoffing" at this but merely pointing out (since no salesman will ever tell you this) that only the sidewalls are Azdel, the front and rear panels are conventional pinch rolled luan walls.

Right at this moment, as I'm writing this, I'm looking at a pic on my phone that I took last fall at my own Coachmen dealer. It's a rear view of a 2015 Apex with the entire rear panel removed as the original was defective and was being replaced under warranty with a new one. The wall panel itself was conventional pinch rolled luan and contrary to what some may believe the entire back wall framing is entirely wood stud - no metal at all. Unfortunately no salesman will ever tell you this. :(

Having it in the sidewalls only isn't anything to scoff at. That's quite a bit of real estate on a trailer. The Coachmen vacuum bonded Azdel walls are definitely a few steps above the traditional pinch rolled luan walls. If Azdel trailers carry a premium, then it must be a small one. I found that they were priced in the same neighborhood as traditional fiberglass trailers.

Our Coachmen Freedom Express is a parallel product built in the same manufacturing facility as the Coachmen Apex series and of course it too has Azdel walls ... but don't kid yourself, only the sidewalls are Azdel ... if the dealer is telling you otherwise then it is mumbo jumbo. :R

Adzel is a good product. Consider it a "plus" but evaluate the trailer as a whole and make sure it meets your needs and quality standards. When we bought our Minnie, we considered a unit made by Evergreen with Adzel wall construction but chose the Minnie because it had some features we liked better.

Yes. I wish more manufacturers would use Azdel in their trailer construction.