Forum Discussion

Wishn_I_Was_Fis's avatar
Wishn_I_Was_Fis
Explorer
Nov 20, 2019

Closet walls pulling away from structure

I don't even really know how to describe this issue. We have owned a lot of RVs over the years but this is not like anything we've ever encountered before. Our fifth wheel is parked most of the time with the front nose portion taking the brunt of the afternoon sun, in the AZ desert. The bedroom closet takes up the very front nose of the rig. This summer we noticed that the interior wall had pulled away from the structure and was warping badly. It almost looks like it's melting. This is not a leak issue, it's a heat issue.

The closet interior wall is "molded" to fit the shape of the exterior of the rig. We could completely remove the interior wall lining but replace it with what? Due to the odd rounded shape of the front nose, we would need something pliable. I kind of like the idea of replacing it with cedar but we would lose a significant portion of the closet by building up the support to make it a flatter surface.

The rig is 10 years old now so no warranty. We are pretty handy and can fix most things, but this has us stumped. Has anyone run into this kind of thing before? Any ideas on how to fix this so it looks decent? It's a great RV otherwise. No real issues other than the beating it takes from the sun out here.


Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks much!
  • laknox's avatar
    laknox
    Nomad
    Nov 21, 2019
    mhardin wrote:
    If you really want cedar, maybe you could line it with narrow cedar planks run horizontally.


    I've seen 1/4 or 5/16 cedar t&g boards. Placed horizontally, you could likely follow the curve of the front cap. As far as insulation, there's most likely little to none in there from the factory. :-(

    Lyle
  • FlatBroke's avatar
    FlatBroke
    Explorer II
    Nov 21, 2019
    When you store an RV in that heat put a few 5 gallons buckets full of water and place them in the trailer. That what they do where I am in AZ.
  • newman_fulltime's avatar
    newman_fulltime
    Explorer II
    Nov 21, 2019
    Basically it is cardboard and with that much heat it has lost its moisture and shrunk is all the problem more than likely is.So its just cosmetic.Go to a big box store pick up some cedar boards and some and adhesive and condiser it a mod
  • mhardin's avatar
    mhardin
    Explorer
    Nov 20, 2019
    If you really want cedar, maybe you could line it with narrow cedar planks run horizontally.
  • Curly2001's avatar
    Curly2001
    Explorer II
    Nov 20, 2019
    Heat is a funny thing here in the west. I have wallpaper that is wrinkling on the upper section of my 5th wheel in the bedrooms. It is not leaking but sliding down the wall just a bit from the heat. Took it in for some inspection and they said it is not unheard of for them to do it here with the heat. They said to change the direction of how we park it to change where the heat is hitting the trailer.
    Curly
  • schlep1967's avatar
    schlep1967
    Nomad
    Nov 20, 2019
    Until you tear it out and see what you have to work with it is hard to know what will work to replace it. Once you open it up I would find some type of reflective insulation to try to keep the heat out and install that first. If you have vertical supports running up and down the front wall you may be able to screw cedar boards directly to the structure. You would want to cut the edges of the boards at angles or rabbit them so they overlap to form a seal. If it gets that warm there you will want to make sure the boards are very dry before installing them. If not when they dry out you will have gaps. I would probably put a piece of thin plywood behind the cedar to act as the seal.
  • agesilaus's avatar
    agesilaus
    Explorer III
    Nov 20, 2019
    Hard to say without seeing it, but my first thought is 1/4 inch hardwood plywood. The thin sheets are pliable. So you install one sheet and then using good glue, laminate a second sheet on top of that one. This assumes you have some structure behind the sheets that you can drive screws into. You can add more sheets to get the desired thickness but probably two would be enough. Once the glue sets you can remove the top layer's screws and use wood putty to fill the screw holes.

    The problem with this is that you would never be able to remove this in the future.

    There may be better solutions.

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