Cutting Fiberglass

So long as you do not cut through a stud, It will not harm anything.

Regarding the cutting of holes in fiberglass. Do not use a hole saw. At least not a coarse toothed one. Chances are the surrounding fiberglass will shatter
leaving small spider cracks. Nothing to worry about structure wise, but certainly ugly and will look amature'ish. If you have one available, use a router. That will leave a clean hole.

Dennis 1934 wrote:
Does anyone out there know if cutting holes in the fiberglass bottom of RV storage compartments will weaken or adversely affect the integrity of the fiberglass? I'd like to cut a hole about the same diameter as the pre-cut ones in a compartment that does not already have one to accomodate some equipment, but I don't know if that would be harmful if it wasn't done at the factory.

Thanks.

Dennis,
First off, if other compartments on your coach have similar holes, in the floor of similar sized compartments, and, they both look like the construction/material/design is all the same, then cutting your own holes should by all means, make no difference in structural strength what so ever.

Second, if you're going to cut a hole, a round "Hole" as opposed to rectangular one or, a square one, is the best way to go. Square or rectangular ones have "corners" that which possess weak points. Where as round ones have no corners and typically the stress is distributed in the entire radius because there's no "start-stop" points as in a corner.

Now, an idea here, if and when the new hole is vacant because you're not using it for the tool/equipment it was designed for, then a small "flap" could be made from a multitude of materials to simply rotate over it to seal it up. Think of as sort of a ping pong paddle only with a rounded edge handle. Put a screw through the smaller part and, the bigger part simply slides right over the hole. That way, the cover for that hole is always there and you don't loose it and, it doesn't take up any volume so, you can actually set things right on top of it. Just some ideas here. Good luck.
Scott

I cut a pass through hole in the previous MH to allow a cord to be passed in and to allow some air in if equipment was stored most. The base of the compartment was a fiberglass/plastic material. I cut the hole with a hole saw and then finished the edges by siliconing in a plastic desk grommet. This also permitted me to close the hole with the grommet's plug.

Use a hole saw and seal the cut if fiberglass.

From an old post:

"I have a 2008 Gulf Stream Sun Voyager"

I concur on it probably not being fiberglass. Maybe some Gulfstream owners know for sure?

If your RV is JAYCO brand just call JAYCO and give them the RV VIN NUMBER and ask them. JAYCO is one of the companies that will give you great technical service VIA emails etc to answer these kinds of questions...

Roy Ken

Are you sure that your basement compartment is fiberglass and not molded plastic?
It doesn't really matter because cutting a small diameter hole, 4" or less, should not cause any problems. Try to devise some way to close up the hole when not needed or the rodents/insects will find it in a short time.