new doghouse out of wood?

There is nothing wrong with building it out of plywood if you have the skill to do it right. Don't worry about a fire problem, fiberglass burns very well, as evidenced by thousands of fiberglass boat fires. In fact, wood will probably give you more warning, and more time use a fire extinguisher, than fiberglass in event of a fire. I would install a foil covered sound deadening material on the bottom side to help deaden the noise.

The doghouse in my unit is all made out of wood. 5/8" plywood. There is a sheet metal/( maybe aluminum )that completly covers the under side of the doghouse. Whats funny about the whole thing is that the plywood and 2x4 material that supports the doghouse is completly exposed. Build on with the plywood.

Wood and fiberglass are absolutely interchangable in every case.

The only thing wood has as a disadvantage is it will rot, expand, contract and warp after getting wet.

Do a thorough job painting your wood with neat epoxy and it'll behave exactly like fiberglass.

I would have an Ansul Sprinkler system installed below the wood. Its bound to explode.

double post, sorry.
Scott

deprived wrote:

flagstickfrank wrote:
Repairing the FG is much easier than building a replacement out of plywood, especially if the original has rounded edges or corners. FG repairs are easy and usually requires basic skills. I use standard auto kits available at any parts store.

Its not that it needs to be repaired exactly, its that it is very poorly made and it does not seal particularly well. The FG sealing edges are all wavy and parts of the floor are uneven as well. The builder (Tiffin) bridged these gaps by stapling shag carpet around the edges making a crude gasket. Pretty lazy if you asked me.

I've used epoxy and rubber insulation strips to try and even out the edges but it's still pretty noisy and stinky.

I'll try to make the fiberglass thing work but at the end of the day I think it will be much easier to just rebuild the **** thing. Quieter, too, probably.

Imagine that, something not built correctly on an RV?, hmmmmmm. Now that doesn't really happen does it? Anyway, this is a judgment call. If you feel you can do a better job with a newly built plywood cover, well, go for it. It's your coach. I've done the same thing, oh, about a few dozen times. The manufacturers "ka-thump" things out at sometimes a substantial rate and in some cases, they just don't turn out right or fit correctly.

On the other hand, if you can modify the existing F/G one and think in the end, it will work, well again, it's your coach. You ought to see some of the things I've changed/altered/fabricated so that our coach is better/more efficient/more suited for us.
Scott

On edit: I don't have a clue as to why my entire post here got underlined. That's not the way I intended it. I was only underlining the red lettered quote and something got screwed up. Hmmmmm
Scott

flagstickfrank wrote:
Repairing the FG is much easier than building a replacement out of plywood, especially if the original has rounded edges or corners. FG repairs are easy and usually requires basic skills. I use standard auto kits available at any parts store.

Its not that it needs to be repaired exactly, its that it is very poorly made and it does not seal particularly well. The FG sealing edges are all wavy and parts of the floor are uneven as well. The builder (Tiffin) bridged these gaps by stapling shag carpet around the edges making a crude gasket. Pretty lazy if you asked me.

I've used epoxy and rubber insulation strips to try and even out the edges but it's still pretty noisy and stinky.

I'll try to make the fiberglass thing work but at the end of the day I think it will be much easier to just rebuild the **** thing. Quieter, too, probably.

donn0128 wrote:
IMHO if your going to use wood, line it with sheet metal to help in case of fire.

I think Reflectix foil insulation would do almost the same thing and be much easier to install.

Repairing the FG is much easier than building a replacement out of plywood, especially if the original has rounded edges or corners. FG repairs are easy and usually requires basic skills. I use standard auto kits available at any parts store.

IMHO if your going to use wood, line it with sheet metal to help in case of fire.