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? I realize that there are a ton of factors at play, I'm speaking generally. I haven't kept one more than 3 years and I seriously doubt there's a manufacturer that would stand behind their walls for 5, much less 10 years. Some highly praised names don't use it, such as Grand Design, Northwoods, Outdoors RV, etc. Sales people in general won't trash talk either if they have both kinds of trailers in stock. If they only have one kind, well, you know it's the best.

I keep hearing good things about Azdel and some prominent names in the industry use it.Would not be a deal breaker in my personal experience and that being.....have never had a single delam issue in 4 fiberglass trailers and previous trailer was 10 yrs old when sold.Have seen many delamination in trailers sitting in permanent locations with the likely culprit being water intrusion and lack of preventative maintenance.

I know some of it is marketing hype just like "automotive paint front end cap" and many others. But I haven't read a lot of good about Luan. Northwoods, Grand Design, Outdoors RV are not inexpensive trailers and for whatever reason, they have not incorporated it yet. Much lesser expensive trailers use it, my Gulfstream 17RWD has it, so I don't get it. BTW- I miss the mountains! Grew up in Roanoke and Boones Mill VA.

When we buy our next trailer (fairly soon), I will negotiate to have the roof maintenance covered by some sort of contract if there is such a thing. These TT manufacturers absolutely love to blame improper/lack of roof maintenance from customer and deny warranty claims. I don't think I've found one RV company google review where I haven't read that several times.

Most brands that use azdel only use it for the substrate layer directly behind the fiberglass on the sidewalls. Not the inner substrate layer nor the floor, roof, or front or rear walls.Although the azdel is water resistant, the adhesive used to bond the whole mess together is low voc water based thanks to the EPA so the laminated assembly can still delaminate. The fiberglass can delaminate from the azdel or the azdel can delaminate from the foam core.Its certainly a better material than Luan but its not anything to really get excited about. Maybe if they replaced every piece of luan or other plywood in the entire trailer with it but I know of no one who uses it everywhere. Marketing shell game.

“Sales people in general won't trash talk...”Assumes salespeople know something about RVs.

Azdel or not? | Good Sam Community

goducks10
Explorer
Oct 28, 2020
If you don't get delam then you don't know for sure if you have a leak. :) You could have a plywood floor or roof rotting and never know it. At least with delam you know you have a problem. :(
GDS-3950BH
Explorer
Oct 28, 2020
lane hog wrote:
When we were shopping for our latest RV (sixth), my requirements were either Azdel or stick & tin construction. We wound up with stick and tin.

I know if we ever get a leak, it's a matter of removing the siding and repairing the damage with regular carpentry tools. You can't do that with a laminated wall.

With Azdel, I would have been willing to take more of a chance because the wicking effect that luan has would be eliminated.

I'd keep a close eye on everything and keep those regular carpentry tools handy based on my experience with Grand Design and SOME OF THE ISSUES FOUND HERE.
lane_hog
Explorer II
Oct 28, 2020
When we were shopping for our latest RV (sixth), my requirements were either Azdel or stick & tin construction. We wound up with stick and tin.

I know if we ever get a leak, it's a matter of removing the siding and repairing the damage with regular carpentry tools. You can't do that with a laminated wall.

With Azdel, I would have been willing to take more of a chance because the wicking effect that luan has would be eliminated.
GDS-3950BH
Explorer
Oct 26, 2020
GDS-3950BH wrote:
theoldwizard1 wrote:

I have to agree with you ! I don't understand why RV manufacturers are so reluctant to put an extra $500-$1000 into their product and maybe upgrade their warranty to 3 years (minus appliances).

Because all they care about is the bottom line. Putting an extra $1000 into the build would come from bottom line, and the goal is to make it to the warranty date without them having to spend a dime. You basically need to be a huge sucker to buy an RV in most cases. I've learned my lesson and will never buy another. They're mostly all overpriced garbage crammed full of junk provided or made by LCI, unless you want to spend a few hundred thousand and even then you'll most likely get handed a POS.

They're on a huge covid inspired roll now and pushing lots of junk out of Indiana to folks who are clueless as to the garbage theyre buying. Its the perfect scenario in the eyes of the RV Industry. Most of those covid commando folks don't even do a PDI nor know what one is. They run out and buy the biggest thing they can afford or find and head off to a campground. Most of that trash will be on the used market next year.
GDS-3950BH
Explorer
Oct 26, 2020
D
mr61impala
Explorer
Oct 25, 2020
BurbMan wrote:

Which brings you full circle...if you have to seal the trailer anyway, luan and wood framing is every bit as good as azdel and aluminum if they stay dry....

Hang on, this sounds too much like common sense.
GDS-3950BH
Explorer
Oct 25, 2020
mr61impala wrote:
I was initially convinced that the Azdel was the only way to go until I learned it was almost exclusively used only on sidewalls.

Since delam on a back wall is as bad as delam on a side wall I decided to disregard the presence or absence of Azdel as a deciding factor.

Just my 2 cents.

Rear walls are usually only a sheet of filon with no backing substrate. All that holds the filon in pace is the corner trim, roof trim, and apron trim at the bottom and a window if it has one. It just hangs there. Thats why you see waves in rear walls of TT's and 5ers without caps. Very few manufacturers use a laminated assembly for rear walls. Rockwood/Flagstaff is one of the few.
mr61impala
Explorer
Oct 25, 2020
I was initially convinced that the Azdel was the only way to go until I learned it was almost exclusively used only on sidewalls.

Since delam on a back wall is as bad as delam on a side wall I decided to disregard the presence or absence of Azdel as a deciding factor.

Just my 2 cents.
GDS-3950BH
Explorer
Oct 23, 2020
theoldwizard1 wrote:
Desert Captain wrote:
Azdel has a number of benefits...

It is impervious to moisture, will not absorb drop. It its far lighter and stronger than Luan much less the cheaper plywood many manufacturers still use.

I would love to believe that statement but I can not find pricing on individual sheets of Azdel for comparison.

Far lighter? Its about 1/2 the weight according to the manufacturer. On a TT with a 30' box RV manufacturers such as Coachmen use @ a total of 15 sheets of the stuff overall. 1/8" luan weighs 21 lbs so Azdel weighs @ 10.5 lbs. Do the math, hardly a ground breaker.
theoldwizard1
Explorer II
Oct 22, 2020
goducks10 wrote:
If you take care of your RV with regular maintenance you should avoid most problems. I've seen 10-15 year old RV's with fiberglass over laun walls that look fine. I've seen new ones that have had delam within a couple years. Those latter are rare IMO. Get a plumbing leak and there goes you floor regardless of what walls you have. Maintenance, maintenance maintenance.

Roof leaks will destroy a floor also.

Repairing rot in a wood floor is very difficult ass everything is built on top of it. If the section is small, maybe. Large, hopefully your insurance will cover it.

I would like to see manufacturers go back to honeycomb laminate sub floors, but my guess that the extra support does not warrant the cost.

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