This post may just be the most boring thing I’ve ever written. BUT, with the possibility that it might help someone as they decide how to skirt an RV, I’m posting it anyway. There are several options for skirting a camper, today I’m sharing our list.
South Dakota in the winter dictates that we need to skirt the RV. So does Hart Ranch (where we are staying). It really is a win win I suppose. We get to have warm floors and save on our electricity/propane costs. So we
Being a cheap thrifty gal, I don’t want to skirt the RV because of the cost and pain of figuring it all out.
Mark and I have measured the RV five times! We’ve calculated. We’ve asked tons of questions. In the end, we’ve balked at making a decision. BUT I think we just don’t want to bite the bullet on something that could be a flop and not work
Regardless, here are the options we’ve come up with:
- 2″ Foam Insulation Board
- Pros – More insulation, inexpensive (I don’t know how much but it’s pretty cheap)
- Cons – Not mobile, not durable unless reinforced with plywood
- Plywood
- Pros – sturdy & durable, inexpensive (about $200)
- Cons – not mobile
- EZ Snap Kit
- Pros – mobile, professionally done
- Cons – expensive (just under $1,000), not heavily insulated
- Hay Bales
- Pros – cheap (probably less than $100), heavily insulated
- Cons – mice, spiders, & fires OH MY!
- DIY Vinyl
- Pros – mobile, moderate costs ($700)
- Cons – more labor from having to piece the vinyl, room for us to really jack this whole thing up.
- RV Skirting.com
- Pros – custom made to fit and relatively hassle-free, mobile
- Cons – more costly (over $2,000 for our rig)
There may be more options, but these seem to be the most common ones out there.
We’ve decided to do Option 5. It’s a hybrid of #3. EZ Snap Kit, but by purchasing the components from 2 different vendors, we’ll save some money this way over buying it all from EZ Snap Direct.
UPDATE: I WISH we would have gone with Option #1, the Foam Insulation Boards. The vinyl was pretty costly – even as a DIY and it ended up causing more frustration that what it was worth.
Since we have to spend money on skirting, we wanted an option that would be durable, mobile, and cost effective.
We didn’t want to go with RV Skirting.com because we’re doing this whole debt pay-off thing and that was the most expensive option (though the easiest we could find). Plus we figure we’re mildly intelligent people. We should be able to figure this out. Right?
We’ve ordered our supplies and will post another update when we actually install the skirting.
Any RVing experts have an option we didn’t cover?
I looked at all options from various vendors, and decided to bite the bullet so to speak and spend the equivalent amount on fabric, brass and stainless snaps, turn buttons, and an industrial quality sewing machine.
In the end; and for the same price point as the upper tier skirting kits, I’ll have one with overall better hardware and the ability to customize as I feel I need to to suit my rig.
All products came from sailrite, I looked at and discarded the idea of ez snaps primarily to not wanting to rely on adhesives, and I don’t have a problem with fasteners to my sidewalls. One item I liked much better than the pipe clamps is a sewn pocket for pipe, and webbing to utilize spikes or stakes if I’m setup on a non paved site.
Overall cost with shipping is $2000.00, but I will have a machine sturdy enough to make that add-a-room I’ve been eyeballing but didn’t want to pay the price for… 🙂
Hope you are pleased with you skirting Wayne. We pretty much agonized over the decision. Who wants to be cold and waste time and money!? Best wishes!
We just bought vinyl to DIY our skirting at an Army Navy store in town for $40. There’s just over 100ft on the roll and they had all kinds of colors. We also found some online at any army navy website for about $250. Something to check out if anyone plans on doing it themselves.
Wow! Great deal Josie!
Sorry to hear about the problems with the snaps 🙁
Howdy all.
My wife and built skirting using 1.5 inch sturdy foam, cut to height, attached to fidth wheel using housing tape (Tyvek brand), with a ground-level frame made from 2×4’s. We placed a ceramic heater underneath at the north west side – where the heavy winter winds come from. A PVC sewer pipe was made, and we were fortunate to find a location where the entire sewer line was maintained within the skirting.
The tape made the whole set up look a bit silly, bit did the trick. We didn’t suffer a single freeze, and stayed plenty warm – so did our cockatoo and parrot! In Cedar Rapids, IA, we experienced many nights as low as -25°F during the winter of ’14/’15.
It took about two days of trial and error. We used expanding spray foam around many larger exterior openings like those near the leveling system, and caulking or more house tape around smaller ones.
Prior to all this, we brought each slide in a few feet and applied additional weather stripping on the interior. Same was done with the door, to which we also cut to fit 1 inch foam to sit against the interior of the doors. We cut foam for the ceiling exhaust fans as well.
Very importantly, we purchased a dehumidifier and 2 additional ceramic heaters – one for either end of the interior of the fifth wheel.
We were going to bite the bullet and spend $2250 for the zet up from rvskirting.com. Yet when we were ready to place our order – during the “slow” season they state on their website – they simply didn’t reply to our multiple emails. They talked us through everything and then simply ignored us.
So, we saved $1500 or so insulating a 40 foot, 5 slide fifth wheel ourselves. Again, it looks a little silly with the tape, but we did choose the blue Lowe’s foam over the hot pink Home Depot foam!
So, about $750 total for foam, tape, wood, screws, washers, weather stripping(around 250 ft), 3 ceramic heaters, 1 extension cord, 1 heated water house(look them up, they’re expensive but worth it).
We left the skirting up during this summer and it has helped immensely with AC cost. No damage was done to the paint or gel coat by the house tape, yet I keep an eye on it regularly.
Hope this helps you all!
I have been rv’ing for work since 2008 in extremely cold areas down to -40 in a 33′ tongue pull Jayco eagle that was built for temp down to 32 degrees. 2in pink foam board under the edges with 1’x2′ at the base (when you can secure them to the ground. Spray foam on the inside seams and corners bonds and seals well. I run one small heater by my holding tanks and sewer. I keep a thermometer under the trailer and it stays about 40 to 46 in -20. I spent the extra money on a great heated water hose that can just lay in the snow w/o any extra protection those are the basic I do. Hope it helps.
1″x 2″ boards secured by drilling a couple holes and using 12 nails found at the lumber store
Thank you for your comments Charles…LOVE the RVing community and how helpful everyone is!!
We have just finished skirting our 5th wheel (41′ 8″ length)
We purchased Ez snap 2 weeks and the snaps are coming off.
This was very expensive and we are extremely disappointed. We spoke directly to the company spokesman. He talked us out of the screw on attachments. Said the stick on are secure. NOT!! We are very frustrated
So sorry to hear that Linda! We were also so frustrated with the skirting on our RV. Wish we would have gone with a cheaper option!
I’m in Oklahoma this winter and I used 1/2″ foil backed Styrofoam board I purchased at Lowes. I built light weight frames out of 1 1/2″ x 1 1/2″ lumber. I drilled holes through the bottom boards where they meet the ground and used 8″ nails and drove them through the holes into the ground so the bottom is secure. I attached the Styrofoam to the lumber using 1″ wood screws with a 1 1/2″ fender washer. I screwed each frame together and ran tie wire under the trailer one side to the opposite side frames and pulled it tight. I also used weather stripping on the top side of the frames where it touches the camper so I would not damage the finish of the trailer. I used foil tape to seal all the joints. I have a 40′ fifth wheel with three slides and this cost around $200.00. I believe I can brake it down and haul with me to the next place. Hope this helps.
Thank you Glyn! Way more cost effective too!
I’m in north ga. mtns. Definitely not crazy cold like u guys, but routinely in 20s. I used black vinyl w/velcro all around. Tent stakes on bottom ropes instead of sand in hem (both available). Amazing how hot the black gets in sun. In fact, velcro glue sometimes unglues. Maybe hooks thru camper (like kitchen cup hooks) can be placed at ends of each vinyl panel and middle of long runs (add riveted holes) to take weight of vinyl off velcro glue. Anybody know if screws can go through body of rv and hold? Also, hose heater works great! Needs AC power, and don’t WIND AROUND water hose; just tape it running along one side of hose.
Hi Glyn,
Was wondering if you might have a picture of how this looks or how you put it together?Thanks
I have pictures but having problems uploading to this web site. As far as the looks go I installed it in a hurry but overall it came out great and saved my plumbing, I’m sure. It got very cold here and Ice storms and I never froze.
that is what most people who rv over winter do here in Ontario! we are moving into our rv this spring and have visited winter campgrounds. Everyone had this set up with the foam board, so that is probably what we will go with too!
I’m in Oklahoma this winter and I used 1/2″ foil backed Styrofoam board I purchased at Lowes. I built light weight frames out of 1 1/2″ x 1 1/2″ lumber. I drilled holes through the bottom boards where they meet the ground and used 8″ nails and drove them through the holes into the ground so the bottom is secure. I attached the Styrofoam to the lumber using 1″ wood screws with a 1 1/2″ fender washer. I screwed each frame together and ran tie wire under the trailer one side to the opposite side frames and pulled it tight. I also used weather stripping on the top side of the frames where it touches the camper so I would not damage the finish of the trailer. I used foil tape to seal all the joints. I have a 40′ fifth wheel with three slides and this cost around $200.00. I believe I can brake it down and haul with me to the next place. Hope this helps.
Hi Glyn,
Was wondering if you might have a picture of how this looks or how you put it together?Thanks
I got a lot of good ideas looking through the comments here! There’s three of us in the RV through the winter, the youngest only 6 months old! So definitely looking for ideas to keep us from freezing over like last year.
Thanks
We are currently setting up for the winter in brutal South Dakota. After many years living here and working in the construction industry we have settled on giving this a shot for skirting. I am looking forward to feedback from the RV community. We are using 20 guage steel stud track for top and bottom track which is 3 5/8″ wide. After trenching and attaching it to the ground we plan on using 2 5/8″ studs attached to inside rail to frame a wall of sorts. The narrowed studs will leave exacly 1″ of space for us to slide 1″ foam board into the track effectively tying it all together (in theory). Securing the top is still under consideration but may be as simple as using bungee cords and weather stripping to protect the camper.