RV Cover

[ronrathnow]

We recently purchased a '12 Winnebago Adventurer. Previously we stored our old Winnebago under cover at a storage facility. Since we have space at our home we decided to save the storage costs and keep the RV at home. Since we don't have cover here I've been looking into the possibility of covering the RV while it's at home. I know there have been issues with covers, i.e. mildew, mold, etc., but does anybody have any experience with the "breathable" tyvek covers or anything along those lines? Any advice?

[NLOVNIT]

We covered our Bounder with a breathable ADCO Tyvek cover for 3 seasons (until we got the RV port built). It did a good job keeping it clean & UV protected over the winter. Please see the PHOTO's of it after the 1st winter. Be sure you pad or remove EVERY possible pointy things (or even the not-so-pointy as seen by the rubber ball pic) to avoid poke-throughs.

Lori-

[sdennislee]

Our Tyvek cover also suffered a few rips during it's first season even in the padded areas. Nothing major though. COver is still effective in protecting our RV.

The cover has not caused any of the issues in your post i.e. mold, mildew etc...

[njs42]

I cover and have since new. The covers last 3 to five years. ADCO has a designer series that has addressed some of the ripping---but it still tears. My rig looks excellent for ten years old---decals fine---tires fine. I think covering is a great deal of the reason it does. I'm two year in on my third cover in that time---some rips---no mildew ever from any of them.

[FIRE UP]

ronrathnow,
I didn't see what part of the country you're in and/or if you have traditional/seasonal winds/snow etc. We've used the "throw over" covers too and while they will keep the sun off the coach/travel trailer etc. they are fairly cumbersome to install and remove. Yes, I'll get arguments here but, lets face it, it doesn't really matter just how big your coach is, you still have to be able to get up on it, with that cover, unfold/unwrap/unroll it and carefully place it in place without doing damage to any of the roof components and or the cover.

If, you're willing to do that and, it satisfies your quest for a cover, by all means, have a ball. But, just a note here. One of the reasons, most likely not the most important one but never the less, a reason for this type of cover, is to keep is somewhat clean. Well, if your coach is left uncovered for any length of time, it gets dirty and dusty doesn't it? Well, that covers going to get the same dirt and dust. But, depending on how you remove the cover, when it comes time to re-install it, you will transfer all the dirt accumulated on that cover, to the coach and in fact, will be in between the coach and cover. Again, I'll receive flack here but, I've seen it first hand way more than once.

If you have one and when it comes time to remove it, if you fold it in such a mannor that it will trap the dirt etc, in between the folds and not put that dirt onto the coach when re-application is done, then you're one-up on that. It's still not an easy task.

Covering an expensive coach with anything is better than letting it sit in the elements. We've all seen very expensive coaches sitting, rotting in the sun, day after day, week after week, month-year etc.

I don't know about you're local codes, abilities, desires etc but, if I may, I'd like to suggest on kind of like the one we just installed/built. It's a "tubing/tarp" style cover. It's anchored to the concrete and is able to withstand fairly substantial winds, (already tested). We've got a total of about $1400.00 wrapped up in this cover. We purchased all the components from a local company and erected it ourselves. The entire build, start to finish, took us about 3.5 hours. It's 18' wide by 40' long and 11' high on the sides. It was 12' high when we built it but, after standing back and looking at it, I decided it was too high so, my wife and I shortened the entire cover in about an hour. Way better.

We've got plenty of room for the slides to stay out if need be, and I can still walk around it. I've developed a "curtain" for the front to keep the UV and other elements off. It slides right out of the way when it comes time to drive the coach out from under the cover.

Now, all this of course depends on your area, codes, climate, etc, and if you've got the room for something like this. But, for not all that much more than a "throw over" cover, you'd have your drive-under one. Just a suggestion here. Take care.
Scott

[Madrona]

I absolutely LOVE that you took the time to buy the individual pieces and assembled this yourself! Great pics, too! I wish I had the room to do this. We live on acreage, but the way it's laid out, I don't have a place to put this. Living with 200' tall fir trees leaves us with "stuff" all over everything. I know if I had to install and remove a cloth cover I would never use the coach. So for me, it's pressure washer time a couple times each year, but we like to use the coach year 'round so that's just the way it has to be. I'm envious of your nice, clean all the time, coach!