Window Boxes

[gator67]

My wife says the window treatment boxes were designed by a man, since all the bottom seems to do is catch dust. They seem to serve no particular purpose. In fact the one over the kitchen table renders a few inches of the table unusable. I have fantasized removing the bottom piece of the box (where it is mitered in the lower corners) and using a piece of material from the removed piece to cover any exposed area in what was left after the operation. Has anyone made any modifications to the window boxes, or replaced them with something else?

[Algoma]

I think the boxes were made that way to make it easier for the factory to install them. The blinds are installed in the boxes and tensioned off the vehicle and then they are mounted over the windows. Without the bottom section they would not be rigid enough to be handled this way.

[EngineerMike]

Our 08 has no bottoms on the boxes. You need to tie off strings for the blinds but can use a "spool" sort of doo-dad screwed to the wall for that (probably can't use lowest part of the side wall for all cases, but might work @ some windows). Otherwise the box bottom isn't needed.

[johnwr]

I haven't yet accomplished this but plan to this Winter, but we replaced all the window treatment "boxes" in our Newmar Kountry Air 5th wheel with solid wood window treatments. Our replacements either had only 2 sides and a top, being attached at the top and the bottom of the sides with an 90 degree angle bracket, or in the case of the kitchen window only a top, again fastened to the top/wall with 90 degree angle brackets. We got rid of the window treatment "boxes" because of the reduced visibility and light availability. The solid wood worked out great. Had an Amish woodworker in Nappanee, IN do the work that time but I'll do it myself this time.

[takepride]

My last coach, a Vectra, had no bottom part. The blind was secured to the top of the box and the wall at the bottom (with eMike's doo-dad). Most coaches are this way.

The higher end coaches tend to have the bottom piece. It helps to cover the bottom of the window's aluminum frame. It looks a lot better, too. Yes, it is a dust trap, but the "look" is entirely different.

Now when I go into a high end coach and see the bottom of window frames, my mind says, "why did they go cheap on that?" I suppose it's all a matter of taste. I still prefer mine, as is, dust and all.

[EngineerMike]

I miss the box bottom behind the couch; made a good place for the TV remote. The others I like better without.