Window Valances

[Desertboyz]

After 3 years we want to change the fabrics used on the valances in our 2018 DutchStar.

The valances come down easy enough, and the upholstery task itself doesn't appear to be complicated. But has anyone done this? Any hints from someone who reupholstered?

I love the all wood used in New DS's! But we will survive without trading in!

[GaRVR]

When i did my recover i simply took the valences down. separated the horizontal sections from the vertical and stapled the new fabric over the old. reasembled the valances and remounted them. I had never done this before but i took my time and am very pleased with the new look. I used quilt batting to add a padding where needed.

[Robert T]

I took my valances down and stored them for some other projects, most likely will never be reuse. I purchased some soft maple and made new valances and stain them. Easier to make new ones from maple than it was to re- fabric. I would take some photos but the coach is in storage.


2017 Ventana LE

[NoDents4U]

I would love to see some pictures and how to's on this. We have bought fabric but are a bit nervous to try this after looking closely at the original work.

[Podivin]

Originally Posted by GaRVR

When i did my recover i simply took the valences down. separated the horizontal sections from the vertical and stapled the new fabric over the old. reasembled the valances and remounted them. I had never done this before but i took my time and am very pleased with the new look. I used quilt batting to add a padding where needed.

We did the same thing, right down to the batting to hide the 'dent's from some buttons that were in the original valance design.

[Robert T]

I will get some photos but will have to be midweek. I have a garage for the coach which is 25 miles away but next week I will be in the area. Mean while I will explain what I did.

I did all the windows except the ones by the pilot and co-pilot seats. I decided not to do these as I did not want to do all the necessary disassembly. I did this project as I was concern that my cat would, as you can imagine, would use the valances as a scratching post.

1) Remove the old valances but did not disassemble.
2) Took measurements of each piece of the valances.
3) Made any modification to the measurements to make improvements,longer shorter but maintain the width.
4) I used soft maple and chose each board on the quality of the grain so all the valances would appear to be the same as to the grain of the wood.If you want to match present stain use the same wood that the cabinets are made from.
5) After cutting each board I ran the boards through a joiner on the front and backside of the boards and on the sides of the boards. Do not run boards on the ends as the wood may split.
6) Set up the table saw to cut 45-degree angles on the edge of the boards that mate to each other. Take care in setting up the table saw I used gauges to be sure the blade was at 45 degrees.
7) Edges that were cut to 45 degrees I set up the joiner with gauges to 45 degrees and ran boards thru the joiner.
8)Boards would match up very well but still extremely minor miss-match which coud be sanded out.
9) Assembled the boards with glue and used my #23 nail gun with 3/4 nail but take the extreme car to maintain width. As I assembled I had the old valance beside me constantly checking width. There are some minor differences between each width of valances even if the windows appear to be the same. I took care to be sure that I could reuse the present drilled holes in the walls to mount the valances.
10) After assembly hand sand the all the edges of the boards using a sanding block to slightly round over.
11) Took a drawer to the store that could match the stain.
12) I wiped the stain on the wood as many coats as necessary. In between coats I lightly scuff down with 0000 steel wool and then used a tach cloth.
13) Final coat I sprayed with a spray can the finish at least 3 coats. If I did it again I would use Min-Wax wipe on poly as it is easier and less concerns as to dust nibs. Still need 3 or more coats.

Not a hard job! Just take your time. You will need a table saw but a joiner is not necessary but helps. If you do not have a joiner will have to do some block sanding to be sure the mating of the each 45-degree edge is tight. Building the valances took me two days but I did it in stages . Paying attention to details at times can be exhausting. Just take your time. Staining will take several days as each step requires dry time.

[Robert T]

Few photos of valamnces.

[djnash]

Hope this belps. We used thommy Bahama outdoor material. It made the job a lot easier. The staples are a pain. We did new border wallpaper also. Hope this helps. Save the foam under the old material and use it on the new.