DIY Skirting for Class C Motorhome

[jmacbas]

Hello! New guy here!

I wanted to ping this community and see if there has been anyone that has completed a similar project. I acquired some used billboard vinyl, 14'x48' and wanted to turn this into a skirt for my Class C Motorhome for Colorado Winters. I also acquired some adhesive type snaps from Sailmaker's Supply. The plan was to cut 2-3 long strips that I will wrap around the bottom, and snap using this hardware. I have a bunch of questions before I started though, and as usual, I'm just overthinking this...

Some folks have suggested that I get foam board and just use tape for the seams - while I can see this for a permanent setup, I just need this for the usual 2-3 day boon docking trips that I take out to BLM land and such. I was thinking that a simple wind block would do, but wanted to hear others opinions on this. (I know - I've already purchased the billboard vinyl) I have no idea how strong these adhesive snaps are, and whether they will stay put after I've used adhesive promoter. This would also require me carrying around 9-10 2x8' foam boards inside the RV

How often should I put a snap? In retrospect, I should have ordered more. Some setups I'm seeing online have a snap EVERY 6 inches. I think this would be overkill for me especially on such short trips. Perhaps every 18 inches?

How big should the overlap be? 12 inches? I could use some industrial velcro at this point I think.

I ordered some H-66 vinyl cement so that I can double up the vinyl where the snaps go thru, and perhaps folded along the bottom where I will put tube snakes filled with sand. Any other ideas? I've also heard of the PVC frame to keep it rigid.

I'd appreciate any and all tips on building one of these - or if I should just stick to some other method due to the cold here in CO. Thank you kindly!

[jl.kauai]

J, in extreme cold I really think you won’t help keep out cold unless you have a heat source under the rig. Hard without electricity. I have seen some who place a couple 100 watt light bulbs underneath their rigs with skirting but that’s a lot of power. If it were me I would want to shield from any wind that might occur which you can effectively do without power. To your suggestion of spacing the clasps I would go every foot if you can. Your idea of Velcro is good. Lots of assembly for short trips. Good luck, Travato John.

[jmacbas]

John,

Thanks for your insight. I'll throw a bulb or two down there when we are at hookups, but you are right, that would be a big pull on the batteries overnight w/ an inverter (which I'm trying not to add to the setup). I'm just trying to keep it a bit warmer under there and prevent a draft. We will avoid using the tanks at all.

One interesting thing of note - my parked RV antifreeze appears to be 'almost' freezing as of these past few cold nights we've had. It's even 'oozing' out of my sewer connection port, which has me slightly concerned. I didn't think this stuff was supposed to expand or freeze any especially stuff rated down to -50F.

[Paul_D]

The -50 is the burst temperature if used in copper pipes. It will go slushy way before that normally about 16-20 .

[Ron Dittmer]

Sorry, but I don't see a tarp contributing but only negligibly. To have an effect of signifigance, you need something like bales of straw all around the perimeter gap between the RV floor (not the current RV skirt) and the ground. Then some incandescent lightbulbs "might" help. If the floor of the RV is not insulated, the lost heat from that might also contribute. There is a large volume of air under the rig, and the ground itself will also radiate a lot of cold.

[Kstills]

These are not cheap, but they appear to be easy to both inflate and deflate if you're moving a lot:

https://www.airskirts.com/rv-skirtin...caAlRAEALw_wcB

Did I mention they aren't cheap?

Because they aren't cheap.