At the time of writing this blog we have now renovated, bought and sold 30 RVs in just over 2 years. That is bat shit crazy for me to think about sometimes. If you would have told me when I started this business what it would have turned into I wouldn’t have believed it for a second. In that time I have gained quite a bit of experience and I have learned quite a few things (I mean a freaking hope so!) In my opinion these 3 things I have the greatest impact for drastic change when renovating your RV.
- Paint
- Flooring
- Window Coverings
Paint by far changes the entire feel of your RV. I get asked a lot whether I paint by hand or use a paint gun. We personally use a paint gun unless it’s a fairly small RV or area that we are painting and then sometimes we will tape off and do it by hand. To me, if you are going to take my advice and do the flooring and window coverings at the same time it is far easier, efficient and professional looking to spray. The key here is to be really diligent on your prep work and taping off what you don’t want to get paint all over. Ex: appliances, ceiling vents, fantastic fans, windows, etc… I love the Graco Magnum X5 and you can always rent these guns too if you don’t think you will have a future use for it. The other thing I want to touch on that I also get asked a ton about is whether I sand down the cabinets and what my process is for painting those. There is a waxy kind of finish on most cabinets in RVs so I understand why people might think it is necessary to do a light sand. However, I just clean them really well and SOMETIMES I use a quick coat of liquid sandpaper to de-gloss it a bit. (But then you have to clean them really well again) But more often than not I just use a bonding primer that I get at Lowes that is Ah-mazing. It’s Valspar Bonding Primer. I do a coat of that and two coats of paint, waiting about 6-8 hours between each coat.
On to Flooring… There are a lot of products you can use and I know other renovators use but this is what I use. Waterproof Luxury Vinyl Flooring 5mm or less, there are a bunch of styles and colors that are within that criteria. You have to remember that RV builders laid the flooring in that RV prior to building out the walls and putting in the furniture. So you will never be able to lay flooring the same way that they did. Which means yes, there will be small gaps around tough corners that you weren’t able to cut perfectly. You also do need to purposely leave a little gap between the wall and the flooring to allow it to “breathe.” Which just means that if you butt it right up to the wall it is possible that when you are driving or transporting it that the vibrations of the road can pop them out of place from the tongue and grove. We cover those pesky yet necessary gaps with baseboards or quarter round trim so that it still looks nice and professional.
Last but not least… Window Coverings. I really struggled with choosing which thing would be 3rd on my list that changed the feel of the RV drastically. I landed on window coverings because I just can NOT imagine having a Renovated RV with fresh new paint and flooring with those awful fabric or leather window valences that cover the equally awful roll up window covers. (Insert in gagging sounds that I am making.) So they MUST go. You can replace them with curtain rods and curtains, DIY roll ups that are everywhere on Pinterest, bamboo shades… take your pick. Check out our Instagram for ideas and inspiration @FreeBirdRVs
That is all I have for you today and I wish you the best of luck on your renovation and remodel!
