43 – Skirting the 5th wheel

Even though our 5th wheel has a well insulated belly pan you can still lose a lot of heat when wind runs underneath. We also wanted the skirting to double as storage and a make shift root cellar. As I’ve stated before- I came into this with no construction skills whatsoever which made this a painfully long project. Winter was closing in fast and we were starting to feel the pressure. Our youngest daughter was transferring to Northern Arizona University at the beginning of January and we had made irreversible arrangements to be moved in to the trailer the same week.

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I used 12″ spikes to hold treated 2×6’s to the ground so I could build the frame work from the ground up. It was important not to attach to the trailer in anyway as we’ll need to sell this down the line and likely use the money to finish the house.

This framework also made it possible to roll the plastic up to keep water from getting trapped underneath.

I used T-111 to make the side panels. Looking back, it would have been easier to use RV specific metal skirting.

I used a airless paint sprayer to cover each panel individually so I would have to worry about overspray on the 5th wheel.

Amy caulked everything while I re-assembled.

Insulated rolls of bubble wrap provide a air gap to help out.

Now all the plumbing is safe from freezing and our propane use went way down immediately. This picture tells the story.

28 degree outside temp, 46 degrees under the trailer, 54 by the cat boxes in the storage area and 66 degrees inside the trailer.

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