There’s a dirty little secret in the RV industry. It’s called “checking” or “crazing.” We call it a dirty little secret because many RV manufacturers won’t acknowledge it as a flaw. A few years after purchase, RV owners find themselves with a coach that is not perfect, and there’s no quick-and-easy fix for it. But at Final Touch Coach Works, we’ve addressed this problem many times, and there is a way to permanently transform your RV’s exterior to better-than-new condition.
As we explained last month, “checking” or “crazing” is a series of tiny, but deep cracks in the RV’s undercoat, which eventually shows up on the exterior’s surface in random patterns. Typically, crazing appears in the sidewall panels of RV’s that are painted a dark color, or are stored with a lot of southern exposure. That’s because the sidewall panels are usually fiberglass-reinforced polyester (FRP), commonly called “filon.” Filon is usually 1/16 inches thick, with a polyester resin coat of 1/32 inches. It is in this resin coat that crazing takes place.
When the crazing begins, the resin has become stressed, causing tiny little fissures in the filon’s surface. Surface sanding and repainting is only a temporary fix, because it does not address the stress in the surface coat of the panel. Crazing or checking has begun, and will continue.
At Final Touch Coach Works, we have found that the best and most long-term repair of crazed filon is to remove the stressed surface coat and replace it with a new reinforced polyester gel coat. This process requires removing/sanding of all the filon surface coat, then applying a new gel coat and repainting the panel. Because this is done by hand, the new gel coat is usually 1/16 inches to 1/8 inches thick. That’s at least twice as thick as the original gel coat—and at least twice as strong to resist surface stress.
Please remember, this is a general discussion of repairing crazed filon. A firsthand examination of each RV is necessary to truly decide the best plan for repair.
Winter storage is just around the corner. It might be a good time to deal with all of the deferred maintenance on your RV. Be safe and enjoy the RV life!
Final Touch Coach Works is located at 28532 Livingston Avenue in Valencia. For more information, please call 661-775-8375 and visit online www.FinalTouchRV.com.
