What an RV detail has to cover

An RV is two things bolted together: a vehicle, which gets road film and insect residue like any other, and a building, which has a roof, sealed joints, awnings and a kitchen. Almost everything that makes RV detailing different comes from the second half.

Why it is priced by the foot

A thirty-foot Class C and a forty-five-foot Class A are both "a motorhome" and they are not remotely the same job. Surface area rises with length and with height, and a taller unit means more of the work happens off the ground, which is slower again.

So the length is the starting point, and then a short list of things about the unit adjusts it: how many slide-outs, how many awnings, whether the roof is being done, whether the interior is included, and what condition the sidewalls are in.

Black streaks

The vertical dark runs below every roof edge, every window and every awning arm. They are not dirt from the air — they are what has washed off the roof. Roof membranes and the sealants around fittings shed a fine residue, rain carries it over the edge, and it dries onto the sidewall.

Two consequences worth knowing. First, they need a dedicated streak remover and dwell time; scrubbing harder mostly polishes the streak into oxidized gelcoat. Second — and this is the part that surprises owners — cleaning the sides without cleaning the roof means they come back with the next rain. The roof is the source.

The roof

The most important surface on the unit and the one nobody looks at. It is also where a detail turns into an inspection, because a person up there sees things an owner never does.

What it is made of decides the products

EPDM and TPO rubber membranes, fiberglass and aluminum all need different chemistry. Petroleum-based cleaners on a rubber membrane will degrade it, and citrus cleaners are a common mistake.

Sealant condition is the real finding

The beads around vents, skylights, the air conditioner and the front cap are what keep water out. Cracked or lifting sealant is the leading cause of RV water damage, and it is visible from up there.

Not every roof can be walked

Some are rated for it and some are not. A roof that cannot take weight is cleaned from ladders and platforms, which takes longer.

Oxidized sidewalls

Most RV sidewalls are fiberglass with a gelcoat surface. Gelcoat is porous and, without protection, UV breaks it down: it goes chalky, color transfers onto a cloth, and the whole unit looks flat and gray regardless of how clean it is.

Washing does nothing to this. Restoring it means compounding and polishing the oxidized layer back to sound gelcoat and then sealing it — a multi-day job on a large unit, and one that is quoted after seeing how far the oxidation has gone. Badly weathered gelcoat can reach a point where restoration is not sensible and a paint or wrap is the honest recommendation.

The prevention is the same as on a boat: keep something on it. This is the same problem covered in preventing oxidation on a boat, because it is the same material.

Slide-outs, awnings and seals

Slide-outs

They need to be out to be cleaned properly — the top of a slide collects debris that is dragged across the seal every time it moves, and grit on a seal is what tears it. Cleaning the roof of a slide is as much about the seal as about appearance.

Awning fabric

Vinyl or acrylic, both prone to mildew where they are rolled away damp. Cleaned extended, and critically, rolled away dry. An awning put away wet after cleaning is worse off than before.

Rubber seals

Around doors, bays and slides. Cleaned and treated with a rubber conditioner, not a silicone shine product, which dries them out over time.

Storage bays

Often skipped and usually the dirtiest part of the unit. Emptying them is the owner's job; cleaning them out is ours.

The interior is a small home

It is upholstery, hard flooring, a kitchen and a bathroom, and it is cleaned like those rather than like a car cabin. Fabric dinettes and sofas are extracted; hard floors are cleaned to their material; the fridge, microwave, sink and shower are done as fixtures.

The thing to check first is anything that suggests water: a soft patch of floor, a stain on a ceiling panel, a musty note when the unit is opened. Those are findings, not cleaning problems, and they should be reported rather than covered.

What a mobile visit needs

• Room to work all the way around, which is more than a standard bay in a storage lot
• Enough height clearance to work the roof safely, so covered storage often means moving the unit out
• Slides out and awnings extended, if those are included
• Bays and interior storage emptied of what you want kept
• An honest note about the roof — if it has not been cleaned in years, that is the largest single variable in the quote

Most RV work is quoted rather than booked at a fixed price, and for once that is the customer-friendly answer: the difference between a well-kept twenty-eight-foot trailer and a neglected forty-foot coach is too large for any category price to be honest about.