One day, you discover a hole in your RV’s wall.
It could be due to deteriorated or rotten wood inside the wall itself, or unintentional damage caused by an accident inside the motorhome, or camper.
When considering how to repair a hole in an RV wall, you’ll need to factor in whether it’s an interior problem (most likely) or the exterior has a hole in the wall (less likely).
Also, the materials that make up the composition of the wall matter too.
For instance, while motorhomes, trailers, and campers often use a similar core set of wall materials, they may differ for the exterior wall.
Also, the less expensive the RV was, the fewer materials will have been used within the walls too. Furthermore, the quality will be reduced making it less durable over the years too.
How to Repair Hole in RV Wall
How to fix holes in RV walls? Walls aren’t that difficult to repair. They’re designed to be lightweight to avoid loading down the RV.
Multi-layered in design, they aren’t a single, solid piece of material.
Fortunately, unlike with a residential home, there are no load-bearing walls to worry about.
So, repairing a motorhome or camper wall won’t risk the roof coming down unless the RV’s structure is already seriously impaired. That’s then a far larger problem.
Read Also: Complete RV Roof Guide
How to Repair Hole in RV Interior Wall
When attempting an RV interior wall repair, it’s important to know how they’re designed and typically made of.
Patching Holes in RV Interior Walls
RV walls are made from either medium density plywood (MDF), plywood, or vinyl. More commonly MDF is used instead of plywood in newer RV models, but older ones may have plywood present.
The wall’s thickness is around 2-inches, and perhaps a little more. So, it’s considerably thinner than a residential home.
With an RV interior wall repair, you’ll need to assess the full extent of the damage. To do that, the affected panel may need to be removed.
Once done, you’ll see a frame along the wall made from either wood or aluminum. The frame has gaps that allow for insulation to be packed in.
However, once that’s removed too, you may also observe electrical wiring, HVAC pipes, multimedia cabling, and even gas pipes to transport propane through to the kitchen area.
Read Also: How to Repair Delamination on RV
As you can imagine, any repair needs to be carefully performed to avoid damaging any of these components and fittings.
If you’re finding new gaps in the interior wall, then use an expanding foam spray to seal them. Then leave this overnight to set, trim off the excess, and then you’re ready to fit the panel once again.
Depending on the extent of the hole in the wall (or other wall damage), it may be necessary to replace parts of the interior wooden frame, add some additional insulation, or fix damaged wires or dented pipe.
It depends on where the hole is positioned and what’s found to be back there once the panel is removed.
As for the panel, use epoxy, caulking, or similar to fill in and then paint over it. The panel will require degreasing and sanding down before painting.
Understand though that the finish will never be perfect. Replacing the panel is usually the only way to get a near-perfect solution when the walls aren’t painted.
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How Do You Fix a Hole in a Camper Wall?
With a camper wall, they’re a little bit different from most RVs and some trailers too.
While they are still composed of an outer wall, added insulation to retain warmth and an interior wall panel, the materials may vary with the make and model.
Particularly with campers, you can find that the outer wall may use composite materials, fiberglass, aluminum, or some combination.
Airstream uses their tell-tale aluminum exterior wall, so it’s easy to spot them from a distance. Other manufacturers usually stuck to composite materials or used fiberglass to keep the camper lightweight.
With a hole in the interior camper wall, it’s certainly less problematic to fix.
Most campers use a similar 3-layer of plywood, MDF, and vinyl.
Quite often they have less pronounced frames on the interior of the inner wall, less insulation, and fewer cables, wires, and pipes hidden behind their walls due to a more minimal fit-out compared to a motorhome.
The frame inside the inner wall may be made from aluminum, instead of wood, if the shell of the camper is too.
While filling in the hole with caulking or something else will work, it’ll still be obvious to the eye.
Caulking is also thick, so will need smoothing out to make it visible. Ultimately, painting over or choosing to replace the panel may be required to entirely remove the unsightly hole. Otherwise, you’ll be stuck with the daily reminder.
While toothpaste is sometimes used as a stop-gap, avoid it. When painting over later, it tends to break apart and spread within the paint leading to a poor, uneven final finish.
Read Also: How to Protect RV Skylights from Hail?
Repairing RV Exterior Walls
Exterior wall damage to an RV or towable can be caused by many things.
Certainly, impact damage can create fresh dents or holes on a previously flawless exterior.
Make a distinction between merely cosmetic damage where the outer skin has been scratched up and dented a little, and a major deformity to the outermost layer and what’s behind it.
Exterior Wall Delamination
Delamination is often visible as a bulging area due to the ingress of water.
Eventually, this can lead to a hole in the exterior wall or the exterior panel coming away from the side of the RV or trailer.
Repairing a hole caused by delamination is a major job. Often, people choose to have an RV specialist workshop perform the repair work. We have an article explaining how to repair delamination on an RV or camper.
If this is the core problem, we recommend taking a look.
Repair RV Fiberglass Exterior
For damage to a fiberglass exterior wall, it’s best to use a fiberglass repair kit and follow the instructions with the product.
It is a delicate process and needs to be done with care.
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If there is damage beneath the exterior wall, then this will need to be attended to as well. It might mean replacing damaged parts inside the wall or adding spray insulation to fill in gaps.
Closing Thoughts
Repairing a hole in an RV wall and the steps to follow depend on its location and how bad it is. It is quite possible to fill it in, then remedy the hole in the panel too.
Sometimes, a wooden or aluminum frame inside the wall, if the cause of the hole developing, must be replaced too.
Additionally, if a panel is badly disfigured, then replacing it may be the only option when aesthetics are paramount.
