12 Painting Mistakes Made by RV Owners (and How to Avoid Them)
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Painting your RV walls and cabinets is an inexpensive way to transform your living space completely. But a few painting mistakes can quickly turn your shiny new space into a maintenance nightmare.
In this article, I share 12 common painting mistakes so you can paint your RV perfectly for the first time.
Related: A Complete Guide to Painting Your RV Walls
1. Inadequate surface prep
Surface prep is a time-consuming necessity—as much as you may want to skip it! Even though some products and paints promise you can skip it altogether, the best way to guarantee a great paint job is to prep your surface adequately. A little elbow grease now will save you from re-painting again in the future, costing you time and money!
One RV owner learned this lesson the hard way when she painted her laminate cabinets without priming. It wasn’t too much later that the paint started peeling off!
To avoid peeling, you must ensure the surface you’re painting has a texture the paint can “grab on” to. To oversimplify it, this is the purpose of primer. It is what your paint will grab onto.
The best method for creating a surface that paint will adhere to depends on what type of material you’re painting. This brings me to the next common painting mistake.
2. Using paint or primer that’s wrong for the surface
When I was young, I accidentally used interior latex paint on some exterior trim on our house. My dad told me it would need to be sanded and repainted, but I couldn’t see the problem. Sure enough, a few months later, the paint started cracking and flaking off. That experience taught me how important it is to use the right kind of paint for whatever project you’re doing.
Read Next: The Best Paint Brands for Painting RV Walls and Cabinets
Kilz is renowned in the RV world for having the best primer. You can use it on both your walls and your cabinets. For your RV interior, you will want an interior latex-based paint. There are multiple brands that RVers recommend that world well; just be sure to prime and paint separately.
3. Not reading the instructions for the products being used
One RV owner read that she wouldn’t have to sand her cabinets as long as she used a certain kind of paint. Skipping sanding is pretty appealing.
Unfortunately, the paint ended up peeling off her laminate (fake) wood cabinets. She ended up having to strip and sand it all off. More time, more elbow grease, and even more money!
Later, she discovered that the paint company’s website said to sand first! Lesson learned. While blogs and Facebook can be great resources for gathering information, they are no replacement for reading and following the product’s instructions! What worked for someone else, might not work on your RV. Always read the product instructions before you purchase.
4. Using cheap paint brushes
You can get a value pack of several paintbrushes for about the same price as one quality paintbrush. However, using a cheaper brush can result in brush strokes showing or bristles falling out and sticking to the paint. I like Purdy brand paintbrushes, but I know many people like Wooster brand as well.
- PURDY XL PAINT BRUSHES - Purdy XL Series brushes are great for all types of environments, both interior and exterior. These paint applicators will help you get the job done right the first time.
5. Planning to fix mistakes later
Some paint was on this trim piece when we were painting our RV walls. Oops, but no big deal. It was easy to scrape off, so we figured we would worry about it later.
A few months later (ha!) I finally got around to it, only to discover the paint wasn’t quite so easy to scratch off! It cured and is harder to remove. I still haven’t gotten around to it yet!
6. Not waiting long enough for the paint to cure
Paint scratches off easily the first few days after painting and becomes more durable after it cures for several days or weeks. Avoid doing anything that might scratch the paint, like moving in furniture, until the paint has cured.
If your paint does scratch within the first week or so, don’t despair! Give it at least a week before determining whether there is a problem with paint adhesion or if the paint was just scratched before curing.
7. Painting when it’s too cold, too hot, or too humid
Temperature and moisture affect primer and paint. After leaving on a space heater while the paint was drying, this RV came back to see this:
The paint had developed a splotchy appearance while drying. Another RV owner reported a similar experience when condensation built up on her RV walls while she painted with the heater running. Most paints recommend that you don’t apply in temperatures under 50º as it affects the paint. You may think that running a heater in winter would be fine, but the direct heat and condensation heaters cause can hurt the paint.
Fortunately, the residue in this photo disappeared after the RV owner wiped down the walls with a damp rag. Avoid problems by reading your paint can and finding the optimal temperature range and humidity level. You may need to run a dehumidifier while painting in some climates.
8. Using homemade chalk paint
Chalk paint is common in RVs. One RV owner I know decided to save money by making her own chalk paint using a recipe found online. She used homemade chalk paint successfully before when painting furniture, but it peeled off when she used it to paint her RV cabinets. She didn’t know exactly what caused the problem and had to sand it all off.
I’m not saying homemade chalk paint will never work. You might get lucky, and maybe you’re on a tight enough budget that the risk is worth it.
Using a highly recommended name brand can remove some of the risks and increase your chances of ending up with a result you love. Plus, you may get a refund if your name-brand paint has problems. I actually got a refund once on some spray paint that came out drippy and uneven.
9. Painting over seams that may shift during travel
I don’t consider this a painting mistake since I’m not sure it could have been anticipated, but it was a problem faced by RV owner Christina.
When painting her RV, she covered the seams between the cabinets and the wood trim. The first time Christina’s RV was moved after the cabinets were painted, the paint bubbled up as the RV shifted during transit.
To prevent this problem, score seams with a razor blade after the paint has dried and before the RV is moved.
10. Not testing colors first
I wanted light gray when I chose the paint color for my walls, but it looked white in the sunlight! I have a friend who bought paint named charcoal, but one coat revealed that it was blue, not grey!
Avoid this by purchasing a sample size of the paint first. Any paint store will do this for a couple of dollars. Paint a test area or paint a poster board and hold it under different lighting in your RV.
11. Waiting too long to remove painter’s tape.
If you remove the painter’s tape while the paint is still wet, you might accidentally smudge the paint. If you wait until it’s completely dry, the tape might peel the paint off! That’s what happened in the RV pictured below.
Remove tape while the paint is still tacky, but not completely liquid. The tape can easily break through the paint but won’t cause it to smear. If you notice that the paint is coming up with the tape, use a razor blade to score along the edge before you pull.
12. Trying to do it all in one coat
When you’ve bought a type of paint that was advertised as requiring only one coat, it can be frustrating to see the old wall color showing through. But that doesn’t mean you should just roll the paint on thicker.
A thick layer of paint or going back over painted areas before they are fully dry, can interfere with drying time. This can result in an uneven finish or leave visible brush strokes or marks from the paint roller.
Plan on two coats for anything you paint in your RV. (Even your RV shower!) Then, if you find you only need one, you will be pleasantly surprised!
Avoid These 12 RV Painting Mistakes
Anyone can paint, but it is easy to make painting mistakes, even if you’re a seasoned DIYer! Keep these 12 mistakes in mind as you prep, paint, and enjoy your beautiful RV.
Feeling bold? Paint your RV exterior!
Ashley Mann spent three years living full time in a 38-foot, 5th-wheel RV with her husband Josiah and their cat, Kitty. Her favorite thing about RV life is the challenge of finding the perfect way to organize a space, and she loves seeing all the creative and clever ways people come up with to customize their RVs.
Most useful post I’ve read on this topic! Thanks! Bex
So glad you found it helpful!
Great article, I’ve done remodels on 2 rvs….and your advice is spot on…one thing I’d like to add, is if you are thinking of doing wallpaper in your unit… make sure you prep the area properly…wash walls, fix anything that needs fixing…prime the walls maybe twice depending on the paper you will be using..i had brown walls and decided to do a white wallpaper with a black trellis design…it took two coats to hide that brown…and most important…use wallpaper glue instead of water on the back of the paper…regardless what the instructions say….it will stay on the wall..guaranteed.
Thanks for sharing! I don’t have much experience with wallpaper – I wouldn’t have even thought of needing to use primer before applying wallpaper, but it makes a lot of sense and might save someone the disappointment of having their old wallpaper show through!
I’ve done a lot of wallpaper in my day but not in an rv. Anxious to do a Reno in ours and wallpaper has made a comeback. I have always pasted my paper even if it was prepasted and said you just needed to water box and fold to activate. Priming is nothing more than a lite coat of primer type paint first. I always wash down everything with tsp first. Great article!!
So you are painting first and then adding pasted wallpaper? Seems like that should work but some might find it faster to skip the painting step and use self-adhesive/pre-pasted wallpaper. 🙂 I also wonder if there would be any issue with the water-activated wallpaper paste coming down in a hot climate? I don’t have personal experience with wallpaper in an RV so I’m interested to learn!
Hi,is there a brand of all in one paint that you would recommend for cabinet doors in a RV? I have read your comments and I know that I have to wash and clean before painting. I was thinking of using Beyond paint,what are your thoughts on using that one or is there a better one? Thanks
Hi Louise, I can’t recommend any of the all-in-one cabinet paints from personal experience since I haven’t used them myself. However, I have heard people who used Beyond paint say they were happy with their results. If in doubt, I might suggest painting something like the inside of a cabinet door to test it and then giving it a couple of weeks to cure to see how you like it before tackling the whole project. If your cabinets are real wood, I would definitely start with sanding or (my preference) use a chemical stripper to remove old varnish and then wipe off residue and lightly sand smooth. And of course read and follow all the directions on the package!
The two brushes you had spoke of are great products, I have used both and I was really impressed . Keep them clean and they will last you many projects.
I bought fabric paint at Hobby Lobby for my valances. Also Walmart carries it.
HELP! I can’t get the glue off the walls left by the wallpaper border. Goo gone, hair dryer, scraper, it just won’t budge. The border came off fairly easy heating it up with the hair dryer before pulling it. That stuff is strong!
If I remember correctly I had to use a scraper (like a putty knife) in addition to the Goo Gone…and quite a bit of elbow grease. Sorry I don’t know what else to recommend!