Building DIY Windskirts For An RV With Maker Pipe

Jon and Meg are currently embarking on the ultimate DIY adventure. They moved from the beaches of South Carolina to build their dream home in the mountains of southwest Virginia. A big part of this adventure is their temporary RV home that sits on the property. With the colder months settling in they needed a way to winterize the underside of the RV. Adding windskirts to an RV is the best way to achieve frost proof protection. Read the full story below and see how they built DIY windskirting with Maker Pipe, EMT conduit, and metal roofing panels.

 Meet the Carters

We've learned over the years that DIY projects have unique and fascinating origin stories. The Carters RV frost proofing project is no different. Jon, Meg, and their two daughters lived in Myrtle Beach SC where they had a successful sea glass jewelry business for twelve years. Now they're on a new adventure in the mountains of Virginia where they have set out to build a house on their own! They are documenting this journey on Instagram and YouTube as @walnutsandwineberries. Be sure to follow and subscribe to their channels so you can follow along with their adventure!

  Adjusting To The Cold

The house is expected to be finished sometime in 2021, in the meantime they are living in an RV on the property. One of the biggest changes that the Carters have adapted to are the low temperatures in the winter months. Moving to snowy southwest Virginia from Myrtle Beach where snow and freezing temps are a rare occasion, has forced them to adjust rather quickly. This includes some winterizing to their RV. They store their water tanks under the trailer which leaves them exposed to weather and the elements. To prevent the water tanks from freezing they came up with a fantastic DIY skirting solution to frost proof the underside breezeway of their RV.

Build Breakdown

They decided on metal roofing panels as the barrier of choice for their RV skirting because they are durable and fairly inexpensive. Next they had to come up with a way to mount the panels to the RV. This is where Maker Pipe and EMT come in. They measured and cut conduit in lengths that would frame the open space that they wanted to cover. For the vertical support pipes they drove the EMT straight into the ground.Then they used a number of 180's and T Connectors to connect the horizontal runs to the vertical pipes.

After the frame was built they could attach the panels. They cut them to length and attached them using self tapping screws. They drilled those directly into the conduit runs where necessary. To cap off the build they added some Styrofoam pipe insulation to the tops of the conduit. This covers the rough edges of the panels and protects the RV from scratches. Check out Jon's post on our community for more details.

Conclusion

We are happy to hear that the Maker Pipe frame is holding strong against the weather and strong winds! Remember to check out their Instagram and YouTubechannel to follow along with their journey and see more of their story. Thanks for reading and happy building!