Sun is the big enemy
An RV spends most of its life parked. Around Folsom, that often means months in an open storage lot or beside the house under strong summer sun. All that sun breaks down the shiny top layer of fiberglass and gelcoat. It turns chalky, and when you rub it, white residue comes off on your hand. That’s oxidation.
Light oxidation usually polishes out well. Heavy oxidation can often be improved a lot, but if the gelcoat is worn thin, it may not come back to new. We’ll look first and tell you what to expect. After polishing, wax helps slow the next round of fading.
Decals and graphics also fade and crack in the sun. We clean around them carefully, but we can’t restore graphics that are already damaged.
Storage lots and driveways
Many owners keep their RV in a storage lot. We can usually work there, but some lots have rules about outside services or washing. Check with your lot, or tell us which one it is when you book and we’ll work it out.
In a driveway, we just need room to walk around the RV and set up. HOA rules sometimes limit how long an RV can be parked out front, so let us know if timing matters and we’ll schedule around it. On the hottest days, we start early so soap doesn’t dry on the sides before we rinse.
How RV pricing works
Every RV job is quoted. A 20-foot travel trailer that was washed last month is a very different job from a 40-foot motorhome that has sat in the sun for two summers. What we look at:
- Length and height of the RV
- How much oxidation and black streaking there is
- Whether you want polishing and wax, or a wash only
- How much interior cleaning you want
- Where it’s parked and how much room we have to work
Before and after the season
Many owners book a full detail before the first trip of the year and again before putting the RV away. A clean, waxed RV stored for the winter is easier to bring back in spring. If you take it out often, a wash between trips keeps road grime and bugs from building up.
A clean RV is also easier to inspect. With the dirt gone, it’s simpler to spot cracked sealant, damaged trim or a soft spot before it turns into a bigger repair. If we notice something like that while we work, we’ll point it out.
We don’t do roof or sealant repairs ourselves, but knowing about a problem early gives you time to get it fixed before the next trip.
Between details, a cover or shade over the RV is the best thing you can do for the finish. Less sun means slower oxidation and less work next time.