Shownotes
- Proper winterization of your RV can save you from costly repairs in the spring.
- Consider local businesses for RV projects as they often provide better service and support.
- Simple updates like new flooring or paint can significantly enhance your RV's interior appeal.
- Always run RV antifreeze through all water lines to prevent freezing and damage.
- Check your RV's roof regularly during winter to prevent leaks and water damage.
- When hiring Mobile RV Technicians, do thorough research to ensure quality service.
Transcripts
INTRO
Eric Stark
RV winterization: mistakes that can cost you a lot. That will be our subject in Staying on the Road today in the Smart rver podcast. And then we're going to jump into enjoying the RV life.
We'll discuss keeping your RV—not getting rid of it, but improving it.
At the next stop, we'll visit Guntersville, Alabama, and then the new section of the show, Shadows of the Past, a town that once was. We'll also visit Mentone, Alabama, and then, in the RV section of the podcast, recommend a company called Mobilerv Service.com.
This is Eric Stark with TheSmartRVer Podcast, your trusted source for tips and insight on embracing the RV lifestyle without worries. Today is episode 16, so let's discuss everything, RV. Good morning, Alexis. How are you today?
Alexis
Good morning. I'm awake for once in the morning.
Eric Stark
Yeah, that's not normal.
Alexis
Yeah, no, it's not.
Eric Stark
Why is that?
Alexis
I don't know. I don't want to talk about it.
Eric Stark
Yeah, I can imagine mainlining some coffee.
Alexis
Yes, I am.
Eric Stark
All right. I have no complaints today, and there is nothing to rant about. I mean, there always is, but I'm not going to.
Alexis
That's wild.
Eric Stark
I know. I'm just gonna focus on what's important. Whatever he comes here for. Becoming TheSmartRVer, not the angry RV.
All right, now I want everybody to show some love and recommend the podcast. We want to keep driving traffic to it, and we want to hear from you.
If you want to give us feedback or share information, go to the Contact Us page on our website, TheSmartRVer.com. The page also includes a link to the podcast description and our phone number. So, if you want to call, be my guest.
Let's get into enjoying the RV life. Now, we'll discuss keeping your RV and improving it.
Living the RV Life
So rather than getting rid of it because you're tired of its looks and feel, it's a little musty; maybe little Billy spilled too much milk cereal on the floor and ruined the carpet. So rather than get rid of the RV, get rid of the kid.
Let's get rid of the carpet, not the kid. Keep the RV, keep the kid, and let's get a new carpet or replace the carpet with something. Now, Alexis, you have some experience with this.
You and your husband did a major remodel —well, not a major remodel, but a little remodeling on your RV. It fits in with our subject today, so why don't you go ahead and take over?
Alexis
Okay. Thank you, Eric. This crossed my mind because we have an older trailer, which is excellent. After all, it's built well.
We've talked about this before: the difference between older ones and brand-new garbage. But little facelifts can make a huge difference. And it doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg, which is nice.
You can refresh the color or wallpaper by painting it. I know many RVs have wallpaper, which is easy and inexpensive. You can also give your RV new flooring.
Like we were talking about either carpet or hard floor laminate, that's what we did in ours. We redid it with laminate instead of this gross carpet that it had in it. So, it just makes a huge difference.
It makes it look more modern and cleaner. It's also easy to clean, which is super friendly. You can also update the bedding. Someone has owned it before.
We're not going to use their bedding.
But making it colorful, friendly, and comfortable, almost like a home away from home, can make an incredible difference for you and your travels. It's just super friendly. And it looks nice, too, when you're making your bed, even in an RV
We also discussed the bathroom, which is such a small area. Giving it a facelift is inexpensive, but you need a new toilet.
You could install a lovely toilet or redo the bathroom floor or tiling to boost the air quality.
Eric Stark
Right. And so, you know, some of that stuff we talked about in previous episodes, like the bathroom, just recently, a couple of episodes back.
And then, like last year, we talked about flooring and other things like that. It's an inexpensive way to refresh the RV and give it a new feel.
Another thing you can do is go through it and make sure your tires, suspension, and other things that keep it going down the road are good so that you have that comfort. The thought is that if you buy a new RV, everything will be good. What a joke that is. If you buy a new RV, you will still have the same problems.
You just have to make a payment along with it and do stuff to make it safe and roadworthy. Then, do the inside ease Alexis mentioned. Those are great ideas and easy to do.
The flooring is the most challenging because it's in a small, confined area. But beyond that, everything is easy, and you must do it yourself.
I see many RVs with interiors that have been tricked out. I would never paint paneling, but many people do, and it looks good.
Alexis
Yeah.
Eric Stark
Or wallpapering. Some of the paneling has lines, so you can't wallpaper it.
But you can get creative, wallpaper portions, or do whatever you like. For example, you could get an old tire, cut it, and remove any pictures of me from TheSmartRVer podcast. That always works.
Alexis
Inspiration right?
Eric Stark
It is for sale in the lobby on the way out. That's an excellent tip. What are a couple of takeaways?
Alexis
Alexis, don't throw away something delicious. It is so inexpensive, especially if you do your research beforehand.
One thing is to take advantage of local businesses. Not only is it easier to talk with somebody in person about a project, but it's also much easier to return something in person than to do it online. I recommend incorporating that local aspect if you're working on your RV.
Eric Stark
Yeah, it's excellent advice. The full article is on our website, TheSmartRVer.com, under Enjoying the RV Life. It's right there. Boom.
You can enjoy it and get some ideas from it. No, let's go to Staying on the Road, where we'll discuss RV winterization mistakes that can cost you big money.
When you do it wrong, it goes wrong quickly; if you don't, it goes wrong quickly. And now I know some people with RVs are not living here.
They're not living in some place like Montana where you get this harsh winter and have to winterize because it's. You get below freezing too much, and when it freezes, the water lines break, water heaters break, and things like that if you're unprepared.
So, for you guys, it's probably not as big of a deal to listen to this but keep it in mind if you decide to travel in the wintertime to a place where it is freezing. You don't want to Go into that freezing area with water in your system. After all, it can freeze and break faucets, toilets, toilet valves, or whatever.
Remember that if you're going to live in California and driving to Salt Lake City in the wintertime, and it's below 32 degrees there for a long time, it will freeze. Even when driving down the road, everything gets colder because now you have the wind chill factor. So you have to be mindful of that.
Drain the water and do that whole deal for those living in colder areas where you winterize. Yeah, I know we're a little late—well, middle of the season, if you will. We're in January.
Alexis
Yeah.
Staying on The Road
Eric Stark
Here, we still have people winterizing their RVs in Montana. They're coming in. Do you have some of this? Do you have some of that? I need to get my RV winterized, you know. Yeah, what's the point?
You should wait until spring to replace what's broken because winterizing is more challenging in the winter. You want to do it before it freezes, but sometimes you forget, miss, or don't realize you need to do it.
RVs are not designed for cold weather but for warm weather.
Even some that boast the Arctic package and the sub-zero stuff have to be smart about it. Parts of it, like a water heater, can freeze because they're exposed. The inside of the RV may not get as cold, but that water heater has a door facing the outside, and therefore, it can freeze.
So you have to be smart about it.
And you know, one of the things that we often see in springtime that is very expensive is that the water heaters weren't drained. The water freezes in them, splitting the tank. Then, you need a new water heater, and that's a minimum of seven or 800 bucks.
Alexis
Yeah.
Eric Stark
Plus, it's a hassle. And if you have an Atwood water heater that is still the old-style Atwood, then it's a conversion to something different.
That can be even more time-consuming and frustrating because you won't find an Atwood to return to. Suburban makes a knockoff of it, but it's still a change. And it's throwing money at something that's working fine, so why bother with that?
And then, dude, Dometic water heaters have aluminum tanks, so they're more susceptible to freezing or splitting easier when they freeze. So that's to save you some money. So, if you haven't drained your water heater, drain it.
Don't assume that it will be okay if you haven't done that, and you know, is your, you know, I don't want you to go back through your RV physically and check everything, but mentally go through the list. Did you run RV antifreeze through the water lines? Did you see pink coming out of all the faucets, the toilet, the shower valves?
If you have an outdoor kitchen, did you run the antifreeze through the sink? Did you make sure, or did you forget about it?
If you have an outside shower, which, yeah, we sell all those to come springtime, you forget about the outside shower. Did you run water through or antifreeze through it to get all the water out? And now some people blow it out, and that's fine. So, did you get those things if you're using air and blowing out?
Did you get the outdoor kitchen and shower? If not, make sure there is no water in them.
We've found that sometimes, whether it's RV antifreeze or air, water can get stuck in a valve, especially a faucet valve. The tolerances on those stems and bonnets where you turn are very tight, so it doesn't take a lot of water to break one of those when it freezes. It expands, and boom.
The water lines will probably not break because PEX is very durable. The flexible lines will flex somewhat, but you don't want to change them.
But it's not just the faucets, the water heater, or the water valve in your toilet—there's another one. Gosh. We sell many valves for the Dometic 300 series toilets.
Come springtime, you keep mounting like an egg carton. Buy a dozen, and get the 13th free. So, keeping that stuff in mind, you must do this because you save some money by winterizing it, or you pay someone to do it.
Just because you paid someone doesn't mean that it's done right. We hear it constantly: "You know, we paid this company to do it, and this bro, that company to do it. And this broke." You want to make sure it's right.
And now, when a company does it, you can't be there and second-guessing them. You have to hope they did it right.
But if they didn't do it right one year, you won't want to work for them again the second year unless they have a good answer.
From what we have found out, many companies will not take responsibility for the problems with winterizing. For example, if a faucet breaks or is broken come springtime and you put water in it, most will just say, "Well, we don't know what you did during the winter, so we're not responsible."
And there's some logic to that because they don't know what you did. But then again, if there's still antifreeze in the line, you probably didn't do anything.
Most people will not de-winterize their RV, break a faucet, and then re-winterize it to pin it on a dealership or something.
Alexis
Right.
Eric Stark
They might do that to you, but you want to do that to them. Those are things to remember as you go through this whole winterizing process. You know, skipping steps doesn't work.
To complete the winterization, you must drain the water lines, the fresh water tank, and the holding tanks. Alexis, you, and Cole, this is your first winter with your RV.
Alexis
Yes, it is. Yeah.
Eric Stark
Okay, so do you feel confident in Cole's winterizing it?
Alexis
I hope so. I think so.
Eric Stark
Yeah. So Cole's sitting right over here. He's running the show. He's our Spielberg.
Alexis
Yes.
Eric Stark
So he's grinning and laughing, but he's already on a shopping list already made out. I see now; yeah, you do it right. And, let's see, your father-in-law has an RV as well. And I know he does his own thing.
Alexis
Yes, he does. Yeah.
Eric Stark
And come springtime, he's problem-free.
Alexis
Yes, exactly.
Eric Stark
So that's it. So it is possible.
Alexis
Yes.
Eric Stark
You know, I do mine, and it is problem-free in springtime. Now, I blow it out, put RV antifreeze through it, and buy extra antifreeze; I don't care.
If you pay five bucks for a gallon of antifreeze, and your RV needs two or three and a half gallons to do its job correctly, you run four or five gallons through it. What's an extra five bucks?
Alexis
Mm.
Eric Stark
Or eight bucks? You spend that on coffee every day.
Alexis
Exactly.
Eric Stark
So, cheap insurance faucets will cost you 50 plus your time. Why not spend an extra five or ten bucks on antifreeze and make sure it's clear? And that's for those who use antifreeze.
Yes, air is a different story for those who use it. And, you know, there are pros and cons to both. Anyway, we're getting off track here. But just go back through it mentally.
Ensure you've drained everything, go through that checklist, and have that confidence.
So when springtime comes, you won't dread draining the RV antifreeze and de-winterizing. Instead, you'll be pacing back and forth like your wife's having the sixth child, smoking a cigar, panicking. Just go out there and do it, put water in it, and have confidence that you did it right. If you make a mistake and something breaks, don't worry about it.
It's not the end of the world because you would have saved money if you winterized it. Now, if you paid, that's a different story. You would have to buy the part and replace it. But it's a learning experience.
You might go through two or three toilet valves because those are an issue for some people who want to winterize them. But just take it as a learning experience. Some people just take the valve out. It is called quits.
We'll just take the valve out, cap off the line, and it's done. And that's a way to do it as well. So you have to find your thing.
It may be yours if you're having problems with a specific faucet. The first step is to remove it from the system. This shouldn't be easy, but it sometimes makes it more challenging.
You could loop the two lines together for a faucet to ensure the antifreeze passes through. But, you know, I am just thinking out loud here. So just do that, and make sure you're using RV AntiFreeze.
It's for winterizing, and you should not use boiler antifreeze, which is currently 25, 30, or 40 bucks a gallon. Make sure you're using pink RV antifreeze. You should not go to AutoZone or O'Reilly's to buy automotive antifreeze. That doesn't work, either, and you can't drink it.
You can, but you might have a little digestive tract problem. Maybe your dreams will be super wild for a while. Perhaps you just die. Who knows? Oh, gosh. But if you die, you die. So make sure you don't use Automotive.
Use RV AntiFreeze because it's food-grade. In other words, you could drink it if you wanted to. I wouldn't recommend that. Double-check everything. Make sure it's good if your RV is outside.
You know, check it throughout the winter. If there is a lot of snow or rain, ensure no leaks, no water dripping inside, and no damage to the ceiling or other investments.
The roof protects the RV, so ensure it's in good shape. You'll have to go into it.
So, if it's in storage, plan on making a trip to the storage lot, going in that RV, and checking it out sooner rather than later because, you know, humans like to put things off. I'll get it next weekend. Next weekend comes. You know what? I'll get it the following weekend.
And then pretty soon spring, you know, spring is here, and you go up the door, your RV, and, you know, water and fish come pouring out because you didn't check I,t and you had a horrible leak. Well, not fish, but mold and guppies. No. Whatever gets in there. Perhaps a skylight broke, and some birds came in, as did some seagulls.
Yeah, you want to avoid that. All right, so that's my final thought.
So we won't talk about winterizing again until next September, October, or something like that. I'm done with it. So, the takeaways are to ensure you've adequately winterized and not leave it to chance.
Check and double-check everything and check it out throughout the wintertime to make sure there are no visible issues. And if something did happen to freeze and break, let it stay until spring. Don't mess with it trying to fix it now. It's not worth it. Spring will come.
Take care of it. Then, go to our website, use the Contact Us page, and tell me how you winterize your RV and what problems you face.
That way, we have a better idea of what's happening in the field because we have ideas about who enters our store. However, in different areas of the country, they experience various problems in the winter.
So let us know; go to the Contact Us page on TheSmartRVer.com or the podcast's description. We'll have it there as well. Let me know what's going on with your RV during the wintertime. All right, now that brings us to the next stop.
Now, at the next stop, it will be different because we will have the next stop portion like we usually do, and then we will see the shadows of the past—towns that once were.
Alexis
Yes.
Eric Stark
That's the new addition to the show. We're also picking two places. A modern town is close to a city that once was or was a shadow of the past.
You won't be geographically too far apart that way. If you want to stay in a bigger or smaller town, you have a place to go and an idea. So, we will jump into this and see how it goes today. Let's start with Guntersville, Alabama.
Ad, Alexis, what do you think about Guntersville, Alabama?
Next Stop
Alexis
The city is pretty neat. We looked it up on a map, and it's situated right on a lake. It curves in and out of the lake, which is very interesting.
It's very cool, and seeing that in the first place is neat. But there's also a state park there.
There's a lake, so you can see a lot of wildlife and go birding. There are also museums. Every year, they have an art and lake festival.
So it's right near the lake, and you can see the local art, which is pretty cool. There are always local attractions like that. They have Main Street dancing and dining and the Screaming Eagle Zipline, which I love that name.
They have theirs. That could be for the kids, not you. There's a lot there: Cathedral Cavern State Park and Marshall Space Flight Center.
There is much to see, many places to stay, and many places to eat while you're there. So Guntersville is 1C.
Eric Stark
All right. There's always food everywhere we go.
Alexis
Oh, yes, Gotta have food.
Eric Stark
Guntersville's history goes back to the Cherokee Nation, so it's been around for quite a while.
Alexis
Yes.
Eric Stark
If you had never heard of John Gunter, he was a Scottish trader who married a Cherokee woman. That's how the relationship with the Cherokee and its history came to be.
So you can see it goes back in time, and then there's going to be a little Indian flavor to it as well. American Indian. Not curry Indian, but American Indian. So it's a cool place and modern, but it still has some history.
You know, a lot of these older towns have become larger towns today. And so we don't consider them like a shadow of the past. A city that once was. They're there because they're big and Right.
They have all the amenities. If they have a Walmart, you know, forget it. Yeah, Guntersville has a Walmart. So you see, it's just considered a big town.
All the history doesn't matter; Walmart overruled that. Okay, so now let's go to Mentone, Alabama.
So, Mentone, Alabama, falls into the shadows of the past, the towns that once were.
Alexis
Yes.
Eric Stark
This is a much smaller town with more historical value. Alexis, what were some of the things you saw about Mentone that interested you?
Alexis
connections. During the UN in:There's also Cherokee history. Mentone was once part of the Cherokee Nation. Sequoia, the creator of the written Cherokee language, lived in that area. That's neat.
That's interesting. It is a very cultural site, and it is neat to see some natural attractions.
The DeSoto Falls are very close. They are beautiful waterfalls named after the traveler and explorer Hernando de Soto. Then, there is Lookout Mountain Parkway.
And this is beautiful. If you look up pictures of traveling on this, it is stunning.
From the top, you can see a beautiful vista, and then you can see the town, which overlooks the city. So it's neat. There's so much to do in the city. It's a timeless little mountain village.
If you were to search for pictures of it, you would find it very quaint and rustic. You can visit some cute older buildings, some of which have shops, and there are vintage cabins.
You can travel on mountain roads. Some of these towns are still set in the past, which is unique.
Eric Stark
So if you go to our website, the whole article is there. And more pictures, right?
Alexis
Yes, more pictures.
Eric Stark
Okay, so we have more images. It's an old town. There's a YouTube video—I forgot about this. A couple made this video, which shows some of the outlying areas.
It's a two-part video that shows another town nearby. I forgot its name; I don't remember it. It doesn't matter, but we'll put a link to it.
We'll find that because it gives you more of a visual in the videos. As they showed, DeSoto fell in the off-season, so there wasn't a lot of water going through it.
It wasn't as magnificent as springtime when more water came through. So, those are just things to remember when you go there: the water might be up or down, depending on the year.
More people, less people.
Alexis
Right.
Eric Stark
But it is a cool little town, and we're doing these towns like this because they bring everybody back to the past, when things were much better, you know, simpler. They were more challenging times in some ways, but they were more straightforward.
They were, you know, all the technology, all the distractions, and noise, if you will. Look at these towns we're bringing up, and explore yourself.
It's going to whet your appetite, and it's going to make you think, yeah, I'd instead go to some of these more prominent places like Guntersville or any other place that's at that larger capacity. It might have all the amenities, but these little towns are much more incredible.
Alexis
Right.
Eric Stark
And more enjoyable. You can go to our website as well.
All that information is under the next stop at TheSmartRVer.com. Remember to visit us on YouTube, check us out, and share us with everybody. I've emphasized that our numbers are growing.
Yes, they are getting more subscribers and views, so that's cool. But we have. People call, appreciate our videos, and tell us how great we're doing there.
RV Envy
So, look at that and see if you can enjoy it. We're going to RV Envy about MobileRVService.com. So, what is that?
The name describes it, but not one company services the United States.
It's a business with a website. You enter your zip code, and mobile RV technicians pop up. If you don't want your RV repaired, you can choose a technician to come to your area. I talked to the owner of the business the other day. It's interesting.
This project has been ongoing for a couple of years, so they're still working on perfecting it. It's good because it's been on my radar for several years.
I didn't discuss it until I wanted to talk to the owner, and we finally did that. You know, they're improving things for the technicians on the backside—things that wouldn't affect you as an RV owner but would help you.
They're doing invoicing and other things, where you can have this stuff up front, such as an app estimate, making it more legitimate. It will make you more comfortable when you hire this technician to come out and do something.
You must know that the mobile RV technicians recommended here are not always the best. They're working on a way to filter that, but it can be difficult because all RV techs will say they're the best.
I've been doing this for 40 years, and we've been doing it for 100 years. We've known each other for 20 and 10 years, and I'm the best. But that doesn't always make them the best.
If you have a problem, don't blame it on the website or the company. MobileRVService.com. It's the technician that's the problem.
Alexis
Right?
Eric Stark
So, research before a technician comes out and talks to him. Make sure you have a comfort level with them that you know you're comfortable with and that he can also work with.
You don't want to be so demanding. It makes him like, I don't want to deal with—you. You know, you don't wish to — go that far.
The debut technicians—you know, most mobile RV techs—I shouldn't say most—are in business. They want to make their business successful, so they'll take care of you.
Some mobile RV technicians might offend some out there if they're listening to the show, but some of them come from a business or a shop they worked at, and they want to go mobile but may lack some customer service experience. They may be good at fixing things, but their customer service skills are inferior, so you might have to deal with that.
Overall, it can eliminate some guesswork in finding technicians. Most fly-by-night or shady technicians probably won't subscribe to this website; if they're terrible, they won't last long.
If the company receives more complaints about someone, they will be cut off, and eventually, it will have to end, so they won't be there.
Also, if you have problems, depending on the problematic service, you can share your experience. They can intervene and help you with that problem. I won't guarantee they are, but they want to build their business, which will focus on customer satisfaction. So it's just a good alternative.
There's a link to it in our podcast description, and we'll have a link somewhere on the website. Again, because we sometimes record these before we get things done, we forget this, okay?
Everything will be there, and that will help you out. As a final reminder, check out our YouTube channel and subscribe. But also go there, look at the videos, and enjoy them.
We take a different angle on all our videos, which is much different than many others. And we're changing them. We're dialing it in.
We're changing how we do everything at the SmartRver to help you become even more innovative and better at what you're doing when it comes to do-it-yourself stuff. That's where sometimes contacting us and talking to us about things helps us improve.
So we appreciate that the next episode will be 168 whenever you do so now. So that'll be out in a couple of weeks. So we had a great show today.
I want to thank everyone for listening, including Alexis, for her excellent articles on everyone's Next Stop and for Enjoying the RV Life. So this is Eric Stark with TheSmartRVer podcast, your go-to guide for Smarter RVing and unforgettable adventures on the open road.
