How to Paint RV Walls

So many people are afraid to paint their RV walls. But there’s no need to fear! It’s simple if you follow these easy steps.

1. Degrease the walls and ceiling with Zep. Spray, wipe, wait a few minutes then rinse with a damp cloth. Rinse cloth after every few wipes to make sure you remove all the product from the walls.
2. Sand down any holes until they’re flush with the wall. Wipe away dust with damp cloth.
3. Fill holes with wood filler. Wipe away any excess and let dry completely.
4. Paint 2 coats of Zinsser Mold and Mildew Proof Paint
5. Done!

As long as you thoroughly degrease and clean the walls before painting, you shouldn’t have any trouble getting the paint to stick to the wall. You don’t even need to sand the walls, unless you’re covering holes of course. I know some people recommend an adhesive primer, but so far we haven’t had any problems with paint not sticking to the walls by doing it this way. 

PAINT FINISH

We used an eggshell finish on our first camper, and it looked great but wasn’t as easy to clean up. So in our second camper, we used a semi-gloss finish and its super easy to clean! So I would recommend using a Satin or semi-gloss finish paint.

PAINT COLOR

Who knew there are so many whites to choose from?! Well, I didn’t want to mess with any of that, so I just grabbed the Zinsser paint right off the shelf. I did not have them dye it.

TO TAPE OR NOT TO TAPE?

Definitely use tape and plastic to protect anything you don’t want paint on. But I would not recommend taping around the windows. You’re supposed to remove the tape while the paint is still wet, but if you’re supposed to wait for the paint to dry between coats, how does that work?! I had to do a lot of touching up after removing the tape from around the RV windows because the paint was sticking to the tape and ripped right off. So I would suggest using a tiny brush, like a brush for painting art, and carefully cut in around the windows. Then there’s no need for tape or touching up when the tape inevitably rips up the paint. We decided to replace our floor, so I didn’t even cover the floor to protect it. If you’re not replacing your floor, then certainly protect it!

START WITH THE CEILING

I recommend painting the ceiling if you’re painting the walls. This makes everything look cohesive and bright. So work from top to bottom following the same steps outlined above. If you’re painting your air conditioner or anything else attached to the ceiling, spray paint in the same finish, then paint the ceiling. That way, you can roll over any overspray and don’t have to tape anything off.

Make sure when you paint it’s not super cold or hot and humid because you might have problems with the paint adhering or drying. 

We hope this was helpful to you. Share your project pictures with us on Instagram or leave us a comment below!