Tips For Repairing Or Replacing RV Furniture
Is the furniture in your RV looking a bit tired? Are the sun-damaged fabrics looking faded? Maybe the cush is gone in the cushions? There are a number of reasons to update the furniture inside your RV.
Fortunately, there are also a number of ways to handle this situation.
Giving New Life To RV Furniture
A local upholstery shop could reupholster the RV furniture for you. Be sure to get an estimate first, as the cost is likely to be well beyond the cost of buying new.
Though finding parts to repair a broken jack knife sofa frame may be hard, if not impossible, replacing the whole unit is a snap. You can go to any RV dealership and look through catalogs, browsing through different styles. Designer fabrics or maybe leather this time around would be nice. Any local RV dealer can fix you right up. Of course, they tack on a percentage for being the middle man, but you do have the advantage of being able to arrange for installation by their maintenance shop.
Flexsteel is the brand of furniture most commonly found in RVs. You can view their product line on the Internet, but if you want to purchase anything, you'll have to go through your RV dealer or other authorized furniture store, as you can’t order directly from the factory.
There are some online companies, like Bradd and Hall, that are authorized Flexsteel dealers as well. With their larger ordering base, you may be able to swing a better deal than you would find at an RV dealer. Even Camping World carries a variety of furniture for RVs.
Most RV furniture manufacturers don’t offer replacement fabric kits to reupholster your worn or damaged sofa. They state the cost of redoing a couch properly is as much, if not more, than buying a complete new piece of furniture. They do offer sheet goods, if you want to tackle the job on your own. These products are sold by the square yard, without prepared patterns or layout help.
RV Furniture vs Household Furniture
For the do-it-yourselfers out there, when my wife and I remodeled the interior of our 5th wheel trailer we chose to stay away from “RV furniture". Compared to household furniture, you will pay a noticeable premium because it was specifically built for RVs.
RV manufacturers always have to weigh the number of beds, with the overall cost of production when they design a unit.
Sometimes what they think is the best arrangement conflicts with what you really need. It always seems to be a trade-off in one way or another. Sometimes, their level of comfort and quality just don't make the grade in the long run. After a couple years, the cushions have been beat down, or the framework may have bowed under the weight.
Some DIY Ideas
My wife and I replaced the jack knife sofa inside our RV with regular household furniture from a local discount furniture dealer. Since the sofa rested in the confines of a slideout, we never bolted it down or anything. We never had a problem with it moving, though a couple simple metal L-brackets attached to the rear feet would have been enough to guarantee it stayed put.
Our favorite RV furniture project was to get rid of the dinette. Replacing it with a small dining table and chairs is so much nicer. However, before you take a hammer to your dinette, look under it. Does the carpet or flooring cover the space underneath the seats? If you don’t want that odd ball area to be different from the rest of the flooring, you better make sure they installed the dinette after they installed the floor covering.
One thing for sure, if you want to put a twinkle in your wife’s eye all you have to say is: “Let’s go furniture shopping.”
Mischel, We've replaced curtains twice over the years, the first time was with off the shelf curtains from Walmart, the second time I sewed them myself as we liked a specific fabric and making curtains is pretty simple.
Is there a store for RV window treatments-curtains, etc. to order from? Or is homemade the only option to replace curtains?
Try Mastercraft Incorporated
Some areas have specific RV junk yards, most don't. The best source would be places like Craigslist, or any local classified section. Many times RV that suffer structural damage still have usable appliances that get sold. Even Ebay may be a source. Do keep in mind the cost of new when dickering on the price. As example a 6 gallon water heater without electronic ignition runs about $250 new. You don't want to pay anywhere near that for used.
you mentioned that you bought a "fix-er-upper" & restored it yourself. just wondering if you had any advice on where to get some good deals on rv supplies. we need pretty much everything from new furniture to an ac & heater. we live in oklahoma & dont think there is very much close by..thanx
Hi Loren, Yes I used normal though light weight household furniture. Weight should be a concern, a residential hide a bed could be a bit much, especially in a slideout. RV manufacturers use what their suppliers build. They bid it out and what they get is what they get. Even they now use unsecured dining table and chairs in many units. A sofa in a slideout is pretty much boxed in when your traveling. Things will remain pretty well stationary.
you say you used household furniture in your rv? how did it turn out & why do they make special furniture for rv's? is there a problem w/ weight or getting it through a 30" door? i need a couch, table w/ chairs, and 2 recliners & i would much rather buy from a quality local store. what r your thoughts on a hidabed? i know they r very heavy to put in a 12' slideout with a table and chairs.