Installing new cabinets in your motorhome is both satisfying and rewarding.
In the small confines of a C-Class motorhome, fixtures and fittings typically have multiple uses. Cabinet walls can be conduits for wires, kick panels can be plenum ducts for heating or cooling systems and closet back-panels can disguise plumbing or propane pipework. Custom installers offer both individualized and prefabricated television and entertainment system cabinets, work stations, oven and refrigerator housings. However, a competent household handyman with comprehensive carpentry, plumbing and electrical skills can make significant improvements to a Class-C motorhome so long as considerable planning goes into the project. If replacing damaged or outdated units the location is predetermined, but if you are trying to create more closet or storage space consider the narrow gaps beside beds for shirt closets and cubbyholes beneath fixtures for drawers or cabinet doors.
Instructions
1. Consider the weight of any potential purchase. Whether fabricating your own new cabinets from scratch or altering flat-pack (ready-to-assemble) units, the trade-off always has to be the quality of the materials against the overall impact on gross vehicle weight and fuel economy. While materials such as solid oak panels and marble countertops are desirable, their weight impact may be too great.
2. Remove the old cabinets if replacing, or free up the space you will be using if installing original fittings. Remove shelf brackets, wall-mounted lights and window dressing supports.
3. Use a stud locator to find where your support hoops and lateral beams are located, and mark them using a permanent marker pen. Use a wire locator to discover where any pipes or wires may be buried in the walls, and mark them using a different colored permanent marker pen. Ensure you drive no fasteners into the locations of the buried pipes and wires.
4. Ensure the depths of the new cabinets correspond to the preexisting furniture around them. Motorhome manufacturers often use cabinetry which is of normal household side-to-side width and top-to-bottom height, but trim the side, top and bottom panels to reduce the back-to-front depth. If fabricating your own cabinets or adapting flat-pack units, double check the depths and alter your installation as necessary.
5. Consult your owner's manual or contact the manufacturer of the motorhome to learn the materials used to create your walls. Composite walls prefabricated from an external skin, a rigid central insulation panel and an internal veneer may be sturdy enough to support relatively light-weight cabinets. If your walls are supported by solid studs you can drill pilot holes and screw directly to them. If your motorhome is supported by hollow metal hoops and beams pressed from steel or aluminum tubing, you may be able to drill into them and use spring-activated expanding fasteners designed for sheetrock walls to hang considerably more weight.
6. Follow the manufacturer's assembly instructions delivered with your new flat-pack cabinets, or fabricate your own using light, rigid two-by-two battens to construct a frame and plywood for the panelling. Use countersunk pilot holes for the screws so you do will not pluck your clothes in the future when occupying the close confines of a C-Class RV. Finished wood doors and exterior panels can be sourced from any home improvement warehouse. Use countersunk fasteners to avoid snagging on their exposed heads in the close confines of the Class C motorhome. Ensure all drawers and cabinet doors are fitted with locks or clasps to prevent them flying open when under way.
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