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In previous customization articles, I’ve looked at ways to customize your RV’s entertainment center and add a televator, and how to replace your RV’s small double sinks with one large sink. Today, we’re looking at another way to customize and spiffy up your RV: Get rid of that dirty RV stair carpet!
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The elegance of Dupont Corian® in entryway stairs.
The owners of this 2006 Phaeton decided it was time to jazz up their entryway. Their stairs were typical of motorhomes, carpeted on the sidewalls and stairs. While most motorhome stairs and step covers are carpeted, some RV entryway stairs are vinyl with rubber stair treads, and some are composite with non-slip tread strips. This owner was referred to Davidson RV in Belmont, Mississippi, for custom Corian fabrication.
The brilliance of this owner’s enhancement to their entryway stairs is the addition of a 12-volt LED light strip incorporated in each stair making entry at night safer. Some coaches boast entry lights in the stairwell cavity sidewall, but many do not. So, incorporating lighting into the stairs is a nice touch.
Corian is one of the most popular components in RVs today. It comprises countertops, backsplashes, kitchen and bathroom sinks, and, now, entryway stairs. Nathan Davidson confided that this project took two days. Day one was to cut and form the Corian and insert the 12-volt LED light strips and allow the special adhesive to cure overnight. Day two was to polish the stairs and step cover.
Could this be a DIY project?
Possibly, but it requires having adequate workspace, jigs, tools and mastic. For instance, the typical electric blade saw is not recommended for this. You’d need a triple chip blade made of tungsten carbide to cut evenly. And Dupont recommends using their joint adhesive even though epoxy glue has been effectively used. After allowing the glue to set overnight, the polishing of the Corian also requires an effective sander with different grit paper for that glistening surface when finished.
According to Nathan, who has years of experience working with Corian, day one took about six hours. Also, you should know how to wire in the 12v light strips from the new stairs to the original sidewall light outlets. Even with the cost of materials rising significantly and six-plus hours of labor, the project cost these owners $1,300 and spending one full day and night outside of their motorhome.
Worth the investment?
If it’s worth the investment is up to you to decide. But since your entryway stairs are the first thing you and others see when you enter your RV, having them look nice will instantly spiff up your whole RV. If your RV is looking dirty and dated, this could be a great first step in fixing it up.
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There are materials other than Corian, that would provide durability, and skid resistance. Some diesel pushers are near their weight rating on the steering axle. How much extra weight is cantilevered out in front of the steering axle with this “improvement”? In addition, any moisture between your shoe and the Corian step cover, and you will go slip slidin’ away!
Looks good, but I agree with previous posts about a slip and fall down the stairs waiting to happen. Also, what good is an article such as this that most common RV owners don’t have jigs and mastic and any of the other equipment needed no less the skill to do the job?
I’ll stick with my carpet cut-outs that I can easily remove to clean, shake out dust and debris they catch, and simply change out when they get too cruddy-looking.
I smell a Corian sales job.
Sides and front of stairs I can understand this material being used. Nice reflection for lights too. But slippery surface on the top of the steps is potentially unsafe. Definitely need something non-slip on tops of those stairs!
Also I cannot imagine that smooth of a surface trapping any dirt, which is part of the reason for stairs to be covered…to reduce tracking of dirt inside.
Add high-end rubber-backed individual carpet treads perhaps? They can be removed and cleaned easily.
Looks like an accident waiting to happen for this ungraceful old gal. Plus I would be mopping up dog and human tracks all the time. To each their own. Enjoy it!
So I wonder what happens to dirt tracked in? The mod looks nice but resembles a kitchen counter top- not rv stairs.
I’ve been in the flooring installation trade since 1982. I remodeled the entry for friends of ours and I used a commercial-grade rubber stair tread for the treads, wrapped the sides and risers with a luxury vinyl plank floor product (which is waterproof) with a landing area at the top. I wrapped the top edge with a matching rubber bullnose stair edge to cover the raw edges. was hoping I could post a photo here, it turned out really nice, and no danger of getting slippery when wet.
My class A had a very ugly entranceway with black metal on the sides and risers and rubber stair threads, it just looked ugly! I purchased some laminate flooring that closely matched the color of our floors, some black anodized angle and flat aluminum from on line, and a gray colored walk off carpet from a big box store. The laminate was cut and glued to the sides and risers of the entrance with the aluminum angle around the top. (Install the riser first and cut the sides a slight bit longer and file a sharp edge where it meets the risers to give a tight fit without an ugly gap and seam). I cut the walk off carpet to fit the stairs retaining the rubber edge and singed the cut ends. I installed the angle and flat aluminum on the stair threads leaving a slight space under it by using a few brass washers glued under where the screws come through. The rubber edge of the carpet easily slips under the aluminum making removing it easy to wash off when it gets too dirty vacuum.
It looks great. It also looks like a place where an old guy like me, or my dog, could easily slip and fall, so I’d just have to cover it with carpet. It’s not that much trouble to vacuum once in a while.
Slipping was the first thing that came to my mind too!
Me too!