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RV boo-boos: Motorhome versus block wall—You’ll be surprised

By Russ and Tiña De Maris
4
sewer hose cut

When a motorhome took on a block wall in Lake Havasu City, AZ, the results were surprisingly in favor of the motorhome! Click on the image margin arrows for more photos.


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Russ and Tiña De Maris
Russ and Tiña De Maris
Russ and Tiña went from childhood tent camping to RVing in the 1980s when the ground got too hard. They've been tutored in the ways of RVing (and RV repair) by a series of rigs, from truck campers, to a fifth-wheel, and several travel trailers. In addition to writing scores of articles on RVing topics, they've also taught college classes for folks new to RVing. They authored the book, RV Boondocking Basics.

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4 Comments

Ace
3 years ago

I am a structural engineer; the photo of the CMU (block) wall being destroyed with minimal damage to the motorhome does not surprise me. The wall is nothing more than stacked units with minimal mortar at the joints (which is weak in lateral force). A reinforced wall has cells filled with a concrete mix and is continuously reinforced with vertical and horizontal reinforcement. An unreinforced CMU wall “Looks” good but is fairly weak when subjected to a horizontal force.

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Gregory Illes
3 years ago

I agree with Ace. If that wall had rebar and concrete poured into the hollow centers, the results would have been vastly different.

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Thomas D
3 years ago

The good ol days when cars had steel in them. Rv’s too
Looks like about a 4 or 6″ wall max. Not much to hold it together . That little reinforcing mesh doesn’t do much.
By the way, does mortor keep the block together or does it keep it apart?

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Tommy Molnar
3 years ago

How did that even happen?

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