Painting RV Interiors

As a follow-up to my last post I thought I'd share the lessons learned from our little DIY, specifically, how I painted the walls.

We used Dutchman paint, latex. All the paint was semi-gloss except for the grey, that was satin finish. If I could do it all again I would have gotten all satin. The semi-gloss is a little too reflective and took a lot more coats.

I read blogs online to prepare, and every one of them said something different. For vinyl walls the most complicated method said to wash, sand with fine sand-paper, wash again, dry, prime, paint. For the living room slide-out I did just that. Then I realized that me sanding and washing the entire camper myself would take forever. I didn't feel like the sanding was doing much anyway, so I skipped that step for the rest.

I washed all the walls with soap and water, primed, and painted. I did two coats of primer on the slide, and one coat of primmer on all the rest... I don't think two coats made a difference.

The green paint took FOREVER. I probably did at least four coats of the green, and touch-ups on spots where you could still see through. I started painting the green with a bristle paint brush, then switched to a flat sponge type one. The sponge one covered way faster and thicker. The rest of the colors only took two coats using a sponge brush/roller.

I didn't tape a thing, just free handed the trim and floor/ceiling.

I will say it's not exactly like painting a wall in a house. The paint seems a little more susceptible to scratches and such. We have the leftover little tubs of paint to make touch ups as necessary.

General Tips:
Use a sponge roller/brush/flat brush thing (don't know the proper term)
Carry a rag with you that has soapy water on it to fix your mistakes
Use an artists paintbrush to get into the small spaces (around outlets, doors, and windows)
Don't be afraid to lay it on thick, but not too think that it creates drips