Since it’s been a full five years since we’ve been full-time in our home on wheels, I decided it’s time to give it a full post all its own. I’m going to go room by room, show then and now pics, tell you all the things we’ve done to it, and talk about would this one be the one we would get again if going back in time was a thing.

Before I get into it – I want to give credit for the idea of this post to my good friend and fellow blogger, Tracy. She did a similar post about her 5 year old Open Range, and I thought – that’s something I should do! Here’s a link to her post in case you are considering an Open Range: 5 Year Open Range. What I love about her RV is it’s a front living room!

I’d also like to mention we do have a full solar system on board. We will be doing a separate post just about it. Be on the lookout!

The outside of our rig, which has full body paint, finished with a clear coat, has held up very well. When we take the time to wash and wax it, which we don’t do often enough, it still shines like a new penny. While when looking at our build sheet, and trying to decide if full body paint is worth the $10,000’ish investment, we are as shocked as you are when we answer yes, yes it is. While we know lots of people who have decals, and most have held up well, our own previous experience with them left us not wanting to go that route again. Keep in mind, we didn’t choose this, we purchased our rig off the lot and it just came with it. Having said that, we are extremely happy our home has this option. Having had it for over 5 years, I’d say its mandatory. I know that’s a big word, but it’s true – mandatory!

While on the topic of paint, our first major repair was to the driver side body, including paint. Bill had an argument with a pin-pad at a campground gate and lost – big time! I posted about it here: Collision Repair

The repair is 5 years old this month and it is holding up great! Bill says he can see it, but I can’t, even when looking for it. I’d challenge anyone else to find it.

Outside maintenance items include keeping the rig clean and waxed, maintaining the running gear (wheel bearings, shackles, leaf springs, shocks, hangers, ect.), and inspecting/adusting/cleaning the brakes. We’ve already done a detailed post here: Repacking Bearings and Shackle Report. We’ve also replaced our tires, upgrading from G rated to H rated tires. You can read about that here: Tire Replacement. The tires now have just over 16,000 miles on them and they are holding up great! Bill says they will time-out way before they wear-out; he’s hoping to get about six years.

Another major repair we’ve had was to our bedroom slide floor. The short version is there was a missing area of silicone caulk between the slide wall and slide wall trim that allowed water in and we had some rot. You can read all about it here: Bedroom Slide Floor Repair. The repair has held up well for two years now. The above-linked post was added to the Heartland Owners Forum in the slide repair section.

Our living room air conditioner had to be replaced. You can read about that here: Replacing Living Room A/C

Another item Bill replaced was our water heater, info on that can be found here: Replace Water Heater

On the coldest day of the year, the control board on our furnace decided to die and needed to be replaced. That is posted about here: Brrr… Replacing Furnace Mother Board

One outside option we would have managed differently sooner would have been the bicycle hitch on the back of the 5er. It came with a 1 1/4″ receiver and is rated up to 300 pounds. After losing 2 bike racks, damaging our set of bikes the first failure and destroying them the second failure, I followed behind Bill with my car to watch what was going on. Too much bounce. So, while both racks were “back of RV” rated, the amount of bounce the initial hitch allowed was contributing to the failures. Before leaving with our new bikes and rack (courtesy of Swagman), Bill had the hitch reinforced. Now we have only minimal bounce and haven’t had an issue since, and that was 2 1/2 years ago. Knock on wood. Post that talks about it: Strengthening Bike Hitch

You may recall we lost a slide topper in CO last summer. It broke off in a prolonged strong gust of wind, even after I pulled in the slide. It banged on our roof, breaking our bathroom skylight (thank goodness only the outside) and also broke the bedroom air conditioner cover. Bill kept the actual slide mechanism and fixed it himself (well – with some help from Pat and Red), which saved us a bunch of money. He also had kept the old cover from when he replaced the living room air conditioner and used it to replace the broken one, saving us more money. Have I mentioned lately how glad I am to have a personal handy-man?

Before I move inside, another outside feature we have is an outside TV and stereo. We would definitely not ordered these items, but and while we rarely watch TV outside, we do use the stereo quite a bit. Both work very well, although we did have to replace the TV while it was still under warranty. Bill spoke to Heartland and after learning how much they would allow, we just bought one, Bill installed it and submitted the receipt for reimbursement. Another awesome thing about having an outside TV is they automatically add a second awning, which we LOVE having. Not sure I’d call it mandatory, but well, almost. It provides a lot of shade to the dining/living room area inside, which makes a big difference on hot days.

Heading inside, we have fold-up stairs, which initially were great. Lots of rigs come with three steps, but we have four. The bottom two aren’t completely level anymore, and they are starting to become a potential trip hazard. I find myself telling everyone as they leave to be careful. We almost bought a used aluminum set at the Heartland Owners Rally last year (the couple selling them has upgraded to MORryde steps) but they were literally 1/2” too big. I’m sure they will be replaced soon.

When you first walk into our home, immediately on the left is our dining area. When we first moved into the RV, we would use the dining table and chairs for dinner. It’s something we always did at home and I wanted to continue to do that. We used the leaf (which conveniently self-stores in the table) for company a couple of times. Well, that didn’t last very long. Pretty soon, the dining table became an almost constant stopping place for stuff. You know the stuff I’m talking about: clutter. UGH.

Behind the table and under the window is the cabinet that the outside TV lives in. The cabinet creates a shelf. One of the first things I added to my new home was a vase of pretty wood flowers and one of my candy dishes. They are attached to the shelf with Museum Gel. They ride there all the time and have never come off. (unless I’ve removed them for cleaning and they go right back) This area also attracts clutter, sometimes just a card or two, sometimes more substantial items. Not sure I would get it again.

Our living room came with 2 large comfy recliner chairs. They were swiveling rockers and, even though they were comfy, I didn’t like them for that reason from day one. They were fake leather, and initially looked really nice, but a couple of years in, not so much. A lot of people go to Indiana and get RV specific replacements, made by Lambright or similar. While there is nothing wrong with their furniture, we weren’t prepared to spend that kind of money. Instead, we found ourselves at the nearest Lazy Boy retailer. $1,400 later, we had 2 new real leather rocker recliners – and they don’t swivel! YAY! We’ve had them 1 1/2 years now and they are still awesome! Very comfortable, holding up well!

One of the first things I purchased for our home on wheels was an area rug to add cover and protect the permanent carpet. The carpet is of okay quality, not the best but not the worst. The area rug was bought in Lowes and has held up well, although I am wanting to update it. The carpet on the stairs is showing some normal wear, as it is in the bedroom. Honestly though, it’s holding up better than expected.

While talking about the floor, we have linoleum in our kitchen and bath. It has held up pretty well, with only one small area that the slide caught on and pulled it up. Bill flattened it down as best he could and while I do see it, it isn’t too bad. An area rug mostly covers it.

Moving on to the couch, it is made of the same fake leather the chairs were made of, but since it isn’t used as much, it isn’t in as bad a shape. There are two storage areas built into the couch, the smaller one is where I put some overflow, not used as often, kitchen items, and the larger drawer is where bedding for the air mattress goes. The two little end “table” areas have also become a place for clutter to collect, although they are good for drinks and remotes. When the day comes that the couch needs to be replaced, I’m not sure what we will replace it with yet. We may see what Lazy Boy has, honestly I’m hoping to get another year.

When the couch folds out you find an air mattress. It can be set up with the couch open or removed and placed on the floor, which is mostly what we do with it. It is so much easier to just deflate it, fold it up with the sheets still on it, and lay it on our bed for the day. My kids have slept on it and both say it isn’t bad for an air mattress. Making sure there is some type of guest sleeping will be a major consideration when the couch is replaced.

Next up on our tour is the TV/fireplace/desk area. When we first brought the RV I thought the fireplace was pretty hokey, but then I found out it is a heater! We love it, as it helps keep the living area cozy and warm when needed.

Heartland included a slide-out desk area above the fireplace. Bill had to add hardware so it wouldn’t open during travel after it did a couple of times.

Above the desk is our flat-screen TV. It’s a nice size and works well. It gets strapped in for travel. We love our TV! We also have a DVD player and keep an assortment of our favorite DVD’s on hand, although most of our movies and TV series are saved on an external hard drive to save space.

Next to the TV, we have a large cabinet, a large top area which houses our InstantPot, griddle, air popper, cookie sheets, plastic cafeteria-style trays, cutting boards, etc. Below that the bottom cabinet holds three large drawers inside. The top one holds our glass item, including all glassware, mugs, bowls and 2 sized plates. Bill reinforced the bottom of this drawer since all that glass makes it heavy. Below that one is the pots and pans drawer. We have a full assortment of those items. The bottom drawer holds my collection of plastic bowls.

My stove/oven combo and microwave/convection are next. Both are still fully operational. We do sometimes need to use a flame stick to light the stove and it is showing some wear, but nothing excessive. We added a round 13” pizza stone to the oven almost right away, as I had read that it more evenly distributes the heat. I do believe it helps.
When not in use, or on travel days, we have the pieces of countertop that fit right in.

The RV came with a fake tile backsplash thing. It was not very attractive and was hard to clean. It was only on the back wall, leaving the side of the cabinet wood exposed.

Bill took care of that for me by removing the fake tile thing and covering the entire area with thin glass mosaic tiles. It looks so much better and is so easy to clean! It’s buried in a longer post, but you can find detailed pics here: Backsplash (info/pics about the backsplash is buried in a longer post – just scroll down if you aren’t interested in the rest)

We have an island sink, with cabinet and drawer space. The sink has two basins, one is huge and is used for normal washing, the other is smaller and is where I keep the drainboard. We also have the countertop cut-outs for each side of the sink, and we use the smaller one quite a bit when extra space is needed. One of the cabinets houses garbage can; I love that it’s out of sight. There is ample space for cleaning products directly below the sink. A set of four drawers is also on the island.

I’d like to take a moment to talk about the cabinetry and trim that is throughout the RV. It is real wood, but I will admit not the highest quality. The color of the stain they used is called bordeaux, so it is very dark. It still looks good, with a few areas of exception. Those areas include the tops of the cabinet doors and drawers in the kitchen and bathroom. Bill says we need to get a matching stain stick or pen and it will be good as new – maybe I’ll test that theory before this is published. What has happened is the stain is literally wiped off from cleaning. You won’t find that happening in higher-end RV’s that use better quality wood, but we didn’t pay the high-end RV purchase price, so there’s that.

Other items that are throughout the RV are the windows. We have what is called frameless windows, and ours are dual-pane. We have not had any issues with them at all. Only thing I wish sometimes is that they opened more, letting in more air. They are tinted, providing privacy. They are covered with MCD shades, which are comprised of two shades on each window, one privacy shade and one room-darkening shade. Bill has had to replace one of the shades that wouldn’t retract anymore, and also reinforce the installs on all of them, as not enough clips were used initially.

Next up is our beloved residential refrigerator. Before we looked bought this 5th Wheel, we hadn’t even considered a residential refrigerator, but I am SO HAPPY we have it! It still works and looks great, although the stainless steel isn’t the best quality (which you can tell since magnets will stick to it) and it is hard to keep shiny. The exception on “works great” is the freezer shelves, which don’t stay up on their own anymore; we use tension rods to help them from collapsing. I assume it’s mostly our own fault since we tend to overload the shelves, and they aren’t designed to put up with the abuse of bouncing down the road.

Our next area is our driver side hallway, which is part of the bedroom slide and has two closets.

The first one is our pantry, which started out as just shelves and Bill added drawers to. The shelves were huge and we could put a lot of stuff on them, but seeing what was in the back was a big issue. Since adding the drawers, using the space has improved greatly. He did an awesome job building and installing them! We do need to use a baby deterrent to keep them shut down when we move, but no big deal. They were added summer of 2015 and have held up well. They look professionally done and I almost forgot to mention them as a mod. Adding Drawers in Closet

The second closet is used to hold outerwear, like jackets and stuff. Also, our vacuum is in this closet. Container baskets hold paper plates, bowls and plastic utensils, our small sewing kit, and cat stuff like Callie’s comb, nail cutters, and wipes, are on the single shelf near the top.

The RV came with a Dyson stick vac. We found that after a while it didn’t hold a charge well, and also didn’t pick up cat hair very well, so we opted instead for a Shark Rocket, which we got lots of experience with when working in AK. It works great and stores easily in the closet.

Our bedroom door, which is almost always open, will sometimes shut properly and sometimes won’t. It depends on how level we are. Unless the kids are staying over, it’s always open, so it doesn’t matter.

Our bedroom has several storage areas, including drawers, cabinets, and closets. We also have a built-in safe. The batteries in the safe died a long time ago, so now we have to use the key, no big deal. Some of the trim inside the one closet had come apart a little, but since it’s inside the closet, it hasn’t been a priority to fix.

The closet that is designed for the washer/dryer is my closet and I’ve added a small drawer unit. Bill also has added an additional drawer unit next to his side of the bed that he uses for work clothes and the top comes in handy for holding his coffee in the mornings.

Our storage area under the bed is full of off-season clothes, which are kept in luggage, just in case we need to fly (which we have a couple of times.) Our bedroom TV doesn’t get used very often but still works great when it is turned on.

The bed that came with the RV was a terrible RV king-size (70″ x 80″). When we moved into from the house, we brought our queen-size (60″ x 80″) Sleep Number bed. This meant the platform the bed sits on needed to be cut down. Also, Heartland has a different size platform box for king or queen size beds, so Bill also had to alter the size of the whole platform. That mod added 10″ of room around the bed, which he evenly divided on both sided. HUGE improvement. Unfortunately, my nephew passed away in the middle of Bill doing that mod and we don’t have a post on it.

Also, the bed came with a very ugly bedspread, so I bought a new one. I am currently crocheting a new one and I can’t wait to finish it!

Last but not least is the bathroom. Our pocket door has just recently started coming off the track, Bill thinks replacing a part should fix it.

Fairly early on, Bill replaced the cheap small sink faucet with a nice Moen one, and I love it!

We have a nice size medicine cabinet behind the mirror and good size cabinet below the sink. The corner shower still cleans up nicely and everything works great. The shower door tracks are a pain in the butt to clean, but I do take the time every once in a while to do it. I use Mr. Clean Magic Eraser when the doors are stubborn to clean. The flap on the toilet has never worked the way it should and we just automatically use our foot to push up a little on the pedal. I’m not a huge fan of the plastic seat and would love to get a regular one. Thankfully the bowl itself is porcelain and cleans up like new.

While you can easily click any of the above mentioned links for complete details, the following is a quick glance at costs for mods, repairs and maintenance we’ve done to our home: (please feel free to ask questions in the comments if you need more information)

2014: None

2015:

Bathroom faucet $95 Backsplash 112 Pantry Closet drawers 162 Repack bearings 55 heated hose 51

2016

shackle upgrade $130; wheel bearing maintenance $20; furnace repair $103; 12v light/110v outlet $35; 3 floor registers $26

2017

bike hitch weld $140; anti-rattle device $29; brake/parking LED lights $40; clearance lights $26; H rated tires/17.5″ rims $1900; new TPMS sensors $250; new air conditioner $900; bedroom slide floor repair $46; new hub/stripped bolt $128; weld hanger $100; bypass valve (water heater) $68

2018

new chairs $1500; plastic “sheets” for slide repair $35; replace pig tail $75; add fantastic fan $260; skylight $55; externabond tape $75; 2 new slide toppers/trim $400

2019

macerator pump $78; 100ft power cord $158; hose for macerator $70; slide webbing (hold toppers in wind) $53; repack bearings $30; 50amp extension cord parts $25

Total $7,230

Below I am including some pictures of our home in some of our awesome stops over the past five years! Enjoy!

Well, that’s all folks! To sum it up, we still LOVE our home-on-wheels! Would we buy it again today, knowing what we know now? YES we would! (unless we win the lottery and can afford a New Horizons or similar!) We believe our Landmark has held up very well, especially considering it has over 45,000 miles on it now. We still love the floorplan and haven’t seen any we like better.

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Coming Up: Year 5 Summaries!

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