I went to see this trailer recently and was given the job after my bid. All the damage you see was caused by the sun dry rotting a 1/2 wide seam of caulk where the rubber roof meets the fibre glass wrap around. Unfortunately, a 7 dollar tube of caulk, ended up costing thousands. The owner had removed most of the interior then decided to have me finish the project. Un-fortunately there are no "before pictures", all I have is what you see below. Please see my other albums by using the pull down menu at the top of the page. Thanks for stopping by. Dan Hellier, NC RV Solutions www.ncrvsolutions.com www.trickmytrailer.org
Date(s): July 26, 2009. Album by Dan Hellier. Photos by Dan Hellier. 1 - 173 of 173 Total. 721 Visits.
1 Needs all new framework below window, besides floor repair.
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4 gas heater removed to f.o.m. (facilitate other maintenance) A little aviation jargon there.
5 bed frame removed, and standing on it's side.
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11 Additional water damage in the rear of the trailer, under a bunk, just adjacent to the hot water heater. This area still needs to be opened up for inspection.
12 Close up of the existing paint scheme. Don't think I'll be able to match that. If I could, I might quit my day job.
13 August 1st No wonder the airconditioner vibrates. This was a first for me for seeing this. I see them everywhere else, just not in the "squirrel cage"
14 Another one on the coils
15 Yet another down in the water trough
16 All tucked in for the month.
17 Couldn't quite fit my 30 foot prowler with the 28 foot Sprindale in this picture.
18 Had to come back quite a ways to get past all the rot, also I needed extra space to be able to slide doublers in under existing floor all the way back to the next cross beam.
19 I'm trying to keep this floor area repair relatively small. Unfortunately the a small amount of rot does extend under this cabinet. I will just passify it, and it should be fine.
20 Haven't got to this part yet, maybe tomorrow.
21 De-humidifier
22 August 2nd. Replacing some of the rotten beams. Notice all the others are painted with Kilz primer which should prevent any more Mold. Any areas of small rot were ground out, the area splashed with methyl ethyl ketone, and primer applied.
23 After Kilz was added to the sides of each beam, if you look closely you'll see each beam has a doubler of 1x3 stapled to it. Each doubler starts & stops on a metal crossing beam underneath the bagging.
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25 This area was the worst. It will remain open a few days to get it dried out.
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27 My mess. By the way, all the junk on the counter is on protective wood.
28 The more or less big picture
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30 Left side.
31 Right hand side.
32 Another look at the beam doublers
33 August 3rd, deteriorated plastic plumbing vents.
34 New metal vents. They'll probably outlast the rest of the trailer.
35 Very hard to see, but this is where all the damage began. This joint is an annual critical item to be inspected.
36 A little closer to give you an idea. Look for the tear right where the shadow is. It looks like this pretty much all the way across.
37 New epdm rubber sealant.
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39 Base of T.V. antennae sealant cracked open.
40 Re-sealed antennae base as well as seal all the bolt heads. If you look in the previous picture, they're pretty far gone. I tried to protect them before they get to the point they rust in half.
41 Re-sealed along rear edge.
42 Wasn't in too bad of shape, sealed anyway.
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44 6 gallon water heater. Won't know the functional status of it until it's put back in. Drain plug is rusted in place. Steel plug in aluminum boss, not worth the chance of damage by forcing it. Typically these plugs are plastic or brass for that reason.
45 1st pictures of rear bunk area which I have yet to open up. Picture taken through the hole where water heater was.
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47 Some water was spilled here when tank was removed. I had to remove the lines with 6 gallons of water wanting to come out since I couldn't drain it.
48 August 4th. Had to remove this beam as it was mostly gone.
49 This is looking at the beam in the very rear of the trailer that runs parallel to the bumper. The gas line for the water heater is in the front of the picture.
50 same rear beam.
51 This is looking at the beam under the wall below the bottom window (emergency escape window)
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53 This is the beam where the hot water heater protrudes to the outside.
54 beam again below right hand wall
55 Most of the rotted wood ground away from the beam below the hot water heater hole.
56 Rear beam removed. This is going to be kind of a major splice because the only steel beams underneath run from tail to nose. It will be a "double sandwich" type repair.
57 I can't believe I got this far without bleeding. Maybe because I was faithful about wearing my gloves. The customer is going to have to pay for this. I charge $100.00 for a pint of blood. That's actually a good price in today's world.
58 Rear Corner, this is going to be my major challange bringing this together structurally. Did I spell that right? This program doesn't have spell check.
59 Cutting a pattern for the repair in the area of the heater. The board will bridge between 2 metal stringers (cross beams).
60 A better look at the pattern to see how it has to be long enough to reach both stringers.
61 August 5th. This is the final product of the pattern in the previous picture. This time it's a 2x6 which reaches between the metal stringers. When I installed it, I was somewhat but not totally suprised to see the wall was sagging 1/4 inch on side near cabinet, and a full half inch on the forward side.
62 Here's where I had to bring the wall back where it belongs to finish the repair. These jacks will stay in place until wall panels & all are done.
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64 Sealing the remaining wood after any rot or soft spots were ground off.
65 This is a view from underneath the trailer looking up though the insulation bag which I have cut open to F.O.M. What's primed here is the bottom side of the original floor underneath the kitchen cabinets.
66 August 6, continuation of the repair in the area of the heater. If you look in this picture you'll see two bolts that are attached to a stainless steel plate underneath the trailer to help hold this joint in place. There is one on the other end of the repair as well.
67 My Masterpiece ! I should have been an artist. Oh well, at least it's thoroughly insulated. "You are Da Man!!!!!!!!!!!" View Comments...
68 Another shot of the repair to include new wood around the heater exhaust port.
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85 August 07, 2009 Water-proof tape, the real sticky stuff, to close up the insulation bag at the repair area.
86 Patched one small hole R/H side just forward of main door.
87 Tomorrow the floor goes in, hopefully most of the walls as well. Stay tuned.
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90 August 8, going in with the floor and making the wall pieces.
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92 Making the large lap joint for the rear corner repair.
93 Lap joint placed together for the picture to show the corner over lap.
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95 New Beam, the inner frame runs directly under this beam, so there's no problem with support here.
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97 Doubler on each beam, followed by a "tripler" to tie all the load bearing together.
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103 August 9, had to fight with the hot water heater a little to get it working again. Here you see the burner tube feed line disconnected after blowing it out.
104 Not a pretty sight, but it turns out this is a steel tank, not aluminum like I expected. This burner tube serves no purpose other than a place for the flame, so this rust is the norm for a steel tank.
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106 Waa Laah I finally got it lit.
107 The bay is all ready for the heater, complete with all new coin matting that I had left over from another project.
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109 Earlier in the day, I pressure tested the tank to 70 psi. Initially the relief valve was leaking air, but I excersised it a few times & it stopped.
110 New two sided sticky tape.
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112 There it is. After all that I closed the door & the little handle broke off in my hand, go figure. Oh well, the big part is done.
113 Water connections carefully tightened to seat seals, and pipe threads were taped as an extra precaution.
114 The big picture. All the wood is in, as well as all the vertical trim. We're ready for primer, then paint. "Excellent Work Dan, you are the arti..." View Comments...
115 Front wall. Later in the evening my wife removed those stubborn stickers for me.
116 Left hand forward wall. I'm sure most of you figured that one out.
117 Transition area where original large repair was.
118 R/H front side. I almost forgot to cut a hole for the receptacle, but I remembered at the last minute when I pulled the panel out slightly to peek where the beams were.
119 August 11, All the walls were primered last night with Kilz, but I neglected to take any pictures. So these are the actual paint pictures.
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124 August 19, well, back at it after a few days away. Notice anything different? "Looks different, huh?" View Comments...
125 Yep, the awning is off. Turns out the rear support arm handle is broken. I have some others around, just need to drill out the rivet & replace the handle.
126 New stainless door holder
127 I'm guessing this picture is out of sequence. Oh well, I'm too tired to move it.
132 Starting to remove all the staples to get ready to re-install everything.
133 8-21-2009 Removed the broken handle for replacement.
134 Broken handle on top.
135 New (used) handle.
136 New 75 ampere hour deep cycle battery.
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138 Taking out the old fan switch and installing new switch.
139 New switch installed, and new crank handle installed.
140 August 22, 2009 Amid torrential down pours, thanks to Hurricane Bill, I did get some items placed in the interior.
141 The bottom piece of this cabinet was destroyed by the water damage. I was able to close this in with 3 smaller pieces. Yep 3 pieces, bet you can't see them, at least not in the picture.
142 Even showing a close up. Still looking? Look where the wood grain shifts about center bottom section below left hand door. I'm good, but I'm not perfect. lol
143 Initial placement of the heater.
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145 I beefed up the couch frame. Before it got most of it's support from the partition wall. It still will be attached to the wall, but can stand alone as far as weight bearing. I know these two frame sections look like they're hooked together, but they're not. I still have to put the faces of the 2 walls in after I paint them.
146 Old fabric is off. If the weather co-operates tomorrow, I hope to put the new on.
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148 August 23, 2009 Getting the heater wired back together.
149 Primering & painting the 4 panels for each side of the partition walls.
150 Not happy about this. I don't know if was damaged during the work. Hopefully it was, because I would hate to think it came from the factory this way. I didn't know it was like that until I pulled off the black sheathing.
151 My small tubing cutter.
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153 3/8 angle compression fitting.
154 Finished repair with two compression fittings. I bled the gas lines,checked the repair for leaks, and fired up the heater. It works good, o.k. for return to service.
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156 The other cabinet going back in.
157 O.K. This time I'm showing the joining seam.
158 Couch is back in.
159 First look at the finished partition walls.
160 Couch placed before partition wall was anchored to make sure it would open up without any obstructions.
161 Back (bedroom) side of wall.
162 Bedroom side short partition wall. Looks like my helper stuck his foot in my picture.
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166 Bed top with gas shocks installed. What a pain that was. It took a lot of adjustments to get it just right.
167 August 29, The finishing touches. Awning, and did the wheel bearings. Trailer is due for pick up tomorrow. I cut this one a little close. A big thank you to my helper Glenn for helping me complete this on time.
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169 All nice & shiny after it's bath.
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172 August 30, Show time. The customer will be here shortly.
173 Last & final picture. Trailer was picked up today, and I'm happy to say that the owners were very pleased. The End !
It looks great...who would realize all the repair work that went under the surface... - Mary Ann H., Mon, 31 Aug 2009 6:34AM
Steve's camper is looking so good!!! You are doing a great job. They are looking forward to getting it back! - Max & Glenda Skinner, Wed, 26 Aug 2009 8:11PM
LOOKING GOOD DAN, VERY CLEAN LOOK!! - RON JOHNSON, Mon, 24 Aug 2009 7:10PM
