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Camper repair

hickslawns

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Could easily go in the camper thread or here. Many of us cannot afford or cannot justify a new camper. Along with older campers comes some maintenance. The underside of my fifth wheel has slowly been getting worse. The camper is a 2003 model so I expect a few repairs like this. Here is where I am currently: rotten wood and sticky covering has been removed. I am letting it air out. Tomorrow I intend on purchasing some stainless or diamond plate in the same thickness.

 

hickslawns

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Aluminum would work too. Good idea. Leak was from an old molding which had pulled out some. Once it pulled a little, water got in and it all went to crap from there.
 

5Cent

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Good luck Phil! Please keep this thread updated with pictures, always interesting to see how these things are built.

You think this is isolated to just the outside? Bedroom floor still solid?
 

hickslawns

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Good luck Phil! Please keep this thread updated with pictures, always interesting to see how these things are built.

You think this is isolated to just the outside? Bedroom floor still solid?

Yes. There is a frame work above the area I removed. Floor is above the frame. This is below the frame. Likely a cosmetic piece and way to keep moisture/wind away from the floor in bedroom. I'll take a couple more pics later.
 

5Cent

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Yes. There is a frame work above the area I removed. Floor is above the frame. This is below the frame. Likely a cosmetic piece and way to keep moisture/wind away from the floor in bedroom. I'll take a couple more pics later.

Cool, good to hear. Was the culprit one of those horizontal seals? You ripping all of the insulation out too?
 

hickslawns

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Did not see any insulation. It must be tucked between the black fabric similar to house wrap and the floor boards.

And yes, one of those seals was bad. I replaced it after a year or so of use. It was already sagging at that point. The sag simply got worse in the last year or so because it continued to take on water. In regards to a leak in a camper, this is as "good" of a leak as you can get. Leaks in roof or main flooring require gobs more work to repair.
 

hickslawns

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What's the white/yellow stuff on that OSB?
It is a tiny bit of insulation. I am not sure where it came from. I will look tomorrow. There must be a slight opening where the black mesh house wrap type stuff let it sift through over the years.
 

hickslawns

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No clue where that came from Adam. Appears plenty clean and void of holes. Might have been insulation left from manufacturing facility or something.

Here is where I am. Bought 2 sheets of masonite board like they use in bathrooms. Bought two sheets of same material it previously had. Bought contact cement. Glued them back to back. Tomorrow I will cut to size and mock fit them into place.

Pics are underside of fifth wheel area, and the 4x8 sheets glued together.

 

5Cent

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Cool pictures Phil, thanks for taking and sharing. Looks like a nice straight-forward fix to just enclose that front section. Those steel beams don't look to be showing much surface rust at all:pickle:
 

hickslawns

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First sheet was a pain. Then we figured it out how to make it easier. My dad came over. He made it easier. Love my kids. Love the fact I said "I need 3 kids out here to help fix the camper." Out came three kids no questions asked. Unfortunately, my 12,14,15yr old kids weren't real beneficial. I tried telling them what I needed. With no real world hands on experience, they weren't the best. BUT, this is how we all learn. We all started somewhere. Thank God my dad stopped by.

1130 pm and I am cleaning up the shop. Second piece required half a dozen "just a little more off this edge and that corner" type cuts. Once trimmed accordingly it slid in like a groom on his wedding night. Bam! Done.

Self tapping screws have proved to be a pain. I will need to pre drill each hole to go I to the frame rails and take pics tomorrow. We did wedge one 2x4 with a couple ends screwed onto it in one place where there was no place to screw and we felt we needed support. Sure glad I am close to being done.
 

hickslawns

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Long day yesterday. Finally got a chance to pre drill holes for self tapping screws and secure these pieces.. . . And it starts raining sideways. Went in the house to do paperwork. Came out at 130am to finish it. Took pics today. Hopefully it is well secured. We will find out whenever we pull it down the road.