Your doing great!!! We can see hubby has a good handle on the repairs and a well stocked workshop.
Catching up on some of your questions.
The roof seam at the back wall, it sounds like you found a workaround for this however I'll pass along what I know. I myself have never had that specific roof seam apart.
I contacted one of our members who took his entire roof off of his 1983 Sunline which had a metal flat roof. He rebuilt it to have a pitched roof. I was hoping he may have been into that seam but in his case, he just cut the old roof off at the seam as he was totally replacing the roof and not using the old metal. So no luck finding out how that seam came apart.
That good pic you posted makes me "think" it might be a double seam with maybe butyl caulk as a sealing compound between the metal. Meaning, the main roof part has a formed metal seam and folded over cover hook. They pump a sealant (maybe butyl caulk) into the cover hook area and then the rear wall sheet also has a cover hook on it. These 2 folded cover hooks get crimped tight and it creates a watertight joint. That is a "guess" at this point. Hoping maybe one of our club members who have had that seam apart can help fill in the missing pieces.
I found these common metal joints on the web.
FABRICATION OF EDGES, JOINTS, SEAMS, AND NOTCHES Scroll down to "Figure 2-65.-Common sheet-metal seams." The grooved flat lock seam looks close but again, your roof pic shows 2 humps so to speak and not one. So it may not be that lock seam.
If the roof seam is actually folded and locked like that, it is not going to come apart easy and it may not go back together and be watertight. If the joint shows no signs of leaking, a work around may be the right thing to do in this case.
Next topic, the walls and floor. Yes, from this pic and your description Sunline changed the methods over the years. Yours does show the side wall "not" on top of the floor, more like to was screwed into the side of the flooring assembly. I do not know what year they changed to having the wall assembly rest on top of the floor like in my T1950 2004 camper.
In your case, you will just rebuild it like they originally made it. It works OK, Sunline may have just found it easier (continuous improvement) to change the methods to a wall resting on the top of the floor.
To the metal corner seams. You said here
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Is it normal to feel regretful for taking it apart? It was so much fun not long ago To make matters worse...we have no idea if there's a way to work around the missing folds of corner aluminum. I read somewhere that's a really bad thing. Please tell me that's not so
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First, it is common to find yourself in "Oh my, what did we get into..." Don't despair. You're doing really good work and all things on your Sunny are repairable. Your husband can get through this, we can see has good skills and can do this. We can help from hear as we can with some of the "how to" and what material and where to buy if needed. The material cost is normally not that high, however it will and does take a good amount of time to get through all the work. The enjoyment will come when you're in the campground looking back at this and admiring your good work that you know is done right.
The corner folds, I'm assuming you mean on your camper, the side walls siding does not extend further than the end of the wall and then fold over onto the rear wall area? And then the rear siding goes over the top of the folds? Like this:
Is that what you are describing? I would of thought your 1992 Sunline would of had them by then. However if they do not, it is not the end of the world. There are a lot of campers built without that folded corners. I just helped my neighbor fix some lower wall rot on his year 2000 Coachmen camper. They had no corner folds. All the windows and cargo doors etc only have 1 flange to seal with and not a double folded seal.
And on my 2004 Sunline T310SR, the slide room has no corner folds yet the main camper does. See here;
The folded corners are a good thing, they help make it take longer for a water infection to get in. But I can attest to on my 2004 T1950, water came in the corner with folded tabs due to failing putty tape. Putty tape is the issue.
If yours is made without the folded side tabs, the key to the repair is using good quality butyl tape (not putty tape) in the corners, putting extra tape in the siding depressions, and then once the corner is fully installed, using Dicro non sag (no leveling) caulking to seal the exposed edge of butyl tape to create a double seal.
These 2 links can help on how to seal the corners. These will drop you in the middle of other repairs, but the link starts where windows and corners are cleaned up and new butyl tape applied.
http://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f7...tml#post131768
http://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f7...tml#post135419
http://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f7...y-17444-6.html
Here is how to do the Dicor caulking to create the secondary seal.
http://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f7...tml#post137746
Next topic:
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Originally Posted by Withasmile
Made great progress today. It sure does help that I'm able to get around better! My husband and father jacked the rear up today and we were able to put in an entire new rear joist. The middle third of the joist next to it was ok so we did some sistering. We would've liked to replace that whole joist too, but removing the water heater seems too difficult for our skill level. I wonder if there's a way to lift it without removing it so we can get that damp OSB and insulation out of underneath it, at least. Most of the replacement floor 2x3s are down, but not screwed in place under the shower area.
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The water heater, if you need to remove it to get to the floor under it, it is not that hard to remove the water heater. With all the work you have already done, removing and installing a water heater is no more or less complex. Here are the steps you can review to see if you can/want to do this.
- Unhook the piping on the back side that is now exposed with the rear wall off. And unhook and mark any wiring.
- Outside the camper, open the water heater fold down door, unhook the gas line. Tape off the end of the open line and the fitting on the gas valve to keep dirt out. Push the copper gas line into the camper and out of the metal housing.
- You will see a series of screws around the outside perimeter of the heater flange where it seals to the siding. Take all those screws out.
- Using a heat gun, warm the entire outer flange where the screws where. Keep the heat gun moving so it will not burn the paint or siding. You are softening the putty tape that seals the siding to the heater flange.
- Using a very dull putty knife (no sharp edges, grind off if needed) work the knife into the putty and gently pry. You can pull on the entire heater now and the putty tape seal will start to let go. Heat more as needed. The entire water heater will come right out of the side of the camper.
The water heater is no harder than doing a window, cargo hole or entry door other than there is some piping and maybe some wiring to unhook pending the model heater you have. After you do your first heater, may take you 45 minutes, the average time to take one out can be 15 to 25 minutes.
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Quick question: if the OSB under the vinyl flooring is damp, should it all be cut out and replaced or just if it's rotted out?
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How far to go in one of these repairs is always a judgment call. Questions come up some which are; How long am I going to keep the camper? How much work will it take? Will I have a good sound repair when I am done? I have the camper all apart now, why not fix it all? Can this dry out or do I have to replace it?
Not being able to see what you are up against, I'll give you some things to look at and think about to help you make your judgment call.
Water and the OSB board used in the campers do not play well together. How bad the OSB gets depends on how much water and how long it was there. Moisture first starts swelling the thickness and affecting the glue in the OSB. How much swell and how much glue damage all depends on the amount of moisture and how long it has been that way.
When the swell gets to be a lot, 1/16 to 1/8" or more swell in thickness, then the water has penetrated a fair amount of the board. The glue is the first to be weakened. When the glue gets too weak, it lets go of the grip on the chips that hold the board together and the board starts to separate. It structurally then is comprised. Over time the wood chips rot and the glue even further deteriorates to the point it is holding nothing together.
That said, it comes back to how infected is the OSB? On my 2004 T1950 repair I have all stages of OSB death. The real bad has to be replaced. If the OSB is affected but is still structurally sound, it can be dried out, treated and used without replacing.
I have part of my bathroom floor like this. Using a moisture meter I can scan through the vinyl and through the entire floor thickness. The wood is sound, there is no flex, not much if any swell, but there was higher moisture readings. Here is the meter
http://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f7...per-17613.html
Here is the area I'm talking about. This link will drop you to the right page showing the bathroom area with high readings.
http://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f7...tml#post137665
I was able to open up both ends of the floor joists to let it air out. Pulled all the damp insulation out and during the warmer months of the year, let it dry out to 0% confirmed by the meter. There was a white fungus of something under the floor. Getting enough air to it, enough temperature and time it has dry out. I will treat that bottom of the floor area with Rot Dr. CPES to kill any dry rot fungus and it will stiffen the floor some too. I do this so it will not start dry rot later on after the repair is done.
If your floor is structurally sound, but damp and you can lift the vinyl and get any damp insulation out to let it dry out, you stand a lot better chance of good outcome. Treating the surface after it is dried out will help keep any dry rot from comeing back later. If you have a moisture meter, it can help guide you when dried out really comes. It is hard to tell wood is wet by only feel sometimes unless it is really wet. When you put the vinyl back down and close it up, any drying from that point forward will be very slow. If the air can get to it, it will dry out.
Hope all this helps. Keep at it, you are doing great!
Thanks
John
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