Leak ? OH NO ..

[sarahcamping]

Hi.. just noticed inside of my 2004 T1950 a possible water leak.. Inside front of camper where the carpet goes up on wall about 4 inches.. then the wall paper... ( behind the upholstered chair ) wall paper is wrinkling.. URGH... feels Soft and spongy !! NO one has time for this .. but we truly have NO money... we looked outside and noticed the caulking on edge of camper is cracked... front / door side seam... what is involved.... I have NO idea how to even take off the carpet to look at it... afraid of what we will see....

Thoughts ?? we have never pulled apart our camper...

Thinking we should just carefully pick at the caulking and reseal it ??

I originally posted this in TT section.. but thought it might fit better here...

[JohnB]

Hi Sarah,

Sorry to hear about your leak. Have to confirmed it to be a wet wall?

If the wall is wet, for the long term the wet inside the wall will need to addressed. The worst case, the wall will need to come apart, dry out wet insulation, treat the wood to stop fungus rot and fix the leak source correctly. While that sounds really bad... what little bit of the pic’s we can see and what little we know at this point, it may not be that bad. You have no cabinets in this area which helps.

Is hubby handy with wood tools? These campers are very fixable with wood working tools and wood working knowledge. Or do you have a friend family member handy?

First thing to do is figure out, if we can, how bad it is before we get into taking the wall apart. Sometimes we get lucky and can sneak an inspection camera to figure out the extent of the damage and then others time, well you have to pull it apart to figure it out.

Can you take a few more pics;

· Outside wall showing the siding from the front to the wheels?
· Outside go up on the front of the roof area with a step ladder and take pics of the roof seam where that corner molding runs from the roof, down the side of the camper and then to the bottom of the camper in the gold siding?
· Inside standing back several feet, a few shots so we can see the entire wall from ceiling to floor?

I do not know your layout exactly but do know some about how your model year is made. Odds are very high the leak source is the corner molding and the putty tape. The putty tape dried up, cracks are already in your pics, heavy rain and or roof water coming off the gutter rail came down the side of the camper and worked its way in through the corner molding. This is a common TT water intrusion point.

Pending your pics and where we may be able to get in and look, it may be easier to remove some siding and fix this from the outside in. The “belief” is the corner molding seal is bad and that corner molding would need to some off to correct it. Putting a bead of caulk only is not going to fix this for the long term. If it not that hard to take the siding off once the corner molding is off and put it back on with little damage to anything. I took a good part of my slide apart and put it back together and one would never know it was repaired.

Inside is not so easy as it is glued and stapled. While the wall paneling may need to come off, we do not know that yet.

As fyi, the rug board is held on with a ton of screws. The square bit heads are buried in the carpet. If you dig you can find them and once the last screw is out, (there may be 15 to 20 of them….) the rug board will flop right off. Taking the rug board off will not let the inside paneling come up easy as the inside paneling is still glued and staples to the wall studs. The road board is a protector for the wall that something does not hit the wall paneling. If the rig board is wet, then take it off now, to not let it fester.

Some how, tarp or temporary cover the entire front corner molding outside to stop any new water from getting in. I am going camping and won’t be back until Sunday night. In the repairs section I have a long post with a bunch of pics in it taking my slide apart. It shows the corner moldings and siding removal. Your gold siding comes off at the bottom and then works up the side of the camper. This should help you read up on the molding and siding part. I’m out of time right now to find it.

Be back on Sunday.

Hope this helps

John

[JohnB]

I found it quick,

This will show what you are getting into taking corner moldings and siding off. The gold siding on your camper will come off 1st, after the corner molding is lifted. And pending the damage you may not need to take all of the corner molding off, only lift the bottom few feet.

http://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f7...age-10695.html

Hope this helps

John

[sarahcamping]

OMG I am seriously moved that a total stranger would take SOOO much time to write all that you did to another stranger.. I SO love these forums.... THANK YOU THANK YOU .. I am actually more handy than hubby... but the idea of taking off exterior panels scares me !! and really would not attempt. I am heading out the door for work, but will take a quick look at your link.... I am HOPING it's not wet, just a buckle.. but .. it did feel soft.. we had never moved that chair at ALL... (and have since replaced it with a kitchen chair.. easier to eat at table with... )

THANK YOU again... I so appreciate the time... WE had a tarp all winter ... and just went in to check out camper..we are heading to PA next weekend.. thinking a squirt of sealant ?? near the potential cracking in caulking might help.. if it's clearly a leak... a LOT of blowing wind / lots of snow.. who knows... FINGERS CROSSED !!!
Again.. thank you John !!!!
Sarah
Happy Camping this weekend !!

[JohnB]

Sarah,

First off you are not a stranger. You are fellow camper and better yet, a Sunline Club member. Being one or both of them makes it worth lending a helping hand where we can.

When you find out if the spot is a wet spot, let's revist. Squirting sealent in from the outside, heads up, do not use silicone caulk. This is not a good place for silicone and when it breaks down, then the correct sealants will no longer stick as the silicone adhears to the metal and stops most anything else from sticking.

If you have some Dicro non leveling (non sag) roof sealant, that will help stop new water from getting in, however the wet in the wall will still be there and will need to be addressed long term.

https://dicorproducts.com/catalog/ro...-lap-sealants/

You can buy Dicor on line, Amazon, camping world, or many RV places even.

I saw that putty tape cracking a few years ago on mine. I noticed it when it just started. I masken taped the camper and Dicor'ed the entire edge, front and side, roof to floor. The putty tape used is not great for long term and the front camper seals are known for water entry. Some day I may end up taking the corners off and redo the seal with butly sealing tape. The Dicor is holding up well and can be removed and more put on if needed. This is the same sealent used on the roof. Flexes, adheres to rubber and metal, takes road vibration and you can get it off. However, it does not last forever so I keep an eye on it every time I wash the camper.

Like on the roof, after a few years time, be on the lookout for hair line splits in the sealents on the camper, everywhere. Windows, roof, sides etc

Good luck

John

[sarahcamping]

To JohnB...
First off you are not a stranger. You are fellow camper and better yet, a Sunline Club member. Being one or both of them makes it worth lending a helping hand where we can. THANKS....
I am going to continue to research ... and then enjoy our vacation.. and THEN (possibly) jump in with eyes shut !! I am hoping that i will continue to get the help I need on here...
I am feeling pretty confident that I will...