Water Damage Assessment and Repair

[Thomascine]

Good afternoon,

Just a quick update.

Wallboard went in today and finally got the OSB floor screwed in. Had to wait until I was able to get the wallboard in. I used the same wallboard that SEP used and it is the exact thickness of the original. [emoji3]

Time for some fuel. It just occurred to me that I have not eaten today.

Thanks for looking.

Tommie

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[JohnB]

YEH!!! Doors and now inside walls are appearing!!! Looks good!

Your doing great and getting closer to the end of that tunnel....

Thanks for sharing.

John

[Thomascine]

Good afternoon,

So I had another one of my bright ideas. I'm trying to come up with a solution for the upper corners. I need to fill in the gap. Here is my bright idea. Let me know if you think it'll work.

Thanks,
Tommie


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[JohnB]

OK I figured out the pics...LOL . The gray tarp in the background had me head scratching...

What you are doing is trying to fill the gap between the top angled board and the bottom side of the front siding so the siding will line up. I think we talked on this a little a while back.

This is what Sunline did on my T-1950






Basically they staked up a bunch of 1/8" shims and stapled them in place.

What it looks like you have done is more elegant I must say. It looks like you have carved (sanded) out a shape of "something" to fit in there. The concept of this custom shim is a good one.

What is it made out of though? Is that a piece of pine board ground to shape? If so it will work well and as good as Sunlines stacked shims. Yours will take the load OK.

The only thing I would suggest is when you go to put the screws in, maybe pilot drill the shim with the molding in place to not split the shim. Thin solid wood like that can split easy if it is not 100% sitting flat with ruff screws going through it.

See, trust your instincts. Your doing great!

John

[Thomascine]

Thanks JohnB. It is a piece of pine that I cut out of a piece that had originally been cut for one of the corners but I drilled the holes in the wrong place so it was scrap. I figured since the top side of that piece was already cut to fit that space that I could trim off enough to fill the gap. I actually cut it thicker than what I needed and then use the rotary tool to sand down the inside so it would be a bit smoother, not perfect but it seems to work. I am with you on the pilot holes. I am going to glue them in place until it is ready for screws.

Thank you!!!

Tommie

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[Thomascine]

Good afternoon,

It would seem that I have run into another snag. I brought out one of the Dinettes to check the fit. And it looks like the always be is cut about an inch too short.[emoji30] I can't seem to catch a break! To the right is the vinyl flooring that was in before demo. I thought I had trashed but found it with the dinette seats. Is this still workable or am I looking at replacing the OSB?

Thanks,
Tommie

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[JohnB]

Hi Tommie

If I'm reading your picture right you're about 3/4 of an inch short. Does there happen to be a sister board underneath that OSB piece for support?

If needed you can put a filler strip in there to make the floor level as long as there is structure under the OSB to support the weight above.

Or if there's only one 2 x 2 and you still have at least 3/4 of an inch of support under the OSB that'll still be OK

Hope this helps

John

[Thomascine]

Thanks JohnB,

I had actually started thinking along those lines but with 1x2s. After reading your response, I think I may actually have an extra 2x2. I will take a look when I get home this evening.

Thanks again.

Tommie

[johnnybgood]

Originally Posted by JohnB

This is what Sunline did on my T-1950

This picture explains why the top front piece of aluminum siding on my T-1700 has no support across the center rafter area. The shims don't allow the siding to rest against it. I was afraid I might have some rot in that area.

[JohnB]

Originally Posted by johnnybgood

This picture explains why the top front piece of aluminum siding on my T-1700 has no support across the center rafter area. The shims don't allow the siding to rest against it. I was afraid I might have some rot in that area.

Hi John,

Yes, you are right. There are no supports to hold the siding from being pushed in across the top center area. I do not know about the 80's vintage campers but in early to mid to later 90's until the end they are built this way. The siding has crease bends every 3" or so which gives some level of strength to hold the siding from falling back/buckling. If you push hard enough, it will bend in.

Thanks

John

[Thomascine]

This 1987 doesn't appear to be much different. It looks like there is a 1x2 every 12 inches or so. My apologies. The tarp doesn't allow me to go up much further than this.

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[Thomascine]

Good afternoon,
Well I have been trying for the last 2-3 days to get the front put back together and I am failing miserably. I finally did get the bottom Grid in place but it appears that it is not wide enough even though I used the old grid as a template. There is a 6/16th inch gap on the passenger side and a 3/16 inch gap on the driver side.

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[JohnB]

Hi Tommie,

I see your problem. Now that the side walls are attached this makes this a little more complex to correct as I'm assuming the side walls are screwed to the floor. Yes/no?

Have you measured across (left to right) the bottom, middle and top of the front of the camper on the inside dimension where your grids would go? If so what are those numbers? Trying to see of the camper itself is true and the walls straight. Odds are high they are not.

It may be that the center area is flexed outward making that left to right dimension larger then the bottom or top as they are more supported, the floor and the roof. If this is the case, then you can flex the wall in at the center and screw the grid to it to hold it.

If the grid is too small (short) for even the smallest dimension of left to right, as long as it is fairly parallel from top to bottom, adding a uniform thickness shim can help fill the gap.

I'm guessing the original grid may have shrunk some and that when the side walls went back on they may be spread out a small amount and all 3 of these add against each other. I would not be surprised that the middle of the side walls are bowed out. If you have a long straight edge placed on the inside surface, it may show this. That bow out, if it exists, can be flexed in and let the grid hold it. These campers are very flexible and your with the thinner walls are even more flexible then the newer ones.

If the side walls are straight and parallel , (I doubt it) and even if they are not, then you are only left with creating a shim to make up the difference and insert it to screw the wall together. Inside on that corner you can use a molding in the corner if needed to cover the shim.

If you have access to a table saw or a radial arm saw you can rip a thin wedge shim. If you have neither of them, then you can go old school. Pencil layout on a pine board the wedge shim you need. Rip using your circular saw that is close within reason. Or just cut it true even width using a rip guide on the saw. Then using a good sharp hand plane, plane it to the line. Soft pine planes easy. You just do not want any knots in the area of planing. I have had to hand plane house doors and other things before and you can take off a lot of materiel fairly quick with a good hand plane.

My hand plane is a Stanley no. 5 or a 5 1/2 jack plane I think from this pic. I bought mine new when I was a late teenager. Let's just say, it was a long time ago.... But any of these or others will work if you have one.


Hope this helps

John

[Thomascine]

Thanks JohnB.

The vertical boards in the walls are attached to the outer edge board.l at the bottom.

The measurements for the front are in the pics below - top, middle, bottom They all seem fairly close.

I am still reading through the rest of your message. I do now have a table saw I picked up a month or so ago. I haven't learned how to use it yet. I believe it needs some adjustments.


Thanks,
Tommie

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[JohnB]

Your right, the side walls are pretty good. I'm amazed they are that good.

A shim will get you out of your current problem.

Good news on the table saw. Your collection of tools is increasing! Although cutting a thin tapered shim is not the most simplest things to start with... You are basically free handing the angle. Using a somewhat finer blade to rip with so it won't grab so much like a normal rip blade. You slowly feed it through watching the line. And never stand directly behind the board in case it kicks your not in the line of fire.

Only make the board as long as needed when you rip the wedge. And start with a wider board to cut the thin piece out of so you have something to hold onto. It is easier to control a wider board ( 3" to 6" wide) cutting a 3/8" piece off then starting with a 1" board trying to cut that thin strip off.

Thanks

John

[Thomascine]

Believe it or not I got the cuts done with the table saw. Had to run out to get a hand plane for the passenger side piece but the driver side was a straight piece. Now need to find some 1 1/2 inch Kreg screws. I have a bunch 2 1/2 inch screws but they are too long.

Also need to work on the top grid. It fell apart when I was test fitting everything.

JohnB, thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!

Tommie

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[JohnB]

WOW... that fix looks great! I knew you could do it.

That table saw came in handy just in time. And it sounds like you just added a new plane to your tool kit! This is how this tool collection is born and keeps growing. If one does enough building projects, the tool box keeps getting bigger and bigger...

[Thomascine]

Good evening,

Just a quick update. Making a little progress. Replaced the front clearance lights. They were in bad shape and I suspect probably areas that were leaking.


Floor done. Not great but not bad for my first time and will have to do for now. The dark brown is in the cargo areas underneath the dinette seats.


Now working on the front wall. Trying to work my way through some issues and placement of the wires.



Getting there. Thanks for looking.

Tommie

[Sunline Fan]

Looking good!

You're keeping it dry with tarps, aren't you?

[Thomascine]

Originally Posted by Sunline Fan

Looking good!

You're keeping it dry with tarps, aren't you?

Thanks Sunline Fan. Yes, it is has been covered with a large tarp since I found out it was leaking.

Thanks,
Tommie

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