New member with a -Gasp- Jayco

[JaycoJake06]

Hi all! I'm humbled to join this group, after a bit of research I see that Sunline has a long, impressive and honorable history. I am a Wisconsin based humbled recent owner of a 2006 Jayco Jay Flight that needs work and found this forum while researching leaky roofs. I've already learned a lot here, looking forward to learning more. Hope I'm not trespassing!

[Tinstaafl]

Welcome, Jake. I don't think you'll garner any ill will here, despite your not having the camper of choice.

The principles of maintenance and repair are the same across the various brands, so there's good info to be had here even for furriners.

[JohnB]

Welcome Jake!!!

Welcome and glad you found us! You are not trespassing, we have many members who once had a Sunline and sold them for other brands of new camper. And while they now have other brands, they are still with us and we are very glad they are.

We have many members who have worked through water damage and posted about them, with pics. Read on!

And feel free to ask too. Just include pics of what you are talking about so we can help better. Just create a new post for your camper repair work or any other topic. We are split into separate forums by topic, the Repairs and Maintenance forum is for that type of questions. https://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f71/

And we also have a Other Brands forum you can start up a post in too. Here https://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f96/

Good luck!

John

[JaycoJake06]

Thanks for the warm welcome John! I've been poking around and reading various threads in this forum - lots of good stuff! The more I read, the more inexperienced I feel. I don't know what I don't know! I opened up the corners in my Jay Flight yesterday and cleaned up my disassembly mess in the barn, now the trailer will sit with an open roof and corners for the winter to dry. It's not as wet as I feared but needs work. I'm encouraged by the number of people with older campers who feel it's worthwhile to fix them up! Thanks all!

[JaycoJake06]

Originally Posted by Tinstaafl

Welcome, Jake. I don't think you'll garner any ill will here, despite your not having the camper of choice.

The principles of maintenance and repair are the same across the various brands, so there's good info to be had here even for furriners.

Thanks Tinstaafl! Yeah, I'm surprised at the similarities between brands, although I guess "how much different could they be?" I'm really looking for a truly effective roof system designed without so much reliance on caulk!


Glad you folks are OK with a "furriner"

[JohnB]

Originally Posted by JaycoJake06

snip...

I'm surprised at the similarities between brands, although I guess "how much different could they be?" I'm really looking for a truly effective roof system designed without so much reliance on caulk!

After seeing and fixing enough water damage, I have found ways to seal the entire camper to last many times longer then the original set of sealing. Yes, it does cost a little more for the better materials, but doing a restoration on an older camper is too painful to "not" put the little extra into to it to make it last, especially if it lives outside all the time. Campers can and do leak when they are camping if the sealants have not been totally addressed, even if stored inside when not camping. Seen it, been there and repaired that .

Part of the issue is first, knowing how campers leak. Then comes, how do I spot it and how to I help stop it.

At the moment you are dealing with the roof and it's sealant failures. Yes, the roof is a big deal, but the siding on the camper is just like the roof as far as a leak source. Both the roof and the siding actually are not too bad a system for the actual membrane/siding. Meaning the roof it self's membrane is fairly is good and long lasting as far as leaks. Same on the siding. The actual siding can last a good long time to not leak through the siding. BUT... there is always a but... any penetration or seam in the roof membrane or the siding, is a leak potential due to failing sealants. Most all the time, short of pokes hole from something or a window/door itself leaking, the sealants on the roof and the siding fail and allow water to seep in over time. That seeping water, not to be seen in the living space until it is advanced enough, then damages the camper, slowly over years of leaking. Just look at how many seals are made at every seam or hole cut in the roof or the siding? Count them, it is mind boggling...

Understand how campers leak, address the sealants and the leaks stop and slow down to almost non existent, again short of a tree branch poking a hole on the roof or siding etc.

Odds are high you have corner molding leaks, the moldings that start at the roof and go down the side of the camper and stop at the bottom. There can be other siding flange leaks too. With all the roof water you had, it all had to go somewhere. The water follows gravity. And gravity takes it down, down the inside walls, with enough water that is sneaks into the floor system. Once in the floor system it can't get out as the plastic membranes on the bottom of the camper won't let it out. It just festers there slowly, rotting out the inside of the walls and the floor. Window flange leaks, door flange leaks, corner molding leaks etc. all contribute to the gravity leaks running to the basement can create issues. It's not all from the roof...

Don't despair, your Jayco, our Sunlines, are all rebuildable!!! It can all be fixed to be better then new. It will take a good deal of time, and some level of money for the materials providing you can do the work. Hiring all this out is just not practical. The labor cost alone at standard RV repair shop rates is just too high for this kind of work.

I have good friends who have Jayco's, they are a good camper too, but most all the brands share the same leak potential. Jayco, Forest River, Keystone, Gulfstream, Coachmen, Dutchman, the list goes on. Some are better then others, but it all comes back to the sealants, and how many years will they last if the owner never realizes they have to be looked at and touched up, almost non stop once the camper gets older. That is unless the owner learned how they leak and how to help stop them from leaking.

This all comes down to, you have to seal the roof system and the siding system differently then the camper was originally made to. It is not that hard to do, but it does take time.

Ask away any questions. We are glad to help!

John

[JaycoJake06]

Originally Posted by JohnB

Odds are high you have corner molding leaks, the moldings that start at the roof and go down the side of the camper and stop at the bottom. There can be other siding flange leaks too. With all the roof water you had, it all had to go somewhere. The water follows gravity. And gravity takes it down, down the inside walls, with enough water that is sneaks into the floor system. Once in the floor system it can't get out as the plastic membranes on the bottom of the camper won't let it out.John

Whew! I can see you took some time in writing this! Thanks! Everything you say makes absolute sense and is what I've been thinking as well - and I've been thinking a lot, especially after removing the corner moldings. The more I look the more I find and it has me wondering how far I should go. The pics below indicate that I really should open up the entire front of the camper and replace rotted studs. As you're well aware of, that's another big project. I'm a little intimidated.


This is the right front corner. I did a "quicky" repair inside when I first got the camper home because the interior corners of the pass-through storage compartment had been torn open by the previous owner during his leak search. I made decent cuts and removed the paneling from the corner out to the first stud, glued new wood next to the rotted corner stud remnants directly to the "diamondplate" stone guard and installed a roughly 20"x24" piece of 1/8" dairyboard as paneling. I did this at both front corners. At that time I figured "good enough for what it is".



You can see my hacked in "new stud" in the pics. The left side doesn't look near as bad but I'm sure it's probably getting there. So, I'm hesitant to dig in and fix it right. Wondering about the possibility of applying Rot Dr. to everything I can get to, then packing the opening full of some kind of plastic wood epoxy filler, clamp it shut with corner clamps, apply new butyl tape, re-install the moldings, caulk as needed and call it a day. Yes, that's kinda hack, but I have no helper and it looks like removing the siding will really be a bear. The floor feels solid everywhere, although I get what you're saying - the water goes somewhere. Sure - I open up the front siding and then I find rot to the floor. Arrrgghhhhh the worm can keeps spilling!

[JaycoJake06]

I started a new thread on this over in "Other Brands" -


https://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f...ent-19974.html