Wood rot in side panels.An unexpected project!
:E
Hi. Time to take the RV out on the road again. We were busy getting all of the details together and I was working on my maintenance. modification list to keep things running well and the DW happy. Our Coachmen Mirada is a 2002 so I figured it was time to Pull all of the windows and while they were out to install some of that new ceramic/nano-particle coating that blocks heat but won't darken the windows. I also dented the lower side and planned to repair that. I have done fiberglass on boats so I figured no problem. When I started to pull the wheel well trim and the compartment doors I found really bad rot. Apparently the bottom trim piece is fashioned so that it catches rain runoff and directs it into the plywood that is part of the laminate panel. There is also a plywood backing piece on the panel and it is covered with a sheet of matting that holds water against the wood and hides the damage. The rot is almost to the floor level in in one place but in others it is only 6 or 8 inches from the bottom. The wheel wells are very bad. They have the same trim as the bottom. I am just blown away by this. This is not just bad design. There is no other way that this trim could have been made that would funnel in the water like this does. It would have been cheaper to make it so it did not! Why? It will take me months to fix this! Sorry to go long on the post. This comes as a blow! I'm getting too old for this s**t!
DSC02596 by eightyard8, on Flickr
DSC02595 by eightyard8, on Flickr
DSC02600 by eightyard8, on Flickr
DSC02624 by eightyard8, on Flickr
I hope this is a good way to post pictures here.
There are more photos on Flicker if you wish to go here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/96616967@N08/sets/72157634638293231/
I think that the plan may be to first take care of the windows. They have not leaked but I will reseal anyway. I know how. Work from the top down right? I have fans running on all of the worst spots to try to dry them. Plastic will keep the rain out. Where the original wood is not too bad I plan to seal in a lot of solvent based wood hardener. I like Minwax. Not crazy about the water based stuff. Does that sound right to you? I cab skim coat with a 2 part filler or thickened epoxy to keep it solid before buttoning it back up. I know I could do better but I am out of time.
With the large bad places I am unsure of yow to proceed though. I have rebuilt my incipient 18" Angler including shooting the outer finish coats but this is a weird set up. Metal frame member hold cur to fit foam and then are covered by what looks like 1/16 ply with more than one layer in places. Then there is a skin made if vinyl or something. I always thought that the panels were fiberglass laminate with glass sides but I don't know. I am good at fiberglass boats nut this odd construction is not something I've worked with.
I figure to make clean cuts to fit in pieces of ply to cover the fully gone places. Then use hardener and a thickened epoxy skim coat of epoxy and West System 407 fairing filler over the solid but slightly nasty wood. Then use Epoxy West System 403 or 404 thickening adhesive filler to bond the outer skin on. I also thought about using Epoxy to "glass" that black matting to the back of the panel so it does not hold water.I am really at a loss as to how to clamp that sandwich. The aforementioned trim that holds the water is a part of the panel and cannot be removed all of the way.I have to work around it. I'd really hate to drive screws through it and use boards on either side. If I use a slow catalyst I might be able to clamp all of the layers in one shot which would save me some sanding since the fairing and bonding will squeeze together and set as a whole. Or not. Then a final fairing coat on the surface and also on anything else on the coach and sand before shooting it with a temporary paint till I have time to do a better job. Or not. My brain works faster than my hands but not better. I hope anyone who has had experience with these can advise or correct. Then I hope that once I get it right and finished this post may help. others.
What do you think"
Hi. Time to take the RV out on the road again. We were busy getting all of the details together and I was working on my maintenance. modification list to keep things running well and the DW happy. Our Coachmen Mirada is a 2002 so I figured it was time to Pull all of the windows and while they were out to install some of that new ceramic/nano-particle coating that blocks heat but won't darken the windows. I also dented the lower side and planned to repair that. I have done fiberglass on boats so I figured no problem. When I started to pull the wheel well trim and the compartment doors I found really bad rot. Apparently the bottom trim piece is fashioned so that it catches rain runoff and directs it into the plywood that is part of the laminate panel. There is also a plywood backing piece on the panel and it is covered with a sheet of matting that holds water against the wood and hides the damage. The rot is almost to the floor level in in one place but in others it is only 6 or 8 inches from the bottom. The wheel wells are very bad. They have the same trim as the bottom. I am just blown away by this. This is not just bad design. There is no other way that this trim could have been made that would funnel in the water like this does. It would have been cheaper to make it so it did not! Why? It will take me months to fix this! Sorry to go long on the post. This comes as a blow! I'm getting too old for this s**t!
DSC02596 by eightyard8, on Flickr
DSC02595 by eightyard8, on Flickr
DSC02600 by eightyard8, on Flickr
DSC02624 by eightyard8, on Flickr
I hope this is a good way to post pictures here.
There are more photos on Flicker if you wish to go here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/96616967@N08/sets/72157634638293231/
I think that the plan may be to first take care of the windows. They have not leaked but I will reseal anyway. I know how. Work from the top down right? I have fans running on all of the worst spots to try to dry them. Plastic will keep the rain out. Where the original wood is not too bad I plan to seal in a lot of solvent based wood hardener. I like Minwax. Not crazy about the water based stuff. Does that sound right to you? I cab skim coat with a 2 part filler or thickened epoxy to keep it solid before buttoning it back up. I know I could do better but I am out of time.
With the large bad places I am unsure of yow to proceed though. I have rebuilt my incipient 18" Angler including shooting the outer finish coats but this is a weird set up. Metal frame member hold cur to fit foam and then are covered by what looks like 1/16 ply with more than one layer in places. Then there is a skin made if vinyl or something. I always thought that the panels were fiberglass laminate with glass sides but I don't know. I am good at fiberglass boats nut this odd construction is not something I've worked with.
I figure to make clean cuts to fit in pieces of ply to cover the fully gone places. Then use hardener and a thickened epoxy skim coat of epoxy and West System 407 fairing filler over the solid but slightly nasty wood. Then use Epoxy West System 403 or 404 thickening adhesive filler to bond the outer skin on. I also thought about using Epoxy to "glass" that black matting to the back of the panel so it does not hold water.I am really at a loss as to how to clamp that sandwich. The aforementioned trim that holds the water is a part of the panel and cannot be removed all of the way.I have to work around it. I'd really hate to drive screws through it and use boards on either side. If I use a slow catalyst I might be able to clamp all of the layers in one shot which would save me some sanding since the fairing and bonding will squeeze together and set as a whole. Or not. Then a final fairing coat on the surface and also on anything else on the coach and sand before shooting it with a temporary paint till I have time to do a better job. Or not. My brain works faster than my hands but not better. I hope anyone who has had experience with these can advise or correct. Then I hope that once I get it right and finished this post may help. others.
What do you think"
