2006 Hallmark Ute rotted wood repair
I'm going to start off my first post by saying I've been perusing this site for sometime, and have learned a lot...espcially lubing Happy Jacks.
My wife and I have had this Hallmark Ute for a year. We use it most for fishing and grouse hunting trips here in northern Minnesota. All in all we haven't had much for problems. When we purchased the camper, I did go around and sealed all of the joints on the roof.
This spring, during a overnight stay, our 100 lb. black lab decided he wanted to join us up in the bunk. He does have a tendancy to want to sleep at the foot of our bed at home. Well, when he leapt up into the cap-over bunk, I felt my feet drop down. After I booted the dog out, I crawled over to the foot end of the bunk(passenger side). I could feel a springiness at the front corner. There was not much I could do that night, so when morning came around, I had my wife to very carefully crawl over that corner while I stood outside. I could see the lower panel drop down and exposed some rotted wood.
I will say that my wife and I are fair weather campers. When not in use, it is stored inside my 30x40 storage building, completely dry.
Feeling a little sick to my stomach, when I got home and had a little time, I pulled the front panel off, and the following pictures is what I found. It is quite obvious that the previous owner did not weather proof at all during their ownership. The camper was 5 yrs old when we purchased.
My wife and I have had this Hallmark Ute for a year. We use it most for fishing and grouse hunting trips here in northern Minnesota. All in all we haven't had much for problems. When we purchased the camper, I did go around and sealed all of the joints on the roof.
This spring, during a overnight stay, our 100 lb. black lab decided he wanted to join us up in the bunk. He does have a tendancy to want to sleep at the foot of our bed at home. Well, when he leapt up into the cap-over bunk, I felt my feet drop down. After I booted the dog out, I crawled over to the foot end of the bunk(passenger side). I could feel a springiness at the front corner. There was not much I could do that night, so when morning came around, I had my wife to very carefully crawl over that corner while I stood outside. I could see the lower panel drop down and exposed some rotted wood.
I will say that my wife and I are fair weather campers. When not in use, it is stored inside my 30x40 storage building, completely dry.
Feeling a little sick to my stomach, when I got home and had a little time, I pulled the front panel off, and the following pictures is what I found. It is quite obvious that the previous owner did not weather proof at all during their ownership. The camper was 5 yrs old when we purchased.
