'71 Starcraft Wanderstar- "The Hilton"

John H wrote:
Maybe a bit to late, but before you place the windows into their framing You might have made a plastic U channel to surround the raw framing plus the thickness of the interior wall material.. That way any water intrusion would not have leaked into the wall's interior instead into the interior where it would be noticed. this same applies to the ruff roof openings/ framing, don't do as every one else has and just have the roof material folded down leaving the rafter exposed. Counter flash under this fold extend down below the wood, to just below the ceiling material. The same would apply here as to water leaking, sliding past the wood into the interior & noticed right away


Consider expanded foam for wall insulation. It encloses all air intrusion & is water repellent,,,,BUT, repeat BUT,,,do it in a shallow pass to began with, as if done in the way of house insulation it will bulge, as it expans, your thin exterior metal. Run your front to back inside wiring in a plastic channel in the interior upper corner of your trailer, easy accessible for all kinds of reasing, can be hidden with store bought wire enclose, and covered to a degree with cabinets. There is a wood sub flooring that is water resistant check out Advantech wood flooring.

Those low toilets in RV's can be raised by building a treated framing above the flanges & to the wall, to raise them the 17 1/2" chair height.

Wow, John, those are all some good tips. I have done some of what you mentioned, am contemplating parts of that, and have done a different thing for others. I'll explain it in the order you've posted.

Windows: As I removed the original windows I cleaned and prepared the exterior siding for sealing. The exterior skin was then sealed and stapled into the new framing.When possible,I flashed the opening with aluminum trim coil into the opening. Before installing the windows I applied a butyl protective tape to seal the rough opening framing back to the exterior. A bead of silicone is applied to the tape and the window fins are then screwed onto this silicone and through the flashing and/or tape to the framing.

Roof and wall joint: The framing in this joint was sealed to the roof top skin and wall skin and stapled. A bead of elastomeric sealant was applied to the roof surface and to the wall surface and the aluminum trim rail was then screwed down through the skins to the new framing. No joists or top plate is exposed but if I had to do this over, I'd apply a piece of the same butyl tape, prior to screwing down the trim rail. I did observe one leak and that is due to missing a screw location on the trim rail in an area that has a roof seam. I will fix that small leak pronto and inspect my screw down schedule (I thought I got them all).

Insulation: I did investigate the spray insulation but it added $1k over conventional isocyanate, extruded polystyrene, and fiberglass batt, the three materials I'm using. I am using a sealant between framing and foam board, both for structural stability and to seal air passage. If I had that extra $1k, I would have opted for the spray.

Electrical runways: Great minds think alike, I plan to do just such a thing, adding in non-metallic conduit for future wire runs in the ceiling.

Flooring: The existing flooring is comprised (from the bottom-> up) of an aluminum skin, 1/2" Builtrite, the two layers of extruded polystyrene, and the 5'8" plywood. The floor joists are 2" x 2" layed up over the Builtrite. There are 2"x8" joists over the black water tank location. I plan to paint the plywood subfloor to offer better protection. I am still looking at flooring solutions but am leaning towards a laminate floor and maybe a tile entry area. It may all become sheet vinyl but I doubt it.

The toilet: That is a great idea, I may do that very thing, thanks for the tip.

Keep those ideas coming, guys, I need all the help I can get.