Assessing water damage in wooden camper
Hi all, brand new 1966 Travel Queen waiting for full assessment. Jacks on order and plan is to get it off the truck once they arrive, but shipping time means it won't happen this weekend. I've read...
Forum Discussion
Littlest Birds, so glad to see you are getting (have been) into it. It looks in GREAT shape!
Let's talk about that rotted 2x2 which makes up the structural corner of the horizontal wing and the vertical wall (that rounds into the roof).
IMO that damage looks best to fix as a damaged area, not an entire wing replacement. In the left front of mine, the whole 2x2 was cut out to place the propane tank (which weight sat on the plywood alone and forced the wing down, allowing water entry.
To replace the whole 2x2 or wing plywood, I found EVERYTHING had to be removed. The camper box vertical and the wing plywood are fastened with screws and stables and glue Oh My!
I recommend one of two ways to fix.
1. Cut out a section of the 2x2 (maybe a foot max?). Clear the rot with the cut. Glue, staple, screw a same length chunk in place. Maybe primer the surfaces before assembly (to mitigate future water infiltration). Do something similar with the damaged plywood. Make a patch and bridge it above with more plywood (thin enough to not disrupt range insert). Nice tight repair with new wood but keep the main original pieces in place.
or
2. Dig and scrape and wire brush all the soft rot out of the pieces. Use some sort of home center wood rot stabilizer on the remaining parts. Add an epoxy (two part mix) wood filler substance to the dug out areas and smooth it. After dry, shave, file, sand, etc. and put on a second coat. Third if needed (until you get experienced the first and maybe second will look crappy). Once the "rebuilt" wood surface is done, lay down some protect-ant (like primer, paint), and fasten it all back together.
But don't take out the wing assembly unless you like the concrete floor look (like I had for weeks or months until I decided to put wood back in).
Oh and yeah, same replacement idea on the stringer and/or small portion of side wall paneling, bridged patch.
Let's talk about that rotted 2x2 which makes up the structural corner of the horizontal wing and the vertical wall (that rounds into the roof).
IMO that damage looks best to fix as a damaged area, not an entire wing replacement. In the left front of mine, the whole 2x2 was cut out to place the propane tank (which weight sat on the plywood alone and forced the wing down, allowing water entry.
To replace the whole 2x2 or wing plywood, I found EVERYTHING had to be removed. The camper box vertical and the wing plywood are fastened with screws and stables and glue Oh My!
I recommend one of two ways to fix.
1. Cut out a section of the 2x2 (maybe a foot max?). Clear the rot with the cut. Glue, staple, screw a same length chunk in place. Maybe primer the surfaces before assembly (to mitigate future water infiltration). Do something similar with the damaged plywood. Make a patch and bridge it above with more plywood (thin enough to not disrupt range insert). Nice tight repair with new wood but keep the main original pieces in place.
or
2. Dig and scrape and wire brush all the soft rot out of the pieces. Use some sort of home center wood rot stabilizer on the remaining parts. Add an epoxy (two part mix) wood filler substance to the dug out areas and smooth it. After dry, shave, file, sand, etc. and put on a second coat. Third if needed (until you get experienced the first and maybe second will look crappy). Once the "rebuilt" wood surface is done, lay down some protect-ant (like primer, paint), and fasten it all back together.
But don't take out the wing assembly unless you like the concrete floor look (like I had for weeks or months until I decided to put wood back in).
Oh and yeah, same replacement idea on the stringer and/or small portion of side wall paneling, bridged patch.
