Newbie has TT with rotted nose and floor

revcrab wrote:
Hey all!!
I'm John. We were given a 2001 19' TT. It's had some major leaking, so much so that the entire nose framework from the front window down has dissolved and most of the floor edge framing pieces (ledgerboards?) have rotted away. The black tarp material (Darco?) seems to have held the water and everything has turned to mush. I'me going to replace the wood, but I'm really resistant to replacing that plastic tarp. I think using treated structural wood and spraying on a deck watersealer would take care of the water that comes up from the road.

Due to rodent and water damage, I am going to re-route the electrics and propane line through the cabin and do my best to completely seal the floor. so there won't be anything under there for the underbelly wrap to protect.

What problems am I overlooking, and what are your thoughts?
This is my first time with a Travel Trailer, but we've converted a cargo van into a van camper, so we're not complete newbies to rv-ing.

Sorry for the long post, and I look forward to your thoughts.

No need to reroute propane or electrical, the plastic underbelly material is not there to protect those items. It is there to protect the underside of the floor..

The downside of that material is just like you have is water can get trapped between the plastic material and the floor, rotting out what it was supposed to protect.

It is no different than my 1980s TT which they used sheet aluminum on the underside, water followed the walls from the roof and eventually pooled on the aluminum and eventually rotted some of the floor structure.

Find and fix the roof and wall leaks FIRST and your plastic material should not cause any further damage provided no more roof and wall leaks happen..