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LisaHemmeler's avatar
LisaHemmeler
Explorer
Aug 27, 2013

Water logged 2003 Starcraft Antigua

Hello everyone, I just purchased a new to me 19ft Hybrid trailer. After getting it home I noticed a soft spot near the dining area. I cut the flooring back to the plywood in the area and it was wet and moldy. I kept cutting back to try to get to a dry spot and I have not found one. I put a dehumidifier in and fans. It really smells now and I am not sure how to get to all of the flooring. Where the Fridge and Sink and shower are I cannot get under them. Do I have to have this gutted to fix, is there a way to dry this. I am so disappointed with the seller for not disclosing this, but I am willing to do the work to fix if I can.

18 Replies

  • Wow, seems a lot worse than I thought. The bottom feels like mush in spots. Starting to dry out where I could get the floor up. I think I can take up the dinette and couch area my self, but I am not sure I can remove other areas. I don't know how or where it is secured. I paid 4500.00 for the trailer from a private seller. Here in Connecticut it is buyer beware policy so I don't think I have any recourse with the seller. Does anyone know if the epoxy wood strengthener will eat the Styrofoam that is sandwiched in between. Can I strengthen from the top only?
  • I'm in the midst of replacing the front half of my floor for the same reason. The floor on my 06 is 1/4" ply on top, 1.5" Styrofoam in the middle, and 3/8 ply on the bottom, all glued together. The bottom ply was much worse then the top, you should be able to tell by feeling the underside. It is supposed to be hard as the plywood is directly under the lower plywood sheet, mine felt like mush, which is what it was. I just finished gluing the top plywood in yesterday, and I'm doing the easy end of the trailer. Had to remove all the cabinets, stove, sink, and dinette, as well as a half wall at the front bed, and the water heater. I stopped at the fridge as the floor looks okay, at least on the top, from that point forward. A lot of the electrical and plumbing has to be dealt with too.

    Had to remove the frame bolts and most of the lower trim to allow me to jack up the box so I could slide in the lower plywood, it needs to support the side walls and I didn't want to piece it in. Probably should have removed the door too but I didn't as I don't have covered storage.

    I hope I have taken care of the original source of the water but really am not sure, but half my time was resealing everything seem or hole I hold find. It looked like water gets in pretty much anywhere there is an opening. From the storage access doors, the front bunk, doorway, and even the hole the water heater goes in. Getting my 1st good rain since I started at the moment so I'll see what it looks like in the am.

    Good thing I retired a month ago as I have at least 2 weeks time into it, also about $400 and I have yet to buy replacement flooring. Having a Dremel tool to cut in corners is a must. I also had to cut more then a few screws and staples.

    If you're handy and have the time you can do it, but it isn't easy or quick. If I'm lucky, I can remember how to piece it all back together (took a lot of pictures as it was disassembled), and I won't end up with too many extra parts.
  • It can probably be fixed if you are determined. The big question is where is the water coming from? If you dont fix the source of the issue, why bother fixing the result, it will just happen again.

    Can you find any obvious signs of water infiltration? Are there cracks in the roof or obviously leaks around a marker light or other exterior feature?
  • There is a repair for water-damaged wood used on boats where they inject some kind of hardening resin into holes in the wood. Don't know if it would be practical for RVs. Wood rot restorer
  • And YES you will need to gut it and remove ALL rotten wood. Then treat everything with bleach solution to kill mold/mildew otherwise they will continue to grow, spread and multiple.

    And you should be wearing face masks whenever in rig or working on it.

    Hope it was almost free.
  • Unless you are planning on repairing this yourself, you are looking at thousands of dollars to repair this. What did you pay for it? If you got a good enough deal, it may be worth fixing.