Help! Water sloshing under gel siding

[outlaw85]

1997 Damon Challenger 30RK

Was contemplating my battle of talking wife into renovating our current 5th wheel or looking for something newer until...

I smacked one of the section of wall and it replied back!!

I knew there was another part that was delaminating on the slide but still felt solid and didn't reply back.

Hearing the sloshing now really worries me and the time bomb that is ticking before rot takes hold. I don't have the time right now to DIY this and what it may uncover and I don't have the funds to take it in and pay what is likely going to be or exceed what we paid for it.

I'm wondering if it would be OK to drill a few holes in the side panel to let the water drain. I know this is not ideal and only a band-aid? lol I'm thinking giving the water somewhere to drain is at least better than letting it sit in the wall.

I need to get more active on here because I know there is a ton of info and I'm sure I can learn a lot more. If we keep it, there are still plenty of projects to be had on it, FW and black tank to name a couple.

Thanks!
Outlaw

*update
Some pics- Sorry, they are hard to see some of the waves and it started raining.. 😞

Water is in the small section between end cap and slide 6-8" above decals.
20170522_190112

Slide from rear-
20170522_190119

Slide from front- wave can be seen at start of slide. Starts about 1/2 way down to bottom-ish and is from start of slide maybe 2ft in.
20170522_190130

From front pass side-
20170522_190149

[Lwiddis]

You blew it with no maintenance for a year and a half. Not me. I'm on my roof checking monthly. I reserve the right to edit my posts.....MY posts. Hopefully others will learn from you...no maintenance in the last year and a half equals....hmmmm.

[outlaw85]

agesilaus wrote:
I would quickly drill a few small holes at the bottom of that panel

You can seal them with epoxy putty latter

Thanks. I did and it seems to be empty now.

CA Traveler wrote:
Have you carefully checked the inside for moisture? Especially where the wall and floor meet at the delam areas. I would certainly expect that dry rot has already started.

If you are going to salvage this RV you need to get it completely dry and leaks repaired. You are faced with a lot of work or dollars or salvage. If not the latter then immediately get the rig to an enclosed area out of the rain.

The formula: moisture + wood + no air circulation = dry rot! 😞 😞 😞

Thanks for some tips and things to check. The most I can say I've done is pushing on the interior walls looking for soft spots. The couch is where the slide delam is and I don't feel any soft spots. The area where water actually was is a much harder area to check because its where a cabinet is. My plan was to reno before it turned into salvage lol. I completely agree with fixing the root cause which will require a lot of tear down and some level of rebuild. I was looking at some remodel docs people have done but not too much out there where they go down to studs... This one seem to also be the outside.. 😞

The wife wanted to use last summer and trade, our first trip this year (last weekend) and she was already wanting to get rid of it.

I'm not sure a salvage is worth it to me but at the same time, what's the cost of a replacement.. Something to weigh against. It may very well be for someone with more time though. I would be able to tarp but not even sure yet where to do that since only doing the corner isn't going to prevent it from running down the roof to whatever crack it found.. but would at least keep out of direct elements until more troubleshooting can be done (when not raining).

Thanks again to the quick helpful posts!

[CA_Traveler]

Have you carefully checked the inside for moisture? Especially where the wall and floor meet at the delam areas. I would certainly expect that dry rot has already started.

If you are going to save this RV you need to get it completely dry and leaks repaired. You are faced with a lot of work or dollars or salvage. If not the latter then immediately get the rig to an enclosed area out of the rain.

The formula: moisture + wood + no air circulation = dry rot! 😞 😞 😞

[kerrlakeRoo]

Well, if you wanted something as an arguing point with the DW for getting a newer 5 er, you have it,

[agesilaus]

I would quickly drill a few small holes at the bottom of that panel

You can seal them with epoxy putty latter

[outlaw85]

Can I sell as 'water feature'? 😄

Thanks for fast reply. History would have been good to post. Sorry for that.

We've only owned about 1.5yrs. This was our first RV of any type. We came from tenting to this. We have not performed any maintenance outside of washing and visual checks.

I know I'm not fixing the root cause but was thinking draining will at least let it out instead of sitting in the wall doing more damage. I know, more is inevitable though.

Thanks again.

[Lwiddis]

Water sloshing in slide indicates bomb has already detonated. Drilling holes only drains some of the water and doesn't stop further water intrusion. 20 year old RV? What roof and slide maintenance have you performed in last two years? My guess? RIP RV.