Ugh- found some water in the overhead bunk- what to do.

[travisc]

Well it finally happened to us- I was getting ready to prepare for Memorial Day weekend and found some water in the overhead bunk- It wasn't a lot so I started looking for where it might have gotten in- I found the Overhead seem along the passenger side above the door to have a loose seem of calk- great- so I peel at it a bit and push in it and found quite a bit of moisture- after taking some screws out and breaking about 2-3 feet of caulk seem I have a bit of water coming and out and looks like a little separation between the layers below the filon-

I am in a bit of a quandary here- do I try to fix them myself- or pay a local shop to do this- I think have the ability but would like some guidance here- our RV is a 2008 Winnebago 24' Access, we plan on keeping it a long time. I'd like everyone;s take on this- should I repair it myself- or should I find someone on the SouthSide of seattle to do this for me- I am in kent and really don't care for most of the RV shops local to me- but I am open to suggestions.

This hits me in the gut pretty hard as I think we need to cancel our weekend camping plans to let this dry out.

I posted these with tinypic and setup with 640x480- hopefully these are the right size

[garyhaupt]

I'd spend the bucks and have a shop do it. Reason being..with that such a recent RV you don't want to guess about where the leak is/was and that wood needs to be removed and the whole front cap made tight and clean. Shop around...ask for recommendations from folks in your area...which is where? I see PNWb ut that's a big bit of real estate. But yes..it's going to be pricey. And no, I wouldn't cancel the plans. Goop thay area up a bunch, put a fan up there and open all the front windows to dry the interior and then have at it.


Gary Haupt

[tboss]

I did mine ,,a lot of work but atleast I know its done to my satisfaction..take you time and take a lot of pics....I did mine for under 100.00 dollars and I had to remove just abt all the front bunk section .. ask questions and we will be glad to help you thru the adventure..

[Mich_F]

I don't see the need to cancel your week end plans over that. It should dry out just as fast where you're going, as it would sitting at home.

[bsinmich]

This is the reason I don't want another C. We have had 2 C's and had the same problem on both of ours. My personal opinion is that all that weight stuck out in front with no support just invites that kind of leaking. Unless you get one of the high end models with one piece fibreglass you will probably end up with a leak sooner or later.

[NWnative]

If you decide to repair it, Torklift in Kent has an RV service center. I have used them for hitches and welding needs throughout the years and their work and customer service is top notch in my opinion. If you have the time and confidence to do it yourself, go for it. I certainly would. That is the only way you can truly guarantee it's done right.

[CloudDriver]

I had a leak in the same location in our 2003 Minnie. I discovered the leak when crawling around in the cab over with the mattress off. My thumb went right through the top layer on the floor into sopping wet rotted wood. Not a good feeling! At first I thought the leak was from the front window or the clearance lights, but finally discovered the actual location by pushing in on the sidewall just forward of the Winnebago sticker. When I pushed, the seam opened up. In my case the L-shaped metal trim just barely met the bottom edge of the sidewall so squirting in some caulk wasn't going to get a seal. I was able to stop the leak by applying a heavy bead of Dicor just above and onto the trim strip. I scrape off and reapply this bead at least yearly as flexing in the cab over eventually opens cracks in the bead. With only one exception, there have been no more leaks.

My leak area


My leak repair - not pretty, but effective


The next issue was getting the floor dried out. The floor forward of the metal beam that runs across from side to side is made up of a sandwich of the outer fiberglass skin, a thin layer of plywood, a layer of styrofoam, another thin plywood layer and the inside decorative floor. Around the outer edges on all 4 sides are solid wood boards the thickness of the styrofoam and about 2-1/2 inches wide. The impervious fiberglass layer and the inner decorative floor layer pretty much seal the wood from the air, meaning that once wet, it can't dry out. In my case, I cut away the decorative layer where the floor was spongy and pulled out the rotten wood. I left the area open so that the remaining wood that felt solid could dry out. It's been 6 years and I haven't seen the need to do anything more. I put some clear plexiglass over the opening in the floor to protect the mattress.

After removing rotted wood


The rot went about 1/2 way across, the rest was solid


Plexiglass covering area where wood was removed

[jconnally]

My opinion's free so you get what you pay for. My theory is the RV shop would just patch it and make it look good and you would pay a premium. Since you appear to have good skills and diagnosed where it was leaking and have a vested interest in a quality repair, I think I would do it myself. Hopefully folks with some experience will chime in with suggestions and you can take the best from those suggestions and make a quality repair, most likely much better than a dealer.

Joe

[USAFBILL]

I would get a dealer to do a pressure test ($100.00) while I watched so you can fix the leak first, then do the repairs
Good Luck