delamination issue on side of TT, need suggestions

[Caryite]

I'm attaching an image below of some minor water intrusion from both the outside electric outlet (minimal) and from the back of the refrigerator from where a screw was likely not caulked as well as it should have been by the original manufacturer (more pronounced). Given the back of the fridge is mostly covered with the vent, that lack of caulking wasn't something I've been inspecting like the other exterior seams of my camper.



I plan to address both areas with one of these epoxy resins:
1) Bondo Fiberglass Resin, Interior and Exterior Home Use, 100% Waterproof, Strong, Durable, 28.8 fl oz. I have this product already from a prior fiberglass repair needed. Ready to mix and use. Sets in 12 minutes, and cure time is 2 hours.
2) J-B Weld 50165 Original 25ml Resealable Syringe. After mixing the two part formula with the included mixing tray and stir stick, J-B Weld takes 4-6 hours to set and 15 hours to cure.
3) Gorilla 2 Part Epoxy, 5 Minute Set, .85 Ounce Syringe, Clear. 30 minute cure.

The West Marine/WEST SYSTEM 105 Epoxy Resin (1 qt) w/207 Special Clear Epoxy Hardener (.66 pt) + Mini Epoxy Metering Pump Set appears to be more than what I would need for this area, so although highly rated, I'm looking for a smaller amount needed and a lower cost here for this area that is no more than 10 inches by 7 inches at most.

On all of these bonding options, I'm planning to inject with a syringe and using boards against a structure to secure it for 24 hours right after adding the resin/epoxy in.

I'll be able to access the area below the outlet as is seen in the picture, but the area under the refrigerator back that leaked appears to be tougher to access. Taking that section out with lots of caulk appears to be more trouble than it is worth. I suppose I could always drill a small hole for the syringe where the final caulk will be, but I'm not yet sure I want to do that either. But getting the epoxy resin in may leave me little options here to get it flattened out.

Anyone who has done this before have any suggestions? I've looked at many of the online videos of others who have done this, but they appear to be much larger areas and scale, and I'm curious what some have used for their bonding material and have done for injecting into a small area like this.

Thanks for all suggestions.

[Caryite]

Grit dog wrote:
Nice work!

Thanks to you and all the others that had good suggestions to consider during this process. Below is the final view after the caulking and painting was done. I made sure to use longer screws to reattach the electrical outlet so as to go through the styrofoam and newly applied Bondo putty into the next layer of luan on the back-side of the wall structure.



Just got back from a 4 day trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains where there was some considerable rains afterwards, and all is holding up very well.

Mostly relieved, but happy given where this was at the beginning!

[Grit_dog]

Nice work!

[Gjac]

Looks good.

[Caryite]

Everything worked very well as seen below. I waited 27 hours to remove the pressure, and it hardened as expected.



The bottom hole that was drilled yesterday was completely flush with the epoxy resin, so there will only be some light sanding to do there before painting.

The top hole needed some additional resin added, so I filled later on after the board was removed with Bondo. I've since caulked around the seams, including the suspected ingress around the screws of the fridge grate.

Very happy with how the procedure went, and glad I took the time to recaulk all around the camper this past week to make sure no other areas have this happen.

[Caryite]

I applied the Total Boat epoxy resin this AM after drilling two 1/2" holes to get the 1/4" plastic tube into the areas to inject the resin. The angle to get the tube in was tough, but with a paint stick used to prop things open from the electrical outlet on the left, that helped spread the resin all around. I used Glad Press N Seal to cover the fiberglass around the camper before using the resin.



I used 4 pumps of the large resin which when added with the slow hardener ended up being just over 4 ounces. That appeared to be more than enough to put in the resin, which took about 15-20 minutes. The temps were in the low 60s, and I used the same Glad wrap to cover the board and then 6 pressure points to keep the board flat against the camper.



I plan to wait at least 24 hours given the temps today will just get to 75F at the peak, and I want to make sure this is fully dry before removing.

If it doesn't stick or work like I'm hoping, then I'll plan to remove the old fiberglass around that area and just use Bondo resin and the cloth to rebuild the area.

[Caryite]

Gjac wrote:
Sounds like you have a good plan, the only thing I would add is if you use epoxy resin make sure the area is dry first. Acetone will help the drying process. It is a solvent and will flash off quickly removing the moisture. The second think I would add is when I did mine and it was a much larger area than yours, I used several car jacks and plywood caul plates to apply pressure against the side of a brick building. The spring suspension on the MH was not enough to react the pressure from the car jacks. In retrospect it would have been more stable if the hydraulic jacks were down. Do you know what the substrate is under the delamination? If it is luan and dry rather than particle board and you can push it in with your fingers you should be fine. If you think moisture is still there polyurethane glue will react with moisture and still bond well where as epoxy won't. Good Luck on your project.

Thanks, the epoxy resin arrived today and I plan to apply it tomorrow while temps are in the 60s. The high will be around 75. I will take pictures.

I have used acetone to remove much of the old caulk around the areas to have a flat surface.

It is luan behind the fiberglass and things have dried out considerably in the last few days with fall temps arriving and the humidity dropping into the 30s. The is no moisture within the area and all is very dry. I plan to have 4 wood sticks to mount the board against my house and camper to secure it and apply the pressure.

Thanks for the comments and suggestions!

[Gjac]

Sounds like you have a good plan, the only thing I would add is if you use epoxy resin make sure the area is dry first. Acetone will help the drying process. It is a solvent and will flash off quickly removing the moisture. The second think I would add is when I did mine and it was a much larger area than yours, I used several car jacks and plywood caul plates to apply pressure against the side of a brick building. The spring suspension ont the MH was not enough to react the pressure from the car jacks. In retrospect it would have been more stable if the hydraulic jacks were down. Do you know what the substrate is under the delamination? If it is luan and dry rather than particle board and you can push it in with your fingers you should be fine. If you think moisture is still there polyurethane glue will react with moisture and still bond well where as epoxy won't. Good Luck on your project.

[Caryite]

Caryite wrote:

I plan to address both areas with one of these epoxy resins:
1) Bondo Fiberglass Resin, Interior and Exterior Home Use, 100% Waterproof, Strong, Durable, 28.8 fl oz. I have this product already from a prior fiberglass repair needed. Ready to mix and use. Sets in 12 minutes, and cure time is 2 hours.
2) J-B Weld 50165 Original 25ml Resealable Syringe. After mixing the two part formula with the included mixing tray and stir stick, J-B Weld takes 4-6 hours to set and 15 hours to cure.
3) Gorilla 2 Part Epoxy, 5 Minute Set, .85 Ounce Syringe, Clear. 30 minute cure.

The West Marine/WEST SYSTEM 105 Epoxy Resin (1 qt) w/207 Special Clear Epoxy Hardener (.66 pt) + Mini Epoxy Metering Pump Set appears to be more than what I would need for this area, so although highly rated, I'm looking for a smaller amount needed and a lower cost here for this area that is no more than 10 inches by 7 inches at most.

Update on the epoxy resin, I'm getting the TotalBoat 5:1 Epoxy Resin Kits, Marine Grade Epoxy for Fiberglass and Wood Boat Building and Repair at Amazon after doing more research.

1) The Bondo resin is a polyester resin, not epoxy resin, so I'm not convinced it will hold for the long term after reading more about each material type.

2) The JB Weld epoxy resin comes in 25ml syringes, and I don't want to short-change how much I'll need. I was thinking I'd need 3 containers of that, and after buying that, it's nearly 40% the cost of the TotalBoat solution. Fingers crossed on the epoxy resin, and more to come...

I checked underneath of the tire areas of the underbelly, and didn't really see where that was going to be causing the water intrusion either, on that side of the camper.

[Caryite]

Brandon the Traveler wrote:
Are you sure the water infiltration is not from in the wheelwell and wicking up through the lamination, or possibly a combination of that and from the fridge vent area? One thing is consistent on these things and that is the shitty construction. I have not seen any that did not have some type of unsealed gap in the wheelwell somewhere. Usually you'll even find exposed plywood edges in the wheelwell which is the substrate layers of the wall panel lamination. Spray on undercoating is a good idea in the wheelwells.

Good point of consideration, and I will check underneath further today. I haven't taken many/any recent trips in the rain, and just before I saw the delam in the past week, we had a major storm of 3-4+ inches of rain, much of it hitting that side of the camper. I double checked the exterior caulk around the outside rear fridge area, and that was fine, but the bottom right screw appears to not be as well caulked as the left one was in the picture, so I plan to reinforce that and recaulk the whole area again with Dicor.

The outlet itself is screwed into the styrofoam, so that alone too needs some extra TLC and caulking to reinforce that in too after I am done with hopefully flattening this fiberglass out with the rebonding.

I will still check underneath, but I really am suspecting that internal screw behind the rear fridge grate area where the grate cover is removed to see that item in the original picture above.

[Brandon_the_Tra]

Are you sure the water infiltration is not from in the wheelwell and wicking up through the lamination, or possibly a combination of that and from the fridge vent area? One thing is consistent on these things and that is the shitty construction. I have not seen any that did not have some type of unsealed gap in the wheelwell somewhere. Usually you'll even find exposed plywood edges in the wheelwell which is the substrate layers of the wall panel lamination. Spray on undercoating is a good idea in the wheelwells.

[Caryite]

Grit dog wrote:
Does the delam push in easy? If so there’s a good chance what your doing will glue it back in place.
If it’s difficult to push back flat then likely won’t work.
Either way, the repair is purely cosmetic. Stopping the leak you discovered is the important part.
Good luck!

Yes, the delam does push in easy. I've measured and I'm pretty confident a 12x10 3/4" plywood with enough pressure from the side of my house next to this set for 24 hours *should* keep it in, *if* I use the right resin epoxy adhesive.

I'm hoping to do the work this weekend. Currently leaning towards the Bondo, and don't think it will take too much to get it done. I have a syringe and getting a tube to hopefully access the larger side area to inject there.

If I need a hole to inject there, I plan to drill at the top along the caulk line to later fill that in.

Per the other post below this, I'm not yet set on cutting the fiberglass after seeing many others repair theirs without cutting on Youtube.

Thanks all, will report progress on this...

[12th_Man_Fan]

I don't believe that will lay down flat using the method you are suggesting. I certainly am not an expert but I believe that skin has expanded some and will not lay flat unless you take some material out.

I think I would take a straight edge and cut straight down the bulge then lay it down flat and cut again where the edges join. Then put the glue in and clamp it down.

There will be a fine line there where you made the cut but it can be filled with many different fillers.

Just an idea. Hope you get it worked out.

[Grit_dog]

Does the delam push in easy? If so there’s a good chance what your doing will glue it back in place.
If it’s difficult to push back flat then likely won’t work.
Either way, the repair is purely cosmetic. Stopping the leak you discovered is the important part.
Good luck!

[Caryite]

NamMedevac 70 wrote:
Some deleted my comment so I will try this again. If your methods do not work then try using white eternal bond tape to cover the small area as I successfully did on a 12 inch cut in sidewall next to lower metal frame from road debris. Covered the hole nicely and no water leaks from wet payment. Tape comes in various widths and pliable and easy to use and last long time and blended in well with my white TT like yours. If desired you can spray paint over it. Tape is made for RV use. Good luck.

I did see your 2nd post like this that wasn't blank and I do have plenty of Eternabond tape for the roof of my camper that I have already used.

However, the issue here is addressing the delamination and the bulge out from that has already happened. I don't see how covering that with Eternabond is going to remove that.

Also, if I did just cut away the fiberglass that has delaminated, then I would likely just choose to use the Bondo resin with the fiberglass mesh material I already have to rebuild the fiberglass in that area vs. choosing to use Eternabond to cover it.

At this time, I feel it is easier and more direct to just get the resin epoxy materials into those areas between the fiberglass and the wood with as little effort. Hopefully that will help remove the delamination bulge after the 24 hour cure period with sufficient pressure.

If that doesn't work, then at that point I might consider using the Bondo materials I currently have as I've already once did to address a small dent/hole by a back storage area when it was nicked to rebuild the fiberglass siding, sand it down, and then repaint.

Thanks