Roof leak and damage. Fix or forget?

[afinepoint]

I’ve looked around the forums but can’t seem to find exactly what I need. We have a 2008 Adventure Manufacturing toy hauler with a roof soft spot of about 1’x1’ in a rear corner and corresponding swelling of garage vertical members directly below. A sunken soft spot has appeared in the floor. This leak was there when we bought it several years ago as I had the dealership replace the very same vertical member not knowing why it was so. Over the years the cancer has grown.

A Camping World in Ashland, Va wanted $16k+ for repairs. In reality I think they didn’t want to deal with it and priced the job accordingly. This far above the trailer’s worth.

Other than a tear in the linoleum and black tank level sensors everything else works. She looks nice inside and out.

Question for the group is this trailer worth a DIY repair? Or let it go. I’ve had it for sell in a motorcycle track forum but no takers. We had hoped to find a Diyer but seems it’s not something people want to deal with.

I consider myself an advanced handyman. I have done roof work, framing, major electrical household wiring - inspected and passed, gas water heater replacement, all manner of floor installation, plumbing, woodworking and major automotive repairs.

I know mostly what I’d be getting into - rotted roof plywood, rotted rafters, possible wall structural member replacement, flooring repairs. Removal of all roof fixtures, membrane replacement, unplanned “surprises “.

What do you guys think? And yes If she was 100% we would definitely be camping.

Reg

[afinepoint]

mr_andyj wrote:
congrats on selling.

So, $16,000 to fix!!!? wow!
Assume $60/hour shop rates, and $1,000 in parts. $15,000 divided by 60/hour is 250 man hours of labor that they quoted you to fix it. That's a little over 6 weeks of one guy working all day, every day (5 days/week full time) for the repair.
I need to get into the RV repair business. I would fix in less than a week....

Shop rates, at least at that dealer are well beyond $60/hr. In fact I don’t know of any garage - auto, truck or RV that has rates that low. Everyone I have dealt with are $99/hr+. High end near $150/hr.

The repair estimate from another dealer in 2013 or so was over $4000. Even that price today is greater than the trailer’s value.

My plans now, as I emailed a dealer yesterday, is to wait. Clovid restrictions will relax more and eventually be gone. The current whirlwind of RV buying will mean plenty of used trailers for sale once people go back to their normal vacationing. Sales will drop and dealer inventories rise. There will be some good deals in the not to distant future for the patient. And without the often month’s wait to take delivery of today.

[Gdetrailer]

mr_andyj wrote:
congrats on selling.

So, $16,000 to fix!!!? wow!
Assume $60/hour shop rates, and $1,000 in parts. $15,000 divided by 60/hour is 250 man hours of labor that they quoted you to fix it. That's a little over 6 weeks of one guy working all day, every day (5 days/week full time) for the repair.
I need to get into the RV repair business. I would fix in less than a week....

You sir, obviously have never repaired a water damaged RV.

I have.

Not once but twice.

The next RV, it will be a complete gut and removal of the box and build fresh from frame up. It can be that bad.

The first TT a 20ft early 1980s, removed all upper cabinets to remove and replace nearly 80% of the roof trusses from the inside. Replaced all the ceiling, the entire front inside paneling and built all new upper cabinets. All work done by myself, spent every waking hr after work and every weekend working on that trailer.. Took 6 months..

The second and current mid 1980s 26ft TT was a total gut job on inside and outside. 95% of the roof trusses were gone, replaced or repaired 25% of the sidewall structure and 100% of the front and rear wall structure.. Repaired two bad spots on the floor to boot.. All new ceiling panels, all new wall panels, built all new upper and lower cabinets, beds, bunks.. All new outside skins and roof. That took 9 months to complete with just myself working every spare waking hr after work and every weekend.

I do not intend to buy a new unit, nor do I plan to buy another used unit. If I were to buy another one, no question and no hesitation, I would remove all the good items and cut the bolts hold the box on and shove it off and burn it and start fresh with all new flooring and all new walls and roof.

Rot knows no boundries and I can assure you, the water damage visible is less than 1% of the over all hidden damage.

If you want to slap a bandaid on it, sure you could patch and go in a weekend, if you want it fixed right and fixed the first time and permanently, nope, not going to happen.

Granted, in the OPs case, the dealer shot a high price out there, it may have been done to discourage the OP (might have been a good idea at that) or it most likely was due to the unknown factor.. The unknown of just how extensive is the damage, once you open up the ceiling, walls and floor you are committed, I would bet that the dealer didn't want to gamble, underbid and take a huge loss..

OP did the right thing since they are not able to do the work themselves, they sold it as a project or parts, someone else bought a project or parts trailer.

It is a losing asset.. You lose money from the second you put your name on the title until the second someone else puts their name on that title. Its a RV, not a sticks and bricks home.

[mr_andyj]

congrats on selling.

So, $16,000 to fix!!!? wow!
Assume $60/hour shop rates, and $1,000 in parts. $15,000 divided by 60/hour is 250 man hours of labor that they quoted you to fix it. That's a little over 6 weeks of one guy working all day, every day (5 days/week full time) for the repair.
I need to get into the RV repair business. I would fix in less than a week....

[Gdetrailer]

🙂 Good job!

[afinepoint]

SOLD - cash

[Gdetrailer]

afinepoint, might wish to remove the link from your post, moderators most likely will edit or remove posts that appear to advertise..

And yeah, CL should get some interest, unfortunately brings a long a lot of tire kickers and scammers.

Be very careful of scammers wanting to give you a check for more than what you are asking, those scammers will and you to cash the check then send the extra back to them.. Classic scam.

Don't go for the ones wanting you to ship it, those tend to be scams also..

In person only, cash on barrel head.. No funny checks, no gift cards.

[afinepoint]

Don’t have the space. Listed it in Craigslist. Lots of interest.

[poppa]

afinepoint wrote:
I’ve looked around the forums but can’t seem to find exactly what I need. We have a 2008 Adventure Manufacturing toy hauler with a roof soft spot of about 1’x1’ in a rear corner and corresponding swelling of garage vertical members directly below. A sunken soft spot has appeared in the floor. This leak was there when we bought it several years ago as I had the dealership replace the very same vertical member not knowing why it was so. Over the years the cancer has grown.

A Camping World in Ashland, Va wanted $16k+ for repairs. In reality I think they didn’t want to deal with it and priced the job accordingly. This far above the trailer’s worth.

Other than a tear in the linoleum and black tank level sensors everything else works. She looks nice inside and out. fix it yourself. go for it if ya got the space and cover to do it. you can do it cheaper and better than any dealer these days. dont get in a hurry and DO IT!!!

Question for the group is this trailer worth a DIY repair? Or let it go. I’ve had it for sell in a motorcycle track forum but no takers. We had hoped to find a Diyer but seems it’s not something people want to deal with.

I consider myself an advanced handyman. I have done roof work, framing, major electrical household wiring - inspected and passed, gas water heater replacement, all manner of floor installation, plumbing, woodworking and major automotive repairs.

I know mostly what I’d be getting into - rotted roof plywood, rotted rafters, possible wall structural member replacement, flooring repairs. Removal of all roof fixtures, membrane replacement, unplanned “surprises “.

What do you guys think? And yes If she was 100% we would definitely be camping.

Reg

fix it yourself. go for it if ya got the space and cover to do it. you can do it cheaper and better than any dealer these days. dont get in a hurry and DO IT!!!

[afinepoint]

Sage thank you. Some of the screws that pin the metal strips to the membrane edge are rusted. I’ve read this is signs of water intrusion via those screws. Camping World supposedly walked the roof and sealed what was needed. Maybe not.

PA I appreciate the thoughts.

[Gdetrailer]

afinepoint wrote:

When I listed it in the bike forum I did say reasonable offer. Track forums are great places to sell a toy hauler FYI. I also did a full disclosure.

I'll give Craigslist a chance. I'm not prepared to buy at the moment as I'd want another much newer TH and am not ready to shell out $$$$$.

Thanks for all of the great input.

Reg

Toyhaulers are not just for motorcycles, folks with quads, sandrails, golf carts, Jon boats, kayacks and so on may be looking for a toyhauler at a good price.

If it is a big enough toy hauler you might find interest by folks that have smaller antique autos.

Heck, even a large family looking for extended sleeping space and perhaps lots of kids bike storage while traveling that a toyhauler often offers may be interested..

Doubt many of those types of folks will be hanging out just on bike forums.

When selling something, you always advertise to the larger audience, CL will open your ad up to a much larger audience than hanging around on just a bike forum.

As far as price, not many people respond to "reasonable offers" any more, be realistic, price it to sell, that may mean getting pennies on the dollar in some cases but keeping in mind, it is old, it needs considerable work to repair. You have to look at it differently when pricing something to sell.. Apply the "would I pay that price for the condition and age" to it and then drop it a bit lower and start there.

[Sagebrush]

We used large dealers for repairs, usually came with some kind of warranty. Locally we have a Gander RV which is a Camping World I guess and they have a huge service center. Haven't really used their services much lately. I'm a do it yourself kind of guy when I can.

Its best to just coat the whole roof and reseal everything IMO, thats how my old 5th wheel was handled about two years ago. The rubber roof is original 2005 vintage, but it has the white roll on coating put on everything. Its nice and thick, I don't have any patches up there so far. The job isn't hard to do. The rubber roofs are easier if they are still laying flat, you just clean and roll the coating on.

[afinepoint]

Sagebrush the leak has been addressed by two RV dealerships. I had the
top repaired years ago by one and Camping World in Ashland a couple of years ago. The damage continued to grow after each "repair ". I keep a cover on it replacing as the wind destroys the current.

I agree with GDE that it's likely worst than it seems and I would expect a splintered mess once the membrane is peeled back.

Wa8 thanks but there's no way I'd pull this halfway across the country if you did it for free. It's a local repair or not at all.

When I listed it in the bike forum I did say reasonable offer. Track forums are great places to sell a toy hauler FYI. I also did a full disclosure.

I'll give Craigslist a chance. I'm not prepared to buy at the moment as I'd want another much newer TH and am not ready to shell out $$$$$.

Thanks for all of the great input.

Reg

[rexlion]

If you trade it, the dealer may very well do some cosmetic work and resell it, damage and all, to some unsuspecting chump. Not your problem, but how would you feel about it? Something to think about.

You have the tools and talent. If you have the time, and provided you can stop the source of water intrusion, the repair will leave you with a sound trailer you can keep using and enjoying or else sell with a clear conscience. Surely a repaired trailer will bring more on resale than one that's obviously damaged.

[wa8yxm]

I would strongly recommed getting it fixed.

NOW for the record. I do not and will not do this kind of work. I have the skills but .. well 5 decades ago give or take I did roofing (Houses etc not RVs) but that was 5 decades ago.

IF you are near Flint. MI I can give you a referral.. My RV GIRL does a very fine job.. She's a bit younger than me I think.. (Oh. that's the license plate on her work truck,, The only time I've "Dated" her it involved RV repairs by the way.. We did once spend a day together (Ok so it was the CRIM race and we were both assigned to the same intersection by different authorities) and I've sort of taken her to Dinner once (She drove, I paid) but we'd put in a few hours swapping out a defective Fridge or Floor (Forget which) it was late and I did not feel like cooking or driving (Fridge it was cause it was cool when I got back to the RV).