420RVfun wrote:
Extensive water damage. Roof leaks will be sealed soon, lots of rotten wood. this is an 88 aluminum exterior, stick built interior pull behind camper. After it is all cleaned out I'm thinking about using flex seal on the inside along seams. Any thoughts on this idea? Then installing new wood, that I was going to waterproof somehow, maybe flex seal wood also. And trying to figure out how to make it all strong again, maybe use liquid nails as I rebuild, to help wood stick to frame(aluminum siding was stapled and screwed to wood support structure originally) because I would prefer not to mess with the aluminum exterior, it seems to be in good condition. The leaks I know about are in the roof and around a vent and window. I am replacing floor, walls, and ceiling support structure. Then new siding and interior rebuild. This is my first work on any camper and am looking for some guidance.
I am assuming that you are gutting the inside?
If so, you remove the cabinets and paneling to get all the wood structure exposed.
Remove ALL of the rotted wood back to good solid studs.
Then you can "sister" in new studs beside the old, use drywall screws and if you wish you can use construction adhesive to strengthen the joints between the studs. You can then add a filler stud to fill in the empty space of the old stud.
Typical RVs use 1x2s as wall studs, for repairs use 2x2s, which makes for a much stronger repair.
Inspect and replace any severely rotted roof truss, many are nothing more than a 2x2 or 2x4 that is tapered at the ends..
Replace badly rotted roof trusses, you don't want to have the roof fail at a repair point down the road..
As far as the outside skin goes, unless you have large spans of area that you have to replace the studs, I would worry about gluing the studs to the aluminum, besides getting glue to stick to aluminum is rather difficult and typically will fail.
The aluminum skin is stapled to the studs at the bottom of every sheet and the top of the skin panel slides into the bottom of sheet above it. Skipping a couple of studs will typically not be a problem since the aluminum skin is ribbed it has strength to stay in place and not be a problem if a stud is missed.
If you find a lot of studs need replaced, you may need to remove a few skin panels. You start at the bottom, it will be folded under the side and stapled in place. Remove the staples and the bottom panel simply slides down and out of the next panel above.
Repeat the process until you have removed enough panels to get to the place you need to get to.
To reinstall, use screws, not staples, makes it rather easy to reinstall and you don't need to buy a big staple gun.
Good luck to you and your project!
