~8 x 8~ of rotten wall...should I replace or ignore?

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mcline

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Joined
Jun 2, 2013
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i bought a 34 ft 2005 class a rv a few weeks ago. A tech and I  inspected it; the owner said there had been a leak on the passenger side roof corner and was fixed. unfortunately I did not inquire more  about it and did not communicate to the inspector.

Today, I was washing the roof with lots of water in preparation for coating the roof when I noticed the passenger side, right in the corner, the carpet got very wet so it seems the leak had not been properly fixed after all. I can fix the roof leak, the problem is that on closer inspection it seem in the wall below the passenger's window right next to the corner of the vehicle, there is a ~8 inch x 8 inch part of the inside wall that is very soft and when I tried to remove a outlet in such area and the two screws stripped which pretty means the part the wood behind the wall is rotten.

How screwed I am?

Should fix the leak and ignore the ~8 inch x 8 inch of the wall that is rotten, is that going to grow even with the leak fixed? Should I cut the wall and replace the rotten wood behind? 
The floor seems not comprised and as it is firm but it is carpet so it hard to know

I checked every inch of wall in the entire motorhome and everything is hard

Help and advice is appreciated

 
Yeah, unfortunately that's the nature of RV water leaks. There's often more damage than what was originally thought. Others may feel differently, but if it were me, I'd fix it. If there's no exterior delamination, the damage may be contained to the area inside the substrate. That's a good thing.

Kev
 
I gotta agree with Kevin. Not only for what he just mentioned, but I would want to know if there is a mold situation to address.
At least open it up for inspection to see what you're up against. Maybe some minor repair and you're good to go. Maybe some major rotting going on and mold.

You really need to know, don't cha?
 
Most any visible water leak is followed by wood damage. If minimal damage you can treat the affected area with something like Tim-bor Professional Insecticide and Fungicide, at a 15% mixture to stop or help prevent additional damage. Available at Amazon.com.

Otherwise the little bugs just keep eating away at the thin wood.

All is not lost, just dang inconvenient and something to stay on top of.

Cheers! 
 
I would want to open it up and see just how bad the internal damage is.

I'm not altogether convinced that the stripped screws mean all that much - the interior wall construction in some RVs leaves a lot to be desired. In fact, outlets are typically not mounted to any frame - just the interior wall panel. Often they are "old work" boxes that use the built-in clamps to hold in place.
 
Thanks for the help. Today I put silicon all over the place in the pas sager windows, above it, roof; everything
I took a closer look today and removed the outlet cover; the interior wall panel I can see is root on that 8x8 section but I do not see any mold on the insulation.

I will remove the rotten interior wall panel tomorrow and hopefully the wood will be ok.
 
mcline said:
Thanks for the help. Today I put silicon all over the place in the pas sager windows, above it, roof; everything
I took a closer look today and removed the outlet cover; the interior wall panel I can see is root on that 8x8 section but I do not see any mold on the insulation.

I will remove the rotten interior wall panel tomorrow and hopefully the wood will be ok.
Click to expand...

You should never use silicon to seal anything around the roof of a RV. Nothing else will stick to it later on not even silicon. Dicor is one of the manufacturers which makes a self leveling lap sealant especially for that application.
 
Rene T said:
You should never use silicon to seal anything around the roof of a RV. Nothing else will stick to it later on not even silicon. Dicor is one of the manufacturers which makes a self leveling lap sealant especially for that application.
Click to expand...

oh, really?....Actually I used Dicor; sorry, I though Dicor was silicon. My friend gave it to me. Thanks for the tip
 
I was looking at the manual and below is the composition of my rv wall's

Smooth .063 aluminum is standard,
gel coat fiberglass is optional
? Interlocking C-Channel filled
with 1-1/2" fiberglass insulation
bonded in place so it doesn?t sag or
leave spaces uninsulated
? Vapor barrier
? Bead foam adds comfort, saves
energy and provides a thermal
insulative barrier
? Interior paneling


Is the fact that there is no wood or plywood in the wall good news for me as maybe the damage is only constrained to the interior paneling?
 
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