Water damage - Coachmen Royal 325 RLS fifth wheel trailer

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
grashley

grashley

Well-known member
Joined
May 7, 2015
Posts
6,610
Location
Western Kentucky
WELCOME TO THE FORUM!!

I am not the expert you need here, but they will be here soon.  I hope you got a GREAT deal on this unit.  Repairs will likely run 2x or 3x what you expect.
 
Good day folks and thanks in advance,

I bought a used and water damaged 2000 Coachmen royal 325 RLS fifth wheel and intend on DIY kinda project deal. 

The RV had a water leak from the roof seam towards the back end of the trailer that runs from one side to the other. The water damaged the back wall panel, back side panel and the floor. The entire floor needs to be ripped out, along with the insulation and the beams that are made out of wood. The lady I bought it from said the leak happened two years ago when there was a lot of ice accumulated on the roof top and had never leaked since.

I researched the trailers roof and wall specifications and it says it has aluminum framed walls and roof. I looked at the roof top and it seems like it is ok. The entire seam caulking (back roof running from side to side) where the water leaked from is cracked.

I am not sure if I have to redo the entire roof or just go over the caulking with Dicor material and move on to the walls and floor, or should I rip out the ceiling from the inside and see if anything is worth replacing.

Thanks all and I look forward to being on the road and enjoying the time camping with the family.

TYVM

K
 
I had a 2010 19 foot trailer that in 2012 smelled musty and had some delamination in the front.  The seam between the Filon front and the rubber roof leaked.  I had an estimate of $2,200 to replace the roof but the guy said it was only and estimate and depended upon how bad things looked when he tore the roof off.  I ordered the rubber roof and new Filon sheeting and did the work myself.  Total cost was about $1,200.

The 1/4-inch wood roof beneath the rubber was rotted for about 18 inches around the entire roof.  I removed that 18 inches and replaced with new plywood then put a new 1/4 plywood layer above the entire roof.  It took me about 6 weeks because I replaced anything with rot and I can be a perfectionist.  I caulked all seams and holes carefully then put Eternabond tape on all the caulked areas.  I will say that when finished the trailer was much better than what the factory did.

Bottom line is that you need to carefully inspect all areas for rot and mildew.  I seriously doubt the comment the seller made to you about it not leaking after the initial event.  Caulking doesn't generally heal itself!

Good luck, I think you have a big project. 

Dwayne

PS:  I just found another thread with a great photo series detailing roof replacement:  http://www.rvforum.net/miscfiles/RV_re-roof.pdf
 

Attachments

  • Roof rot.JPG
    Roof rot.JPG
    31.9 KB · Views: 32
Thanks Dwayne,

Have you had any experience replacing beams off the floor? I am going to have to dig into the floor to find the extend of the damage. Perhaps I will post some pictures as well so that maybe more comments can be generated to assist in the buildup. I have previous experience renovating homes but I am not familiar with trailers and the required caulking, sealants to be used when it comes to RVs.

 
That sounds like a lot of floor damage (is it really that bad?) from a one-time leak. I suspect it was much more than that. However, if the roof is still solid, I see no reason not to seal it up again with lap sealant (caulk) and/or Eternabond tape. If there is any softness, though, you have to open it up to see the extent of it. Small areas can be patched if the rest is still solid.

If the floor is all really soft, you will just have to start opening it up to see what is what and make a plan from there.  The subfloor is usually laid directly over a metal framework, so I would not expect to find any wood "beams". Carpet or tile or whatever is laid over that. All this is done before cabinets and interior walls are added, and sometimes even before the sidewalls are erected, so it's often impossible to completely replace a damaged floor. You just have to piece it in somehow.
 
Thanks Gary,

Do I scrape off the old caulking from the roof on the seam or just caulk on top of the old cracked caulk? The old Caulking is very badly cracked all the way across from one end to the other.

Thanks.
 
Carefully scrape off the loose stuff, then thoroughly clean what remains with mineral spirits. If you've got a rubber roof, be careful not to rub the mineral spirits into the rubber part of the roof too hard. You can wipe the rubber surface down to clean it, but soaking it could weaken the glue that bonds it to the substrate.

If you're resealing the roof with Dicor (which I highly recommend), you can apply it right over the top of the old sealant, as long as the old sealant is clean.

Kev
 
Thanks Kevin. Where do you recommend buying the Dicor and other supplies from?
 
kaldzzz said:
Thanks Kevin. Where do you recommend buying the Dicor and other supplies from?
Click to expand...

Most any RV dealership which sells supplies or just Google Dicor and you buy it on line.  It also comes in 2 or 3 different colore:  http://www.campingworld.com/browse/skus/index.cfm?
skunum=32125&rewrote&affiliateid=5193&gclid=CJLngc6S3MkCFdgYgQodZyMCHA
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Members online

Total: 1,050 (members: 8, guests: 1,042)

Forum statistics

Threads
131,972
Posts
1,388,448
Members
137,722
Latest member
RoyL57
Back
Top Bottom