Water leak. Do I need to remove wall?

[chagood]

I have a fleet wood prowler 5th wheel.  The roof appears to be leaking in the closet.  I opened a small area of the closet up and the wood bracing I see is soaked, but appears sound.  We first noticed the leak, because the closet carpet was soaked.  We plan to fix the roof leak as soon as we can manage.  Will we also need to completely remove all the closet wall?  Will the wood continue to decay unless the wall is opened up?  We live in an area of low humidity.

 

[Rene T]

I have a fleet wood prowler 5th wheel.  The roof appears to be leaking in the closet.  I opened a small area of the closet up and the wood bracing I see is soaked, but appears sound.  We first noticed the leak, because the closet carpet was soaked.  We plan to fix the roof leak as soon as we can manage.  Will we also need to completely remove all the closet wall?  Will the wood continue to decay unless the wall is opened up?  We live in an area of low humidity.

IMHO, I don't think so. Can you put a fan in the area and aim it towards the area you have opened up?  You could also try a dehumidifier if you have one. Leave it open as long as you can and get up on the roof as soon as you can to locate the source of the leak. That should be a annual thing to do.

 

[scottydl]

If you can get the place completely dried out as soon as possible (a constantly-running dehumidifier is a good method) and the leak is new AND you find/fix the source... you can probably keep from having to rip everything up.

 

[Gregg]

I had a water line burst in one of my rental units and the water remediation company said that as long as you get things dried up within 72 hours, you should not have an issue with mold but they still sprayed some Concrobium to kill any spores.  If it is a wall that has fiberglass insulation, I am not sure how you will be able to get things dried up within that window of time.  As far as decay of the wood framing, as long as you get things dried up you should be fine.  They mainly installed a number of large fans to get plenty of air movement to help expedite the drying process.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

No, but you need to open it up enough to dry out thoroughly. Plenty of ventilation needed.

 

[lynnmor]

If the wet area is inside a closet, you could cut holes in the paneling to ventilate.  After it is completely dry, cover the area with cedar panels for a custom job.

 

[Gregg]

I often wonder why manufacturers put fake wood paneling inside of the cabinets and closet areas.  It might look a little better but it also does not do us any favors hiding leaks until they get really bad.