Welcome to the Operating Room,
I guess we should tell you that I bought this trailer with my eyes wide open. It has old injuries that only a surgeon can fix. It is a 2001 Jayco Kiwi C21. I picked it up in Maine and brought through the Canadian border back to the hospital. We then called in the team and today we had a chance to do a little exploratory surgery. I picked it up from a hockey nut. so as of today we have a status- Injured, return date - pending.
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| Passenger side |
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| Drivers Side |
I spent some time looking her over before leaving the sellers house; there is a good chance that she will play again, given the right medical team and rehab.....
Before leaving we sealed a few holes that were found on the roof-line. Good thing too. It stormed on the way home.
Some of the things found during the primary checkup.
- Severe wetness on the D side rear of the floor.
- Delamination of the wall on the D side rear, starting low about a foot back of the wheel well and going to the top corner.
- Soft area around the door of the bathroom
- Soft area around the entrance door extending under the reefer/freezer
- water getting in around front bunk somewhere when towing. Floor here looks good, but surgery on this area is not scheduled till next week.
So we'll take a look at the rear area. This area has to been the hardest hit and we need to get the seal back on the roof as soon as possible so we will start here and then hopefully get the roof re-caulked completely early in the week.
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| D side rear trim coming off 30+ screws. | | |
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| When I pulled the light one screw hole poured water for 45 sec. This one was into a aluminum cross member! |
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As we continued in it was necessary to remove the D side lower molding as well.
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| The outer layer of the wall |
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| Propped open to dry |
The inner layer in this location was still intact so we are going to try an exterior only re-skin and repair. It was evident that there was still a lot of water in the walls of the trailer and the first order of business is get things dry. The rear bunk door is coming out next. Remove the door/bed floor with its hinge, then try to get the frame out. This is held in by a few screws and caulk. We used a 6" putty knife and an old chisel to loosen the caulk. The putty knife worked the best. Removed the rain guard above the door frame. Then we pulled an prodded and thought....
I had to call in my trusty nurse to help me . We braced across the corner with a scrap of wood held up about 1" with more scraps. Used a 3"x2"scrap of 1/2 plywood on the inside to spread the load on the frame and keep from marking it up. Then we took a 6" c-clamp and used it as a puller to start the frame out. Once it started out we could then cut the remaining caulk with the putty knife. The P side was still well stuck. Starting at the top was the best place as the bead of caulk is hard to get at on the bottom , so we loosened the top and worked it up so we could slide the knife under the frame and cut the caulk there.
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| Frame started out. |
Then we pulled the strip that attached the rear wall to the rubber roof. The roof has no visible damage and is solid so the water has been traveling down the back wall not out into the ceiling, whew! Once that was off. All was clear. The leak locations were easily seen on the back of the interior ceiling section. It is very damp and fragile but intact. I am proposing to use some anti-mold product then epoxy resin to strengthen it and then reset the rear upper wall. The interior piece is curved and color matched to the rest of the ceiling so I really don't want to take it out.
The hardwood corners are still in excellent shape and the aluminum structure is as well. The white stuff is some of the polystyrene beads from the insulation that is glued to the exterior fiberglass. The top strip of luan plywood that is visible on the roof has completely delaminated so will be replaced. This flap can be lifted up even without the obvious delamination I have. The D side rear wall is also delaminated so will be repaired in due course.
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| Rear wall delamination and curve area insulation |
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Well our OR time is up and the surgeon must not miss his golf game. (I don't play golf) Covered the exposed end in plastic and duct taped it to the roof to seal it, hopefully. The sun is doing its part and many of the now exposed surfaces are dry to the touch.
Lets see what next week will bring.
