Here I am updating my blog as I promised. The past year has been interesting and educational. I discovered the “repair job” done to prevent leaks in my camper roof was less than satisfactory and indeed, there were many leaks. One of the worst was where the fridge vents through the roof. There is a cover over this vent to prevent objects, debris and animals access to the open vent. Heat from the fridge comes out this vent. I had noticed the cover (called a cowl) was attached in an unusual fashion. Instead of the way the factory would have the screws going through the top of the cowl, the screws were through the sides. This unusual fastening compressed the sides of the cowl to form a less-than desirable shape. I removed the screws. All were bent. The cowl came off to reveal the chimney had been broken off almost to the roof level. This allowed rain, snow melt, etc to pour into the camper, down onto the top of the fridge and onto the camper floor. So, this was where some of the leaking was happening…too bad the “professional” RV repair personnel didn’t notice when they were “fixing” all the leaks in my camper. 

I repaired the broken chimney using plastic milk containers, silicone caulking and creativity. After replacing the missing areas, I reinforced the broken area with some aluminum flashing, more silicone caulking and sheet metal screws to keep everything together. I replaced the damaged screen over the top and replaced the bent screws. I removed all the caulking the “professionals” put in to the seam between the roof edge and the sidewalls. There had been no cleaning of the accumulated dirt in the seam prior to applying the fresh caulking, allowing for leaking between the old & new caulk. I used hydrogen peroxide to flush out all the dirt that had been caulked over. Worked nicely, all the foaming action from the hydrogen peroxide pushed the dirt right out of the seam and any cracks where the dirt might be hiding. After a good drying, I used a toothbrush to remove any dirt, wiped the seam down with alcohol and reapplied fresh caulk.

There was a tear in the vinyl roof fabric right next to the damaged fridge vent…open to allow water to seep into the camper. I cleaned it up and inserted some silicone caulk inside the open tear. Then I pressed the edges of the tear into the caulk, sealing the tear from the inside. Worked very nicely.

After understanding how the roofing system works (or in this case doesn’t work properly), I realized that where the awning is screwed into the side of the camper, very close to the roofline was leaking. A factory joint between the roof and front of the camper also was leaking…again, not properly cleaned out before copious amounts of caulk was applied by the “professionals”. I pulled the factory joint and exposed dirt where the joint had been leaking for some time. This was obvious from the damage on the inside of the camper…where water had leaked into a small cabinet hung from the ceiling. I had kept receipts and paper work in that cabinet…and all was lost to water damage.

After conferring with the RV supply sales person, I purchased a package of Quick Roof emergency rubber roof patch kit ($10.95 for 1’ X 6” rubber patch, 1 scrub pad & 2 alcohol wipes), I covered this factory joint between the roof and front of the camper with a piece of this rubber patch, figuring it would take care of the leak. It didn’t and it did cause the fiberglass under the patch to craze. Just one more thing to address!

There was a lot of excesses caulking all over the seam areas. Whomever did the roof caulking should never be allowed to handle a caulking gun again. To say that they were unprofessional in their job would be an understatement! There were gobs of caulking left on the roof where they set the caulking gun down and the caulk oozed out of the tube…never wiped off the roof. I have showed the pix to some who do repairs on RV and camper roofs and they grimaced when they saw the mess.

I spent most of one year cleaning mold off the inside of the camper, drying out things that were damp/wet/moldy. It has been a fiasco.

The RV place where I do business (or maybe did business?) will not address the issue. Unfortunately, the receipt for the work done on the camper roof was part of the paper work that got wet from the leak in the roof…ironic, huh? I have to go to the bank to get a copy of the transaction. If I remember with all the roof repair I still have to do!

I am sure the floor under the fridge is also rotted. You see, the camper is composed of fiber board, so if it gets wet, the glue comes undone, the fibers swell and the whole structure is compromised. We are talking about a camper here, no fed or state regulations on these things. So manufacturers can use pretty much what they want when building them.

Basically, the roof is fine. It is a vinyl roof. It appears all seams where the roof has been cut to put a chimney or vent in or where the roof AC unit is are fine. To be sure, I scrubbed the areas and re-sealed. The problem seems to be where something fell on the camper prior to my buying it. Then there is where the awning screws into the side of the camper just below the roof line. Since the awning is heavy and requires several people to remove…and is pretty complicated, I have avoided removal. But I may do so in the near future now that I have moved where there is help available for this project.

I may have some help selling my belongings on Ebay. Where I have just moved (9/13/16) to is owned by a fellow who sells a lot of stuff on Ebay. Just yesterday, I showed him my Philco Model 89 cathedral style tube radio. I had it on Craig’s List for $100.00, was offered $25.00. I declined, and pulled the ad, repacked the radio and put into storage…When the guy saw the radio, he got very excited. Showed me others not nearly as nice on Ebay for over $300.00. Today, we will take pix and post on Ebay. I have many things of value that I can sell on Ebay with his help. Now I can see why I have come here…everything is for a reason!

Meanwhile, I am still trying to close on my property. The fat man has been such a jerk…and I mean jerking the court system, the lawyers and the judge. He has trashed the property with all the junk from his house. There is a pile of dead TV’s on the lawn…he tossed any furniture he didn’t want out on the back yard. The commissioner (I will have to pay for!!!) has lost all patience with him but the judge lets the fat man continue in his errant ways! I am trying to get my paperwork together so I can avoid paying for the line of credit the fat man ran up to $44,000.00. He will say the money was used on fixing up the two trailers (one I lived in and spent over $5,000.00 of my own money to make livable). This is true. He now owns both of those trailers. One he is renting for $950.00 a month (with all utilities), the second one he will live in after he repairs all the damage from the leaking roof. Roof started to leak in 2006. The tenant told me of the situation. I hired someone to repair the roof (shrink wrap with boat plastic, worked very well for three years). I paid the bill. The fat man collected half the rent and paid for nothing. Then he threatened the tenant and she moved out in July 2006. The trailer has been empty since…except for one occasion when I raised some pullets in it. I made enough profit from raising those pullets to pay the entire year’s real estate tax bill on the property. But he objected so much, I didn’t do it again. What a jerk!