Soaked bunk area -- leaking water from recent rains...

Ok.. To fix this will be a future series I'm sure.. I noticed this morning a fairly frequent dripping coming from a few holes in the bottom of the bunk area on the drivers side. After talking with Ramon, he suggested pulling up some of the panelling up in the bunk area to see what was underneath -- that sounded good since we're supposed to be heading to Oregon tomorrow.. I think some of the water was coming in from a scrunched end-cap on the passenger side (fiberglass in this case) -- in doing some caulking I found a missing screw on the drivers-front end-cap over the bunk area -- now sealed up with caulking -- until I can properly fix it. We also re-sealed some of the end-caps on the front bunk area (my sister-in-law and I) and will do the same on the vertical end-caps on the rear of the rig tomorrow AM. By the way.. the rear window is now installed and sealed up..

In the picture below, notice the decayed wood on the passenger side front edge

In this last photo notice the puddle of water -- this is on the drivers side. We mopped up about a cup or perhaps a little more of dirty water.. We've been stuffing paper towels up there which eventually get saturated with water and we toss and put more down.. So far we've done this about 6 times.. The water is apparently still weeping out of the soaked wood.. At least it shouldn't slosh around when we drive.. When we get home after Thanksgiving, I can open it up and do the appropriate repairs.

More work on the side & rear windows...

Ok.. More rehab today -- the entire day.. I focused on getting the right rear window taken care of -- the first pic shows the state of things after I removed the spare tire mounting hardware (4 bolts protruding through the LD and into the inside) along with the plywood that was underneath the bolts...

The pics below shows the first sheet panel in place after drawing up a template using cardboard... No nails yet...

The next pics show the panels glued up and nailed.. I used PL poly construction adhesive..

Below are pics with the gel stain applied... along with a pic of the stain we used..

Here are the final pics for the evening -- we got the window installed with the help of my daughter who put in the first few screws as I held the window in place outside.. Unfortunately I ran out of caulk to complete the task -- mental note -- this window takes an ENTIRE tube of 3M 5200 caulk just to install it -- I still need more to go back and cover up the rubber as it's showing in a few places and to make the seal look neater -- a task for tomorrow.. Luckily this stuff doesn't cure for 7 days -- plenty of time to monkey with it..

More rear window rehab and wall prep...

Below are some of the latest images in the rear rehab saga.. I rebuilt the right corner using kiln dried 2x3's that were run through my ShopSmith table saw to size down to the proper size used as studs in the walls. A single 2x3 can make two full-length studs to pair down to the desired sizes. Works great if you've got a table saw!
One thing to note is the odd angle of the back wall to the rear shelf. There's a small piece of wood in a triangle shape holding that rear window lower sill plate at the right angle -- ours was not in good shape but enough was still in tact to allow a new one to be fabbed up -- unfortunately I didn't take any pics of it.. That rear shelf is an 8" wide piece of 3/4" plywood I had as left-over from a bookshelf project a few months back -- in maple -- our new plywood will also be in maple so it matches itself (but not the old LD plywood). More to follow..

Below are a few photos showing the new insulation installed in each of the wall cavities.. The insulation used is R-Max -- a combination of a 1" thick sheet followed by a 1/2" sheet which appears to be perfect to fill the thin wall cavities.

Below is a minor mod I chose to implement in the rear wall corner above the couch/bed. It'll be a flush mount cubby that should protrude into the empty wall area about 5.5" -- if you add in the stud thickness you can add an inch since the studs are 1"x1.5". I used our Fein Multimaster tool to cut the plywood out of the opening -- easy peasy! That is a must tool for this type of work -- excellent tool for trimming the crap off of dry-rotted studs so you can sister in good wood with the old.

Below you can see how deep the cavity is at the bottom of the opening. The opening is 9" tall if you're wondering.

So -- this is what I did yesterday.. I know it looks like a mess and I'll admit that it was a bit of a mess to get it to this point.. Yes, I will be replacing all of the panelling with something -- more than likely both walls will be re-done by the time I'm done (hopefully this coming weekend). As you can see in the wall, there's a piece that's bare aluminum on the inside (left) and the rest has a thin piece of plywood between the wall studs and the aluminum -- not sure why.

It took me an hour to remove the rear window -- 99% of it because of 1 screw that was stuck in place and wouldn't budge.. I had to drill it out and cut the head off. Once that was done I could see the condition of the wood hiding beneath.. Luckily the sides and top plates are in very good condition -- however the bottom plate is completely destroyed on both the left and right sides.. The middle is fine however. But I've decided I'll just replace the entire bottom sill and any other material needed.

So, as I mentioned earlier I was thinking about taking the entire wall apart and that's pretty much what I did.. Here you can see just how bad the corner is and you can also see the stub wall that allows space for the spare tire compartment.. Ever wonder about why there's a piece of carpet attached to the back wall? That's there to cover the bolts that secure the spare tire mount which are visible if you remove the carpet. By the way, the rear horizontal surface is made of 3/4" plywood that is SECURELY stapled to the framing beneath.

The plywood beneath the aluminum on the outside is stapled every ~2 inches to the stud plate (the furthest one back) which made it rather difficult to remove that lower window sill!

There's also a thin triangle piece of wood that runs under the window sill piece to accommodate the angle of the rear wall in relation to the window sill.

Here's what the space looks like between the vertical rear wall and the rear of the LD. You can see the cans for the tail lights below -- luckily there's not much damage that is visible down in the bottom of the false wall.

Passenger side rear window rehab.. Ugg!!

ok.. So last weekend I removed the passenger side rear window -- the large one on our model and found where the termites had been chomping along with nasty water damage in the rear corner. Below are a series of random photos showing the work area and damage found..

As some of you may know.. Our model had been retrofitted with a full-time bed in the rear -- the factory sofa/bed had been removed along with the seat belts by a prior owner. To the left is what things look like with the bed removed and out of the way -- also notice the a prior owner had removed the sink and put a box in place to hide the plumbing left-overs.

To the left is the area with the bed/seat plywood removed showing the framing attached to the walls. The corner in the center of the photo is the problem area -- lots of rot hiding beneath the nice looking plywood panelling -- as can be seen in the close-up photo below...

In the photo below you can see the corner with the plywood panelling removed -- you can see the extent of the damage -- the corner beam is completely dry-rotted out and after plucking off the worst of the bad stuff only about about 1/2 of the beam remains. The beam to the left of the corner is mostly eaten by termites.. This window is a work-in-progress-- more to come later..

Front window (bunk) rehab..

Ok.. Since the last post I did the bathroom window which was in horrible shape -- now good enough to keep the water out. Last weekend I did the front window which you can see to the left...

Below is a close-up photo -- as you can see the paint has flaked quite a bit -- to be addressed later.

As you can see the window glass has been pulled out sometime in the past and the person was messy with the black sealant -- I've since cleaned the window up using a putty knife and a careful application of some mineral spirits to get the remaining sealant residue off the glass where it was removed.

The window did not show any major issues with water damage luckily. The window was reinstalled and appears to be in good shape again.

The problem with changing out the windows...

So, as I was advised, if I changed out the window gasket material, at some point I'd run into a problem with the wood on an RV this old. So, today was that day.. I changed out the left front bunk window without problems and also the kitchen window -- no issues there either. However, we decided to do the window next to the dinette after the first two.. I had to remove the curtains, valance and window shade in order to gain access to the upper screws holding the inside frame into place. Once the screws were removed however, indications of problems started showing up -- debris coming out from the window opening.. Uh oh..

Once the window was removed, this is what I found...

Notice the damage in the front lower corner -- all of it is dryrot that is due to water infiltration. Interestingly enough, even some of the interior wood panelling is in poor shape but I had not even noticed it.. I'd suggest that if you're going to look at an used RV more than 5-10 years old it might be a good idea to press on all panelling around every window to ensure no rotted panels that are hiding.. Had I done this I might have changed my mind for buying this particular RV -- even though it was in better shape than many others we looked at.

Below is a photo showing the mock-up replacement wood we fabbed up. We found something similar to the original 1x3's used in the window framing and made up a few replacement pieces. I used a Fein Multimaster tool to cut-off the end of the bad area on both the horizontal piece and vertical side beams. The vertical material is not 1x3 -- something much more substantial, which we trimmed off enough material to shove a 1x3 in place and anchor it to the old material on the end with a thin strap tie (e.g. Simpson StrongTie).. More photos to come once it's installed. Meanwhile here's the mock-up below...

In the picture to the right you can see what I ended up with -- using Simpson StrongTie connectors to tie the old to the new..

Rebuilding Windows that have shrunken gaskets..

So some of the windows on our LD have severely shrunken gaskets that I'm sure are the original OEM stuff from '85. The prior owners over the years have applied black caulking to combat leaking -- from afar you don't really notice this unless you're specifically looking for it.. However, it's pretty noticeable up close. What does it look like? Unfortuantely I do not have any photos of our rig's issues but a picture I found at VintageTrailerSupply (a site for Airstream owners) had a photo showing what the issue looks like on a AS trailer's windows and this pretty much sums it up for my LD as well -- unfortunately I'm not sure what the replacement gasket material looks like.. Anyone know?

I'm figuring that IF I'm going to remove the window anyway to replace the existing Butyl rubber caulk that adhere's & seals the frame to the chassis, I might as well fix the other issue with each of these windows since I'd rather do everything at once instead of the possibility of doing it twice..

Lazy Daze being tented for termites this week..

So.. For this week, we're doing tenting.. for termites! As I'd hope most of you know virtually all RV's, trailers and whatnot are made using wood! As with anything made with wood, eventually those pesky termites will find their way in and setup their own all you can eat buffet on your RV. The Lazy Daze is no different! When we purchased ours we knew it had an issue with the bugs as we saw tell-tale signs of their presence -- the salt-n-pepper stuff they left behind in one of the storage bays. We knew we wanted to nip them in the bud by having it tented. We checked with one local place we've used before and got a quote of $550 for the job but they had issues with doing it on their property and were taking their time which I read to mean that they were not as interested in doing the job.. So, I contacted another local firm that does tenting -- Andy's Termite in Lomita and they did the job for less than the first place -- a very reasonable cost I think..

As with tenting a house the termite place must follow the required regulations and the tenting process takes 3 days here in California. Below is a picture showing the rig all buttoned up being fumigated.

To me this seems like something that ought to be done about every 15 years give or take -- assuming you keep your RV that long. Keep in mind that many termite places will NOT fumigate any structure (house, RV, etc) if there are no signs of activity so keep an eye out for that. One other thing to note about having an RV tented -- you may want/need to remove the propane tank(s) from the rig prior to doing the tenting to ensure there's no source of combustibles -- this is the same thing now required by law for doing home tenting -- the gas meter is disconnected from the house and left outside of the tent to ensure no source of gas in the house to combust -- see this story for the background if you like...

Window R&R -- right bunk window

Ok.. Got some pics of the next task I tackled with some help from the kids. This time I thought I'd tackle the window replacement to ensure the weather seal is good and strong to keep the rain out. Since these two front windows are nice-n-small I thought they'd be good first candidates. Taking the old window apart was easy after reviewing the overview here. We visited the MotherShip last Friday 7 minutes before closing to get some "D" gasket which can be used as an alternative to the older style of sealing the windows to the cab using butyl rubber "tape".. I gather that using the butyl rubber tape is a messier endeavor and needs to be done about every 5 years or perhaps a bit longer. Supposedly if you use the "D" gasket you only need to do it once assuming all of the rubber gasket is concealed by a good quality Polyurethane caulking such as 3M's 5200 Marine sealant (make sure you get the "fast cure" version which dries in 24 hours instead of a week) -- you can get this sealant at places like Home Depot (cheapest I gather per a comment from my LD buddy Ramon), West Marine and various other places online.

So, in the picture to the left is the window opening with window removed, old caulking cleaned off and ready for re-installation. Make sure to follow the directions outlined in the link provided earlier -- at this point mineral spirits were used followed later by an application of Acetone to make sure things stick really well.. Did I mention I messed up the first time and had to pull the window off after >12 hours of set time with the 3M 5200 sealant on the gasket. Needless to say it was a PAIN to remove the not completely cured sealant..

In the photo to the right you can see what the window opening looks like with the window removed -- all of the wood is in good shape -- no issues here.

Here's the removed window that's been cleaned up -- no more old gasket material here. I did have to fix a few stripped out holes in the frame -- I could have used a larger screw (#10) but decided to just drill a new hole near the old stripped one. This worked out well -- I used two drill bits - one for the hole through the outer frame where the shank of the screw must pass and then a much smaller hole through the bottom part where the screw must grab. I just wanted a hole to allow the screw to start but something much smaller than the screw needed to ensure a good grab occurs. If you work on the windows on a wall such as I did, make sure you put a few rags underneath to avoid scratching the metal surfaces.

In the photo to the left, you can see the "D" gasket applied to the bottom of the window frame -- the reason it's called "D" gasket is because it looks like a hollow-"D" from the end.

In the photo below you can see the seam of the gasket where the two ends meet. Per the directions, you're supposed to put some sealant in both ends prior to pulling the backing off the last couple of inches. Make sure on each edge that you make at least two (if not four) 1/2" slits to allow the air to escape as the gasket is compressed into the opening during re-installation. Make sure the slit is on the inside edge of the gasket -- NOT the outside edge which could allow the gasket to fill-up with water IF water were to able get in there... Sorry -- I forgot to take some photos of the small slits..

In the photo to the right, you'll see the same window with the 3M sealant applied to the top-center of the D-Gasket per the directions. I put the sealant on a bit heavier than I did the first time to ensure a good seal.

In this photo you can see the finished product -- note that while the top of the window had almost all of the black "D" gasket covered with sealant the rest of the window was spotty at best so I went around the window with the sealant and added more followed by cleanup with Acetone to cleanup any mess-ups on the frame or nearby paint. Too bad the 3M product isn't available in tan with the fast cure feature (they offer a slow-cure version in tan). Unfortunately the documentation for their product doesn't really call out the option for painting but this document does indicate it's possible but that it may crack due to flexing of the material..

The 'first' post.. How it started..

Hi all.. So our family purchased an old '85 Lazy Daze motorhome (the Multi-plan model) from a local family in our area of Los Angeles after having looked at several in the greater LA area -- most were not in very good condition despite being newer models -- most of the 89-91 vintage. Most had issues with the passenger side step for getting into the cab -- they were detached and re-attached with angle iron.. Other issues included broken fridges (~1-2k replacement), filthy insides and broken stoves and various other issues that would lead most people to believe that they hadn't been well taken care of.

So, this older (older than I really wanted to get) '85 was a fresh find for us -- it was local, had been owned by the current owner for 10 years (she was the 3rd owner) and when things broke she had them fixed instead of allowing them to compound into a basket case. While this unit was taken care of, it was not free of issues. A few things I found when doing the initial & subsequent inspections were :

• exterior paint - chipping on both front and rear end-caps badly - with huge areas missing paint down to the aluminum sheeting.
• unknown condition of roof seams -- they didn't look that great but prior owner indicates no leaks.
• Oven not known if it still works -- prior owner only used once in 10 years.
• Evidence of termite damage in passenger side rear compartment -- the tell-tale salt-n-pepper left-overs.
• Bathroom sink missing -- a prior prior owner remove it in favor of a full-sized (full-time) bed. Plumbing is capped and hidden in a recessed compartment with a door.
• Bathroom van non-functional in roof vent
• A rear ceiling light not working (fluorescent bulb probably burned out)
• Squeaky belt issue in engine (fixed by tightening alternator belt)
• Left and right rear corners where vertical wall bends just above tail lights -- both sides have evidence of some sort of structural issue (dry-rot or termites) as the wood paneling is soft in both places -- will open up wall at some point to investigate..
• brakes - hydroboost system not working as designed -- brakes are very hard to press
  

Ok -- with that said, here are the good items to note:

• all appliances appear to work OK as far as I can tell -- fridge, plumbing, stove, roof AC, dash AC (frequently broken on these older rigs), swamp cooler, heater, etc.
• Escape hatch over front bunk area recently replaced
• Engine & Chassis well maintained and regularly taken care of.
• Interior was well taken care of -- almost immaculate!
• All paperwork -- dating back to ordering from the factory, manuals, etc..
  

I'll be posting some photos of the rig in its current state and some of the tasks I'm working on as time goes forward.. My kids & wife are looking forward to our first trip but a few things are needed prior to taking that first trip.