Thubb4
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1978 Terry Taurus
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Post by Thubb4 on Feb 6, 2019 18:18:13 GMT -8
20190206_162837 by [a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ I recently was given a 1978 Terry. It needs a lot of TLC on the inside seeing that it is pretty much gutted. The exterior is in pretty good shape for being 40 years old. My first plan of action was to water test the exterior. There were a few spots that leaked. I took care of those problems. I'm new to the vintage trailer life so bare with me. I was given advice to re-coat the roof with Henry Solar-Flex. Living in San Diego rain isn't a issue. But in the last 2 weeks we have seen more rain than we usually see all year. I put a tarp over the trailer because some of the windows still had leaks. Today we finally got a break from the rain and I decided to take a look. Inside the trailer i noticed a little wet spot on the interior ceiling. Note that ceiling is the bare plywood no paint. So i checked the exterior directly above where the wet spot is. Low and behold there is a puddle of water on the roof. The roof is aluminum and unfortunately has some spots where it drops and allows water to sit. The sitting water caused the roof coating to bubble and deteriorate. The water then apparently leaked into the seem. What is the correct way to fix this problem?
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Post by vikx on Feb 6, 2019 20:59:03 GMT -8
Sorry for your troubles. Unfortunately, roof goop never works. It takes less than 6 months for it to start to peel and rarely stops leaks. I don't know how to fix this without removing the roof and finding out what is causing the sags. New roof metal may be in the future as well. Sometimes the metal develops pin holes which are very hard to see.
Almost all vintage trailers are rebuilt from the outside in, opposite of the way they were put together. We don't gut a trailer, so you've got more work than most. Leak points include the edge trim (J and awning rail), roof protrusions, and all openings, including the entry door.
It's possible your windows may not be leaking but the trailer is leaking from above, running down the wall and sometimes dripping out at the window opening. I suggest you remove the edge trim, windows and doors in prep for placing new putty. Also remove the roof and skins to inspect the framing in front, rear, roof area and both sides. You will probably find lower rot at the sills and skirts, rot under the front and rear windows, and possible bad rafters as well.
I'm sure you don't want to hear about a full build but I'm afraid that is what you are looking at.
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jeremiah
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Post by jeremiah on Feb 7, 2019 4:49:10 GMT -8
Your question is a loaded question. "Little wet spot" "windows still leak" "The correct way". How should these words be interpreted, without knowing what the damage is? I had a Motor home with a "little wet spot" on my ceiling, Very slight damage that I could live with. I purchased a product that is a roof sealer called "thru the roof" I consider it best product ever. Solved my leak. I was down the road Camping with mo more leak. I used about a pint of this product on seams.
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nccamper
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1962 Forester- 1956 Shasta
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Post by nccamper on Feb 7, 2019 4:54:27 GMT -8
"I don't know how to fix this without removing the roof and finding out what is causing the sags. New roof metal may be in the future as well"
I agree completely.
Until you pull the roof off (a weekend job) you won't know the cause. Water can be coming in at the roof, dripping in a way that causes no visual damage until it reaches a point where the drips pools..."some of the windows still had leaks."
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Thubb4
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1978 Terry Taurus
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Post by Thubb4 on Feb 7, 2019 15:36:12 GMT -8
jeremiah sorry if i kind of rambled. my question was how to fix the leak on the roof. The water isn't coming in from the trim. The leak is coming from the sag in the roof which is about a foot or more in from the edge. vikx nccamper I agree that i need to pull back the roof skin and assess the damage underneath. My guess is that a support beam could possibly be damaged. This is my first trailer and have no experience. My expertise is more on the interior side and building furniture. Do you happen to have any links of some good tutorials on going about removing and fixing the roof?
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nccamper
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1962 Forester- 1956 Shasta
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Post by nccamper on Feb 7, 2019 19:06:53 GMT -8
Do you happen to have any links of some good tutorials on going about removing and fixing the roof? Try this:
There are several videos on removing the skin made by a VTT member.
And a great book at vintagetrailerrepairmanual.weebly.com/
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