Let the Squarestream Reno Begin!

[ktmkirby]

Well, after getting all the subfloor pieces cut and edges all sealed, I consulted my notes that I had misplaced and wife had found, and found that I cut the floor 1/2 to narrow. I cut flush with the ends of the outriggers at 91", and I should have left a 1/4" overhang for a 91 1/2" width. I'm not really sure if it's going to make much difference, the base rail will still bolt in, I'll just be left with a small gap between the end of the subfloor and the exterior skins. Some options are to scab some 1/4" wood strips on there, fill the gap with Vulcum, or just leave it, which might even be a good thing, and provide an airspace for the edges of the subfloor to dry out. In any case I don't want to buy $600 worth of more wood and start all over, the shell is going on in the next few weeks regardless. If anyone has any other ideas, feel free to chime in. Keep in mind that there is no C channel on a Squarestream, it's just a channel that lays flat on the subfloor and the the skin overhangs about an inch.

[ktmkirby]

Subfloor done!

[ktmkirby]

Finally got the shell put back on before the weather goes bad. The next project is to reseal the windows and any roof leaks.

[goransons]

Looking good! Touchdown is always a great feeling.

[slowmover]

Glad to see this!

[ktmkirby]

I've been hard at work pulling all the windows out and resealing with butyl tape, and searching for other leaks. All that was originally on the windows was a 1/2 in piece of old compressed foam tape. In some places it had completely deteriorated. I would suggest to anyone who has an Argosy or Squarestream to change the seals on your windows if you haven't already done it. On a side note when asking for butyl tape, be sure they don't give you putty tape, unless you want to use putty tape. Putty tape is easier to work with, but won't last as long as the real butyl tape. I also found leaking around the end cap seams that I'll seal with Parbond and maybe go over the whole roof seam with Eternabond tape. I'm starting to run out of good weather. It's getting below freezing at night and 10C during the day. I have to get this thing sealed up, leak free before I start the interior.

[ktmkirby]

Spent 5 days scraping and sanding the roof for painting, hopefully next week. One layer of Alumibond tape over two rotting layers of self levelling sealant. Fantastic vents had to pried off the rusted screws and had to be scrapped.

[pvfjr]

Originally Posted by ktmkirby

Spent 5 days scraping and sanding the roof for painting, hopefully next week. One layer of Alumibond tape over two rotting layers of self levelling sealant. Fantastic vents had to pried off the rusted screws and had to be scrapped. Attachment 299189

Yikes, what a mess of sealants! This reminds me of what I went through getting the old leaky antenna off of our roof. I'm thinking about getting some sort of power scraper before I tackle my three roof vents and the AC.

[ktmkirby]

Originally Posted by pvfjr

Yikes, what a mess of sealants! This reminds me of what I went through getting the old leaky antenna off of our roof. I'm thinking about getting some sort of power scraper before I tackle my three roof vents and the AC.

I though of that too, but a heat gun and scrapper eventually did the job. It's no wonder the ceiling was a mess. All four corner leak too. Hopefully all the new caulking and Eternabond do the job.
I took the antenna off as well. I'm thinking of replacing it with something newer.....haven't done the research on that yet.

[ktmkirby]

More work completed on the roof. Final sanding, and goo removal. Fibreglass repair on the end caps. I'm going to start priming and paint in a few days.

[ktmkirby]

For those of you with Squarestreams or Argosys 86-91, my theory is that this area is one of the majors causes of rotting floors at the front and in the bedroom. Water gets in here and leaks down the seam that joins the rear section of the trailer.

[ktmkirby]

The area around the Fantastic vent is another bad spot. The aluminum edge at the bottom of the picture is not supported by anything( there was a piece of rotted wood in there). I will be adding a piece of L shaped aluminum in there to give support, that should give me a better seal.

[JayTheCPA]

Looking like a bedroom leak is common to the 80's squares. Both my 87 and 88 Argosys had a leak in the rear that I suspected was from a clearance light as well.

Solved the 87's leak with EDPM on the whole roof. During that project I found that the PO (who installed LED clearance light fixtures) installed one of them upside down and the weep hole gathered water.

Mostly solved the 88's by stripping and re-caulking all the exterior light fixtures as I put LED bulbs in them (kept the original Bargman fixtures and lenses as they were still good-to-go). This helped, but there was still a hint of a musty odor in the rear. Noticed that the roof seam that ran all the way from front to rear was very thin on sealant (it had clearly eroded over time) and allowed a gap in some spots (mostly toward the rear). Stripped what little sealant there was from the whole seam, re-applied self-leveling sealant and the musty smell is gone. Also, after I cleaned the old sealant, I decided to heat the seam with a heat gun prior to applying new sealant. Reasoning for the pre-heat was that the sealant might get pulled deeper into the joint as the metal cooled.


What type of replacement flooring was used? Marine?

Toward removal of the sealants, I found that after scraping / heat-gunning, a good buffing with frequent doses of mineral spirits removed the last layers of old sealants.

[ktmkirby]

I agree about the clearance lights leaking. I could see drips coming in after I gutted the interior. The plastic had deteriorated so I replaced all of them with LED lights and set them on butyl tape and backed up with vulcum on the inside. The seams have been sealed RV Proseal and I'm going to go one step further and cover the whole seam with 4" Eternabond tape. That should keep the plastic seam cover from deteriorating in the sun. I've pretty much found all of the leaks and have come up with solutions, except for the rear window, I think because it's set in on an angle, the sill doesn't drain properly. I went with 3/4' good one side plywood and sealed every edge, cut and compartment area with 3 coats of penetrating epoxy, then the whole subfloor will be painted with bilgekote.

[JayTheCPA]

Thank you for the details, appreciate it.


Question: How does the wiring for the brake lights route though the trailer? Along the frame? Through a wall? Or . . .?

Reason for the question is that one of my wish-list items is to add a set of belly / skirt back-up lights along the trailer so that when backing at night, I do not go 'blind' for about 20' when the trailer's back-up lights pass an obstacle until the truck's back-up lights start to illuminate it. Sure, I can add a bit of perimeter light by turning on the utility light on the street side and porch light on the curb side, but they really are barely better than nothing.

[ktmkirby]

The wiring is routed up through the curbside to the ceiling above the front cabinets, then across to the centre and down the middle just to the curbside of the vents. then down behind the rear cabinets to the lights.

[ktmkirby]

Belly pan is in, and I put some drains in the floor channel in problem areas, hopefully to avoid floor rot (and idea I got from a AF inmate).

[ktmkirby]

Another source of leaks! This seam on the Hehr windows needs to be sealed.

[ktmkirby]

The back bedroom is coming along. You can see the look I'm trying to achieve. Have to figure out trim pieces yet.

[pvfjr]

It's starting to look pretty good in there. I can't wait until ours is at a similar point, but that will take some time.

What exactly does your floor channel drain consist of? I couldn't quite tell in the pic, but it looks like the channel has something pressed into the countersunk portion, almost copper colored. Am I seeing things?