Dry rot at the sides of the door

[Kevininwa]

I'm in the process of assessing our new ('76) Argosy and I've made a few less than thrilling discoveries. In the course of re-plumbing almost everything I found dry rot under the hot water heater. I then checked around the walls and found soft spots under each side of the door. The seals look good, so I can't figure out the source of the water coming in. Can anybody help me out? Also, I'm using thinned epoxy to fix the limited spots I've found. Does anybody have feedback for this method?

[Flynavy]

I had the same dry rot areas in my 74 TWind plus a few more. The hot water tank area leak didn't stop until I removed the exterior screws and reset them in vulcum. There also was a little water coming in around the rivets in the tiny bracket for the tank door hinge. I never did find out where the door leaks were coming from exactly, but they did stop after I sealed everything in that frame pocket all the way up to the antenna.

I was able to repair the floor near the door with Git Rot. The floor by the tank was too far gone so I had to replace that section. That had been leaking for quite some time. Take a look at the outrigger under the water heater if you can. Mine was rusted beyond repair.

Can't help you with the epoxy. I've never used it.

Good luck.

[Addicted2Tin]

Kevininwa,
We had all this & then some with our '73 Argosy. Be sure to check under & around the water tank. Ours was cracked & had leaked rotting the floor in the front. Had to replace all the floor under the goucho. We don't boondock so we just removed the water tank. The floor at the door was rotten due to the door being sprung; apparently for a long while. The floor under the furnace/kitchen cabinet was only slightly rotten & plan on using a resin the strengthen it. The old antenna & the a/c leaked water with the first big rain we had after purchase.
Good luck with your project.

[barts]

Originally Posted by Kevininwa

Also, I'm using thinned epoxy to fix the limited spots I've found. Does anybody have feedback for this method?

This works very well for smaller areas if there's reasonable integrity left to the wood. I tried both Basic No-Blush (tm) Marine Epoxy Best Boatbuilding Repair Laminating Resin System - Non Blushing - epoxy and their low-v (low viscosity) resin.... thinned about %25 w/ xylene. Don't forget AMPLE ventilation..... multiple coats will be required; if you don't use the no-blush, you'll need to wet-sand between coats to kill the amine blush.; otherwise the second coat beads up. I'd just thin the first coat of non-blushing resin and skip the xylene on the subsequent coats.

This is also worth reading:

http://www.epoxyproducts.com/rot.html


I used their Aluthane paint to cover the epoxy - we just use rugs over that, as it has allowed us to find some remaining leak issues. We may well install a finished floor at some point - but right now the floor is aluminum :-). Note that this paint is like the POR-15 stuff that is heavily advertised - but cheaper :-).

- Bart