Replacing luan in wall behind RS and CS seats

[hnbrittingha]

I'm have a new to me 1999 30/31 foot LY. She looks good but I have since found a serious problem. On each side of the the luan is pretty much gone. I found it when the wife and I were recovering the valances around the window. I picked at the vinyl wall covering and it just peeled off. In some places I see the foam insulation. What is the best way to repair. I'm not interested in having the wall covering have a perfect match as we will be recovering it all later. Any help would be appreciated. I think????? I have the leaks fixed. It was the front cap to roof joint and where the forward awning mount is.

Thanks

Harry

[92landyacht]

You have, or had at one time, a water leak. Make sure that the water leak is no longer present before you proceed. In the area you're describing, the most likely culprit is around the window frame. Once you've determined that all is buttoned up, you have to remove the inside luan and replace it with new wood. Make sure there's no wetness behind the luan. I've used Gorilla Glue as an adhesive since it's very water resistant. After that, paint it with a good primer and then wallpapered it over.

[gloran]

Are you talking about the wall behind the front passenger captain chair over to the door? If it is, removing the one upper cabinet, valance and window trim shouldn't be too bad. If you have a barrel chair, it will lift up out of the way also. Once that luan gets wet it will release from the insulation, so it shouldn't be too hard to remove, just messy. If you're lucky the damaged area will stop at a joint area and you won't have to go all the way to the door.

[Airstream12557]

The joint between the front cap, end cap, and roof is a very common area for leaks. Probably the best way to repair the suspect area is to cut out the old caulk, clean the area, and re-caulk with the recommended caulk for your roof material. I use a self-leveling caulk designed for a fiberglas roof that I get at a local RV show.

Sam

[hnbrittingha]

Thanks a lot, the bad luan is behind the drivers and the passenger seat directly below the front cap roof joint. I suspect you are right about the window leaking a bit also. It does look like it did stop at the first join in the luan, thank god. How much trouble to get out the cabinets above the sofa on the drivers side??? And what is the thickness of the luan, looks like 1/8th inch or 3/16th. Glad to hear that gorilla glue works on the foam insulation to adhere the luan. Now the hard part to get the motivation to get going again. The motorhome looked great from the outside and inside when I brought it home. The I got an education, there is a lot of stuff to dig into and investigate before buying. I'll know what to look at next time. I tend to learn everything the hard way. Thanks again

[BarnacleBill]

We did this job on our 1995 Land Yacht LE. I have not written it up yet, but if you want to see some pictures of our work there are a bunch on my Google+ account. Look for bill.thompsonn@gmail.com on google+. Let me know if you can't find it and I will add you to my Google+ account.

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[BarnacleBill]

Does anyone know why there are adds in my post?

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[is.chowa]

Harry:

Did the same work on my ASLY2000. Not a trivial job. Took the couch out to gain access. The Luan is difficult to get, it is thinner than the 1/8 inch stuff available. I also removed the inner window retaining ring to fit the replacement plywood. In my case, the outside window was "glued" to the fiberglass by the sealant used by OEM. I also found damage to the sub floor which I chose to restore by drilling a series of holes using a template and drill stop so as not to go thru the subfloor and filled this in with a very thinned out epoxy glue which saturated the wood subfloor. There is a commercial product available from i think is called the "wood Doctor". I then covered the subfloor with a door skin material. Anyway it was a big project. I do have fotos which I can send to you if you PM me.

Steve

[hnbrittingha]

All of the furniture is out now. I did the rotten wood in the floor already. Removing the luan now. I'm waiting for a little bit dryer weather to remove the windows. Thanks to everyone. great forum

Harry

[92landyacht]

Pictures please. Documenting it here may help others go through the process in the future.