Repairing a delaminated MH wall from the inside Part One
 

The images show my story step by step. The outside wall behind the drivers door on my 30' Land Yacht MH was seriously bulging from the rain entering through an opened seam on the door frame as well as from the roof cap. I opened it from the outside to survey the damage and you can see the buckled plywood. I went inside, removed the sofa and proded the wall. It was soft in spots, so I removed a portion at a time until I reached sound material. To remove the wall panel, I sawed just through the 1/8" panel every four inches, and left a two inch strip on top. These strips came off easily this way. Once it was all cleaned up, I let it dry for a week or so. I taped the outside with duct tape to insure it would stay dry while I made repairs. The bulge in the fiberglas side was extreme so I contact cemented straight pieces of Oak to it to attempt to straighten it out.. It did not take all the curvature out so I used some clamp pressure as well and then bonded eighth inch thick masonite white clad to the remainding outer wall with Polyurethane subfloor adhesive which is waterproof. The masonite will do better than the Luan plywood too. Next I cut 3/4 inch insulation to fit the spaces and bring me back flush with the existing styrofoam by using a double layer. All that is left to do now is install new eighth inch masonite to the inside, and wallpaper it. That will come in Part Two.
Frank

Frank, You are a brave man. I will atempt about anything, however, I would have hesitated before cutting up the wall of my MH! Looks as if your into a nice job.

What me worry? (Alfred E. Newman)
 

Desperate times call for desperate measures! It was either cut into it or drop thousands of dollars for someone else to cut into it. And from what I have experienced of others messing with my RV, I feel a lot safer doing it myself. Then if it does not work out I have no one to blame but myself. And since I do not want to blame myself for any misdoings, I'm going at it very carefully.
Frank

Frank,
That first picture taken from outside,
did you cut the fiberglass, or was that a seam?

The opening you see is the original termination of the fiberglass side where it meets the driver's door. That seam was the source of the major part of the leakage. It actually became wider as the side swelled and shortened the panel length. I did have to cut about eight inches along the bottom edge of the fiberglass with a Dremel disc, just above the gray bump rail to facilitate inspection. It will be epoxied flush with the outside surface then sealed with white Sika Flex. Knowing what I know now, I would not do anything from the outside. The entire repair could be done from the inside. That is why I am posting these details--so others will not have to guess--will have some direction.

Frank,
thank you mine is a 35 foot and I have a slide out right behind the drivers seat, my delamitation side right under the drivers window, I am hoping to get to it from behind the plastic molded door panel, which will make the interior fix somewhat un noticeable,
Anyway does it appear you got all the bulges out ? Or to early to tell ?

The bulge before repair was an eighteen inch radius in a distance of eight inches wide and the entire length from roof to rail. I must say it was quite noticeable. Now it has some distortion but is close to flat. Maybe after another Texas summer next year, it will relax more and be even less apparent. To the untrained eye, I don't think it will stand out enough to be noticed. I'm pleased with the outcome and the inside is looking better every day. Getting the inside wall on this weekend and found a wallcovering that will match close.
Frank

Frank, great post and great repair.

I don't know if you have a driver's side door or just a window. On mine there is a door but just a window on the passenger side. FYI, under the leather covered panel on the passenger side is the same wall panel construction as the rest of the RV, wallpaper and all. I need to tackle that as well but will probably wait until I am craving more of this kind of recreation--maybe next year. For now I'll see to sealing everything to prevent further damage and see to other duties that have been piling up.
Frank

Thank you
 

I appreciate what I have learned here and aim to give back what I can. Restoration is my business but my experience is mostly around furniture, antiques, and old houses. Strange how different RV's are, yet how similar the proceedures, once you understand the basic construction and materials.
Frank

Frank & Angela, I am glad to have found your post. It gives us hope we just started the same project on the other side.

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo...eat=directlink

Thanks so much for the post. I wasn't aware what could be done with this problem.

I have a spot in the same area as Santart. After looking over the whole situation, I'm leaning toward removing the drivers door,window and and lower trim. Peal back exterior fiberglas, repair lauan plywood from the outside, then recontact the fiberglas. I maybe wrong but I thought this would be just as easy,(not that either way is that easy) with better end results. I just don't see any advantage to tearing out the inside,with the problem being on the outside to get the fiberglas to lay down straight and flat. At least where my problem area is, so close to the door, window and bottom lower trim. Not that hard to remove to get at the damage.