Replacing rotted framing

[slow eddie]

The back wall of my 252RL has pretty much completely separated at the floor of the trailer. My question is, to begin repairs on something like this do you start from the inside or outside of the trailer? I was thinking outside, but most videos I have been watching are from the inside of the trailer. Is the aluminum siding attached to the wood frame? It has to be right?

I’m not new to home improvement type tasks but I am new to RV improvement. I just want to be as efficient as possible.

Thank you.

[Ken / Claudia]

I am a do it yourself guy. I have made rot repairs from both the inside and outside even both. One point about tearing apart the inside that is important is you can and will see where the water flowed and keep tearing stuff apart until you get to good wood.
I am no expert. They could be a only way to do a repair, that's for the experts to answer.

[Frank G]

Do a little searching, there have been threads detailing restorations with lots of pictures. I would start at the bottom and start removing tin. once exposed repairs become self explanatory for a do-it-yourselfer.

[slow eddie]

Thanks for the tips. Here is what I am up against.

[rhagfo]

Originally Posted by slow eddie

Thanks for the tips. Here is what I am up against.

Not the end of the world. How is the floor, still solid or does some need replacing?

We bought our first 5er as a fixer very cheap, we were not sure if we wanted, to get back into RV life again (work got in the way for about 10 years). So we bought a 1986 King of the Road with a bad floor.

Well the bad floor, back 6' of 28' 5er, turned into half the back wall and the lower 18" and wheel well of the drivers side. Cost to repair was about $250 in materials and a BUNCH of my time for about a month. If you have average carpentry skills it is doable. Made my own studs by ripping down fir 2X4's.

This is not the whole back wall, ended up removing the rear window and replacing much of the framing up to it.



New section of rear floor in place and back wall partly removed.



New framing in place waiting to replacing insulation and siding.



This is a full view of back ready for siding to be reinstalled.



New Flooring in place, and cabinets going back in.



Finished interior.



Finished exterior



This was the rig we fell in love with, and really enjoyed for about four years before getting current rig.

[Frank G]

Nice work!

[slow eddie]

Great job. Floor was good thank goodness. I’m making progress, it’s going slower than I would like (it always does), but I’m hoping to be mostly done tomorrow.

[slow eddie]

PS I’m sure my neighbors hate me at this point.

[rhagfo]

Originally Posted by slow eddie

Great job. Floor was good thank goodness. I’m making progress, it’s going slower than I would like (it always does), but I’m hoping to be mostly done tomorrow. Attachment 19717

Originally Posted by slow eddie

PS I’m sure my neighbors hate me at this point.

Don't worry too much about the neighbors, if you are seen working on it more than once a week.
You got lucky to catch it early before it got to the floor, make sure you seal those windows very well.

[slow eddie]

Almost done. Maybe one more day.

[JRTJH]

It's looking good. When we built our house, there were several things our contractor did that seemed like "Oh yeah, that's a great idea" at the time. Things we'd not even considered, much less planned for. One such idea, that you might want to consider is spraying the entire "raw wood area" with Thompson's water seal before reinstalling the insulation and outer skin. Our contractor did that 10 years ago and this summer when replacing some "lawn mower damaged areas" the underlying studs and backing looked like new, even though they have been exposed to the elements for 10 years.

Just a thought, but it may help things stay "dry to the core" if you have another leak...