Wood rot on frame

Greenthumb · October 14, 2023

We have a 2013 Springdale RV trailer and recently found rot after pulling up the floor. We think the seals broke on the roof so plan to reseal. The wood frame is completely rotten beyond repair. We assume this roof corner has been leaking for a while. Maybe years. Wondering how big of a job this is to replace the wood frame or if this thing is basically junk now. For context, this is the back floor corner where bunk beds would normally be. They’ve been removed. Help and thanks!

Edited October 14, 2023 by Greenthumb

Kirk W · October 14, 2023

Welcome to the Escapee forums. I'm not entirely sure of what your picture is showing. Is the black the original floor material? Or is the floor removed and we are looking down to the material of the underbelly of the trailer? If the roof was leaking, then the walls are probably hiding rotted wood as well. Is there rotten wood under the wall and between the wall and the trailer frame that supports it? How large is the rotted area? More pictures and some showing a larger area might be helpful.

D&J · October 14, 2023

Yes the short answer is yes it can be repaired depending on your skill level but very expensive if you have someone else do it. This is a photo of our right front side of our 5th wheel trailer after I cleaned all the rot out. There was a support beam there originally that was totally rotted away. I made a new one and with a lot of screws, glue and time you can't tell it's been fixed unless you go in the closet and see where I replaced some of the paneling that was rotted away.

Denny

D&J · October 14, 2023

Photo of new beam. If you look close you can see to the inside of the trailer after all the rot was cleaned out.

Edited October 14, 2023 by D&J

Ray,IN · October 15, 2023

As D&J said, anything can be repaired with enough money and time. I know a guy that gutted an old Airstream TT, the only thing remaining was suspension, metal frame, and aluminum skin exterior. Two years later it was like a new TT.

D&J · October 15, 2023

Like I said it's all depends of your skill level to do it yourself. If you take it to a dealership I'm sure it would totaled. The repair I did on mine would have been 3K at the Hitchhiker service center but I did it for under $200 in materials. Where to start is to tear it apart until all the rot is gone, mine also didn't start at the roof so I didn't have to tear it up to high. I also have a building to house it in. Also keep in mind how it was built and how your going to rebuild it.

Denny

Greenthumb · October 15, 2023

3 hours ago, Kirk W said:

My photo is showing the sub floor underneath where the plywood was pulled up. The plywood was rotten as well as the frame wood and supporting 2x4 in that corner. We haven’t investigated the walls, but we assume there’s rot there too. We were fixing up the trailer in prep to sell it (my mom lived in it during COVID), but now I’m thinking we might just sell as is.

Kirk W · October 15, 2023

10 hours ago, Greenthumb said:

We were fixing up the trailer in prep to sell it (my mom lived in it during COVID), but now I’m thinking we might just sell as is.

A lot depends on your skills to do the repairs and your knowledge of RV construction. It will be a major job to get the wood under the walls and you need to know the condition of the walls before you start that effort. If you have the skills needed to do the work it could still get expensive, depending on how much it actually needs. You haven't told us much about which Springdale trailer it is or the size but most 10 year old Springdale trailers seem to be priced between $6,000 and $15,000 when in good condition. In the condition of that one I would expect less and it might even be difficult to find a buyer. In used RVs the condition is everything and those with water damage are rarely bought by an experienced RVer.

Wrknrvr · October 15, 2023

One time I rebuilt a bedroom slide. I did the rebuild in place and was doing this job as a Mobile RV tech.

The fifthwheel was really nice other than the bedroom slide.

Once I removed all the rotted material, all that was left was the roof, ceiling and the three sides of fiberglass exterior panels. I did save pieces of different parts. Then I had the dimensions of what needed replaced. With taken very good dimensions before I started to take things apart, the slide did work as before.

What caused this wood rot, was 4 screws on the roof to side wall trim strip leaked water. As I took the walls apart it was very apparent where the leaks came from. 2 screws leaked on each side. Also with the under side of the slide sealed, it contained the moisture in the floor.

Look on the outside of the slide to see if any of the screws holding the trim on, have rust around them. They probably was a source of water for the problem.

Vern