Exterior wall issue

Registered user · 07-30-2016, 08:59 PM

I have searched Google and this site and I can't seem to find what I'm looking for so why not start here.
I have a 2002 forest river Sierra, can't remember the model right now.
So basically all corners,front, rear, and the awning side have pretty much delaminated like the wood it was glued to has rotted away from water damage especially on the awning side since it was ripped off in a freak storm.
My question is how do you or can you peel back the fiberglass without breaking it and re panel it then glue it back together? Or anyone been able to do a decent job from the inside?

SeaDog · 07-30-2016, 09:18 PM

Are you sure the wood has rotted away or has the fiberglass delaminated from the wood. There are U-tube video's of folks repairing delimitation I can't remember any on the scale you are talking about. The ones I have watch involved cutting access holes squirting in an adhesive mixture and then pressing the fiberglass against the inner wall and bracing until adhesive has set up.

Oaklevel · 07-30-2016, 09:21 PM

Pictures ???.

Probably not not an easy fix....... more like replacing the side walls entirely if the wood has rotted. But more information is needed as to how bad the delamination is / pictures.

Registered user · 07-30-2016, 09:24 PM

I had to remove the interior wall due to water damage and I used my hand to rub off the ply wood and found green fabric then pulled on that to find the fiberglass. I will get pictures tomorrow. I only have pics of the inside walls

Registered user · 08-26-2016, 06:07 PM

Registered user · 08-26-2016, 06:12 PM

I know it's hard to see what you're looking at but that is the roof frame that has rotted away there was 4 of them that were like that. I sistered in some 2x2 with liquid nails and screws, didn't go from end to end but now that I'm thinking of it I'm going to once I remove the exterior roof since I have to replace the wood up top too. Have more pics of the slide out but I think that should prob have its own thread

chiggins · 08-26-2016, 06:38 PM

I'm interested in this too... I have a fifth wheel and the fiberglass on the passenger side by the upper master has delaminated. I seen plenty on ppl pumping in resin but rather have a better fix. Where I am looking for info on pealing back the fiber glass, going ahead and replacing the plywood with sealed marine plywood and maybe using contact cement to glue the fiberglass back... I have heard some people talking about this but very limitedly and no writeups on it I could find. I was thinking contact cement instead of resin due to contract cement setups up for 15 mins and u push it together and it's stuck... no need to brace for 24 or 48 hour at least I would think...

Registered user · 08-26-2016, 06:48 PM

Well I had the slide out roof and interior walls out and it doesn't look like it would be very hard to remove the exterior wall/fiberglass just a few more screws given mine was pretty much all rotted away. It didn't seem as fragile as I expected either. I had to pull out the exterior corners to remove the 2x2 in the corners of the walls since they were so rotted. I will just up load more of my crappy pics of it.

Registered user · 08-26-2016, 06:50 PM

Registered user · 08-26-2016, 07:04 PM

I realize it's not the right angle but you get
The idea. Since I had the interior all removed I decided to take off the exterior part as well. I went ahead and replaced all the wood that u see in the pic plus the side of the slide out wall. this was a lot easier than I thought it would. The floor wasn't so easy for me since the water leak rotted out the floor so you could see inside the camper from the outside. I prob should of replaced the entire slide out floor since it's just a 3/4 in thick sheet of plywood, I cut out the rotted section which wasn't that big and I just used some deck screws and screwed up through the floor into the wall frame and used some silicone to cover the screws underneath they are counter sunk so I'm not worried when it slides back in. The section of floor was prob a 12inx12in section and that's under the couch. I had to remove and replace all this in 3days includes insulation and exterior roof and gluing the roof back on. I did use contact cement. It worked ok but the rain came a day early and the wood got alittle wet and warped it. Still not bad tho. I had to continue to caulk it since it rained every other day for like three weeks ugh.

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