Bubbling of exterior panel surface

[StephDL]

My outside shell is bubbling out in a couple of places. Is there a way to fix it? Or keep it from getting any worse?

Thanks for the help!

[5picker]

That "bubbling" looks a lot like what is commonly referred to as delamination.

Often caused by a water leak near an edge. (around the slide?) There appears to be a gob of some kind of sealant at the slide corner that looks out of place. (not factory)

You'll want to get that looked at.

[Rhumblefish]

uh-oh - water intrusion! And here I thought the Azdel walled products were more immune that that. This is your 2507S Rockwood, yes? Better see if you've got any warranty coverage!

[StephDL]

This is actually from my friends Avenger 5th wheel.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by StephDL

This is actually from my friends Avenger 5th wheel.

Well, you did start by saying "My outside shell", not my friend's outside shell.[emoji848]
Better find the cause and repair it. We failed to catch our TT doing the same thing, in time. Now it's not worth fixing and we'll probably donate it.

[Rhumblefish]

Originally Posted by StephDL

This is actually from my friends Avenger 5th wheel.

sheesh! year make and model, please! Also, c’mon… details matter!

[Oaklevel]

If you are looking for a quick cosmitic fix, replacing the side wall is about it.

As others have said at this point finding and fixing the leak is the primary job here.

[njfishing]

As others suggested your friend has a leak somewhere that needs to be fixed. Usual suspects are the failed lap sealants around anything coming through the roof like vents, sunlights tv antenna or where the roof material meets the box of the trailer. If this is something he intends to fix himself the first thing to do is to identify which type of roof he has so he can use the correct sealant since some sealants are not compatible with certain types of roofs. As far as fixing the delamination, lots of stuff on you tube on Google on that subject.

[StephDL]

It is a Avenger by Prime Time 2014 526RLS. Thanks

[Rhumblefish]

Okay - Wood construction (phew, Azdel's reputation remains intact!) and older. That plywood is coming apart and likely rotted a bit.

Needs to (1) find the water intrusion and address it, and (2) open up the delaminated area, get behind it, and apply laminating epoxy + some clamping. The fact that it's right next to the slide seems to hint that they intrusion is right there in that upper corner, but - as others have said - definitely look at the roof, too. Water likes to migrate (and can do so easily).

There's a TON of youtube videos on how to address, though it will depend heavily on the details and extent of your friend's specific delam. If you/he can get behind the skin to the delam from an edge (might have to remove the slide) you can get laminating epoxy back there with some tube/syringe work and some dowels (to spread the skin apart). If not, then you/your friend will need to drill some holes to apply the epoxy through the skin and then deal with the holes in the bodywork after the repair is set.

Some really good tips here on how to do it and what to consider:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVnzgn5ygaA

[Robusto]

StephDL, as others have noted, unfortunately it appears to be sidewall de-lamination of the sidewall on your friend's coach. However, all is not lost, but it will take some work on someone's part. The costs at a repair facility can, and most likely will be significant due to work involved, but hopefully not.


I am currently working on a similar situation so you might see Dtoedebusch's "Sidewall Curling" post for the response I put there. People say it is not 'repairable'---that's only because they DO NOT KNOW HOW TO EFFECT THE REPAIRS! Look at the video someone suggested, and there are many more, but your friend's situation is certainly repairable, and hopefully without too much labor. Being at the edge of the slide opening however will probably make access for repairs difficult, and the slide box may even have to be removed. It appears to be the forward side of the slide, so when moving, in rainy weather, wind pressure could push rain water in past the gasket where it might access the edge of the sidewall. It seems that the edges of the sidewall at any openings ARE NOT SEALED, so if water can get to them the glass siding backer material will soak it up and begin disintegrating, leading to bubbling and de-lamination.



To anyone reading this, pretty much no matter what kind of RV you have, short of a Prevost, Marathon, Airstream, and similar,I'd recommend 'waterproofing' (probably more like water-resisting) what you can by removing opening escutcheons, cargo doors, or other sidewall openings and water sealing the sidewall edges with a good caulk, plenty of them out there. I'd suggest a water based one for easy tooling and clean up. On corner,top, and bottom moldings I'd remove 3-4 screws at a time, shoot in a little caulk, and then reinsert the screw. If they are rusted badly, I would replace them with stainless steel screws of the same type, although you wouldn't need self-drilling as a hole is already present. If a rusting screw is into wood, it will also rot the adjacent wood quite quickly so you should inject some good exterior rated glue to 'rebuild' the hole,letting it set up first, for screw grab effectiveness. StephDL, good success with your friend's RV repair.