When Expectations of “Tweaking” turn into “Leaking”
We bought our Class C at the end of September, and I excitedly started planning our intended winter trip right away. I quickly found out that you have to book way in advance for campgrounds in desired areas like Florida in the winter. But I persisted, and after many hours of research, trial, and error, I’d successfully managed to book an entire six weeks of travel stops at various campgrounds in Florida. Granted, we were going to be hopping around all over the state, staying a couple nights here and there, but this was really going to happen!
Overall, we loved our rig. Being inside felt like living in a doll house or tree house to me, and it really thrilled me to think of all the possibilities and freedoms this RV was going to provide us. Sometimes I’d even take a book out and just sit in our parking space in the back yard and read at the table in the dinette, looking out the windows and imagining all the things we’d see through those openings. The dinette is one of my favorite features because there are three large windows that make you feel like you are really outside.
The only thing that I didn’t find appealing, was the fabric of the bench seats. It was a black and tan paisley-type print with coordinating black valances above each window. It just seemed very dated. I could imagine that when it was new in 2011, the color scheme worked well with the lighter walls and darker cabinets. But to me, it was now desperately pleading for help. We decided to try and freshen it up with some new seating.
I found a local business specializing in automotive upholstery, and they said to drive the RV over for them to take a look and see if they could help us. So, one rainy day, we took our first actual joy-ride together in the RV. I finally got to fasten my seat belt in the “navigator’s spot”, Walt fired her up, and away we went!
We were happy as could be, until we made a left turn.
Water drops splashed on Walt’s face. Then we made a right turn, and I got a whole lap-full of dripping water. We continued on our short trip, but couldn’t get it out of our heads that somehow water was leaking into our RV!
Our visit to the upholstery store was quick. Although he could cover the seats, it would be to the tune of over $700, and to replace the entire foam cushions, it would be well over $ 1,000. Yikes! Apparently, we have been out-of-touch with this type of thing, because we were both in sticker shock. Thank you very much, but we would live with what we have for now, plus our impending sense of doom about the water leak had taken the joy out of a cosmetic improvement.
A few minutes and a few drops of water later, we pulled into our parking spot, and Walt took a look around to see where water could be coming in. We couldn’t understand how this was possible. We had done our homework. Before purchasing, we looked for water stains, checking even inside all the cabinets, and found no evidence of water and not even a hint of a musty smell.
Walt made his way up to the over-cab bunk and pulled up the foam mattress to find it damp between the vinyl bottom of the mattress and the FRP, or in other words, the plastic laminate. Digging deeper, he removed the piece of moulding strip around the bottom edge of the overhead bunk. The wood beneath the moulding strip was soaked, and had mold growing on it. Right where we would be sleeping! Let me just say that what transpired after that was not pretty, and words said at that time will not be printed here.
Further investigation showed that, after pulling off the FRP and exposing the wet wood structure underneath, the entire sleeping area had been compromised and, well, it was a disaster. Although Walt is quite handy and can fix pretty much anything, it quickly became evident that this was much too big of a task for him to take on. So, we called several RV repair shops, and it was the same story at all of them. They were so backed up with work that they couldn’t take us in to even look at it for an estimate until after the first of the year.
We were so frustrated and disheartened. Was our dream ending before it even began? What about all the campground reservations I’d made? What about all the money we’d spent to purchase the RV that was now unusable to us? It was almost too much to bear.
Fortunately, before I totally lost it, I remembered our friend who had helped us with creating the parking spot. We gave him a call and he came out to take a look. Although, this wasn’t his level of expertise, he agreed to take it to his shop where he repaired equipment and take a look, and after that look, he agreed to repair it.
They had to remove the whole fiberglass front cap to expose the extent of the damage. All the soggy wood and insulation would need to be removed and replaced. Luckily, they found that there was no structural damage because our RV is framed with aluminum tubing. However, the repairs would be very labor intensive and time consuming.
We missed seeing our RV in the backyard, so we took fieldtrips out to visit her and watch the progress as the new interior took shape. To see it with the whole front open was a little alarming! However, we kept the faith for two long months, as we watched and waited.
Finally, a few days before we were to leave on our Florida adventure, it was finished! And even better than brand new. Not one inch of moldy, disgusting, wetness. All fresh and clean and new.
What was the cause? The front of the RV cab of a Class C takes the brunt of all the weather, and something probably wasn’t sealed properly, or had been and it let loose. Over time, the water from every rain storm had kept secretly finding its way in. Finally, it got to the point where it couldn’t hold any more water and the rain that happened on the day we decided to visit the upholstery store was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Or the drop that broke the dam.
As unfortunate as the timing was for this to happen right before our trip, in retrospect, we realize it was the perfect time for it to happen. Thank goodness we picked a rainy day for our outing! If this event had occurred during a Florida rainstorm, the outcome would have been very different for us, and our trip probably ruined. Besides that, it makes me cringe to think that we could have been sleeping in that toxic environment.
The damage had been concealed, and there was no way the seller, or we, as the buyer, would have been able to tell this was happening unless we had dismantled the RV.
You can be sure that every crack and crevice was super-sealed before we drove her out of our friend’s shop. Walt found that using the manufacturer’s recommended caulking product is the key to a well-sealed RV, so that is what we used on the roof and sidewalls. We were very thorough and generous with our sealant to ensure that this never happens again.
Our takeaway is this –
Stuff happens. Things are not always going to go as you planned. Don’t be discouraged. Use your resources. Keep your dream alive! And always, always, use lots of the proper caulk!
Florida, here we come!
