Jayco Cardinal DS 1993

[Aggie89]

Newbie!!!  My husband and I just purchased a used pop up and were surprised to find that it has a terrible leak problem in the roof.  Apparently it has been leaking for quite a while.  When we discovered the leak we tried to reseal the roof at the center seam but found that did not fix the problem.  We took it to a local repair/sales place that charged us $150. to just remove the end caps, pull back the covering and look inside.  Then came the bad news... it seems that both sides are completely rotted (water running from the center and holding on the sides?).  There does not seem to be any visible damage to the interior roof, no bubbling, peeling, or discoloration.  The estimate they are quoting us is close to $2000. to replace just the sides. We only paid $3500. for the camper!  My husband and father in law are very handy "Mr. Fix-its" and could probably do the repair if they could find some info on how to do it.  Any suggestions???  Also, the vynyl window over the dining area has a tear in it.  What is the best way to repair this? Our family LOVES to camp and we are anxious to get this  fixed. Thanks so much for your help!

[brainpause]

There are a lot of people that have fixed their roofs. Sometimes, it is just "get in there, take note of how it was built, and rebuild it" kind of a plan.

Although I did not rebuild my roof, I did overhaul its caulking, which was quite a job. I carefully took off all the old caulking (and some other pieces). My local camper dealer recommended a special kind of construction caulk (which they stocked, of course). I don't remember its specific name, but it wasn't water soluble. Had to use kerosene (or some other non-polar solvent) as its solvent to clean. Has worked very well, because before I did it, we had a bad leak that I couldn't pinpoint, and now, no more leak!

There are patch kits available for canvas and vinyl, but I'm not sure how good they are. I would imagine they would at least help keep the tear from getting larger.

Larry