replacing ACwith vent

[twohats]

hello folks.I am a new member here.I have been given a Dutchman Duck[1994] just recently.It has had the roof boards replaced,but the Ac was added years ago with no supports added,Needless to say the roof sagged and now shows sign of alot of leakage.Actually the water is dripping from the AC inside cover.
 My plans for now is to replace with a basic vent and repair the roof .How hard and can you replace the bad portion of the boards instead of the whole thing?and what do I use?Thanks,,,,,,Danny

[Old Goat]

hello folks.I am a new member here.I have been given a Dutchman Duck[1994] just recently.It has had the roof boards replaced,but the Ac was added years ago with no supports added,Needless to say the roof sagged and now shows sign of alot of leakage.Actually the water is dripping from the AC inside cover.
 My plans for now is to replace with a basic vent and repair the roof .How hard and can you replace the bad portion of the boards instead of the whole thing?and what do I use?Thanks,,,,,,Danny

The best way to solve your repair problem is to find a friend or someone in your area who has experience in construction and repair work on houses, boats etc. They can look at your roof and give you some idea of what materials will be needed and how to go about doing it...

[prncssgeek]

Repairing the roof can be tricky. I don't have experience with you model camper, but I can tell you that on mine (a Coleman) everything was glued together and that made it almost impossible to just repair "part" of the roof.

The roof repair itself, I don't consider it hard. But I have a skill set that allows me to not fear fixing something. The touchiest part is making sure that you use the correct materials. Using the wrong caulk will not fix the problem. Don't listen to the guy at Home Depot that says "Well this is what all the contractors are using!". The contractors may be using that product, but they aren't building campers or repairing them.

If you get into something you aren't sure of, ask here. You can also feel free to message me as I'm rebuilding an 87 Coleman Sequoia from roof to floor. So I think I've picked up a few things along the way.

I would have to say the most important thing about fixing a roof. If at all possible do it inside. If it means cleaning out the garage, do that first. Now that is from experience.

Good Luck!

[Old Starcraft]

prncssgeek has a good point. If you don't have experience with campers find a local RV dealership parts store that have both experience and are willing to give you some good advice. I too was in the same situation when I started working on my 76' model. I found an RV service center that was very friendly with tons of experience. Yes I did have to travel right by several other dealers / service centers but the extra money in gas was well worth it !!!

Good luck with yours and keep us posted. You can also get tons of good ideas from looking at other members Pics.

[fshnfool76]

I changed out the a/c for a fantastic fan last year. It was pretty easy but I didn't have any big problems with the roof. Even with the roof braces, my roof apparently sagged under the weight of the 20 yr old, 90 lb a/c. So instead of possibly causing more problems by trying to push out the sag, I just keep the pup front raised a little when it's parked on the driveway. I used Dicor self-leveling caulk to seal the fan and haven't had any problems.
  Ditto on finding a good RV dealer willing to give advice, I have 2 near me that actually show you on a trailer that they may be doing the same thing on. Buy some of the parts you need from them and they'll talk your ear off.

[twohats]

Thanks for the responses.I did pull the AC this weekend.I put a standar vent in and except for replacing some of the wooden brace on the inside,it went fairly good.It has been raining quite a bit here but Sat, was pretty nice.It wasn't a complete roof restore but it didnt leake anymore so I guess the fix was okay.
  I used alot of a bond from the camper store and silicone.I guess time will tell.I actually enjoyed doing the job.Again thanks for all the input...