Newbie Camper: advice needed please

[ajajaj64]

We have a Jayco 12 foot Pop up. We know we have Rot on the back passenger rear upper quarter. (The aluminum siding and outside corner seam popped all of the screws and the panel is loose.)Called a camper place and they charge $80.00 per hour. My husband is very good at figuring out how to fix things. We both think he could take a shot at it since we don't have an appointment until Aug 22 ,he wants to give it a try. We found this website... It is awesome. We looked at the pictures of someone doing major repairs and wanted to know if anyone knows the right way of starting to tear into it. How much would you estimate this could cost at the camper place. We know it depends on how much rot it has however...we think it is just the upper corner b/c the roof lock is still very secure so we don't think it has spread to the right side yet. Are we talking $500-1000....If so we want to try to open it up and look ourselves... Does anyone know any one in the Cleveland/ Akron Ohio area that does this on the side ? Thanks

[Takamine]

I'm not sure what you mean by the "rear upper quarter". I've got a 10' Jayco and had to rebuild the front and rear wall as well as three corners. Really wasn't that hard to do. The most difficult part was removing the aluminum skin from the 1/8" plywood behind it. I took out the rotted pine framing n the corners and replaced with solid pieces of 3/4" sandwiched plywood.

You say your husband is good at fixing stuff, I'd go for it.

Tak

We have a Jayco 12 foot Pop up. We know we have Rot on the back passenger rear upper quarter. (The aluminum siding and outside corner seam popped all of the screws and the panel is loose.)Called a camper place and they charge $80.00 per hour. My husband is very good at figuring out how to fix things. We both think he could take a shot at it since we don't have an appointment until Aug 22 ,he wants to give it a try. We found this website... It is awesome. We looked at the pictures of someone doing major repairs and wanted to know if anyone knows the right way of starting to tear into it. How much would you estimate this could cost at the camper place. We know it depends on how much rot it has however...we think it is just the upper corner b/c the roof lock is still very secure so we don't think it has spread to the right side yet. Are we talking $500-1000....If so we want to try to open it up and look ourselves... Does anyone know any one in the Cleveland/ Akron Ohio area that does this on the side ? Thanks

[wavery]

Pictures.........we need pictures......

A lot of people here have done wood rot damage repair. If we can have a look at what the problem is, we can give you a lot of advice. Give us lots of detailed pics. Wood-rot can be tricky and a lot more extensive than it appears on the surface.

Having said that, if you have wood-rot.....there are people here that have done it and have graphic pics that they will share. You just need to be willing to describe it better.

BTW.....WELCOME TO PUT!!!!!!!!!

[austinado16]

Cancel your appointment with the shop and fix it yourselves.  Imagine the guy spending a full day on it, plus materials..... :yikes:   And then think in terms of: you can buy any special tools you need and keep them for a lifetime, all your materials, learn all about your camper, and know the job is done right the first time, and still not come close to what your shop bill would be.

These campers are very, dare I say, cheaply made, in order to keep them affordable, light, and fast to build.  

I had a rotten corner on my '87 Starcraft (along with a rotten front roof area) and it was no problem to take the front apart enough to remove the dryrotted wood, replace it with pressure treated lumber, and screw the structure back together with long galvanized screws and my drill with a philips head bit in it.

You may find (like I did) that you can actually make the camper stronger than it was originally built, and wind up with a better camper.

Alot of my camper is stapled together so I bought an air stapler that shot the same type/size staple so I could staple back certain things and use the screws to make it strong.

Good luck.....and post some before, during and after shots!