What's Inside a Winnebago Wall?? RV Sidewall Water Damage part 2
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- Опубліковано 9 лют 2025
- This is the inside of a Winnebago sidewall. There is framing in there. Chad and I continue the teardown, treatment, troubleshooting, and re-lamination on this 2006 Winnebago Journey.
This is not a bus monocoque construction but a laminated sidewall.
We are using STABOND 440 and 183 for this repair.
Thanks for watching!!!
And yet again a good example of why i think slide outs are a horrible idea. I've got got a 20' camp trailer that I've got to skin and rebuild and you've got the best educational vids yet!
no one seems to be demanding reliable slides from any of the manufacturers.
James I love your videos. You seem like an honest guy. I would have you work on any machine of mine. Keep up the good work.
Thanks 👍 I try my best and I'm a very bad liar.
@@AZExpert have been been working
@@AZExpert What this repair cost?
We bought a rv with delamination, the seller tried changing the subject and we really didn't know as we're first time buyers, ughhh! And he said he told my husband it had a leak in shower skylight but he repaired it, but when I asked about the bubbles he said he didn't know and it's below floor level but it's not it's on back shower wall and also below floor level. The bay metal roofs are damaged to where foam is falling along with holes in the metal and ants. So we just waisted money.
I totally agree. I wish all rv mechanics were like him.
That was a very classy comment about critiquing others' work. I'm thankful there are good people out there doing this work. Lets those of us who are interested in RVs know how the job should be done right and gives an appreciation on the amount of work involved. Thank you for sharing your day.
thank you. Like I said, I've done work I am no longer proud of too.
@@AZExpert everyone has to learn.
Life is a unique and wonderful learning experience
Watching you and Chad fix what seems impossible to most is really an educational experience. Thanks for sharing with us!
Thanks for watching!
You mean Winnebago doesn't have two day shipping on an entirely new sidewall painted to match? Well dang. Great work and ingenuity!
James, you are a true craftsman.
You fellas do excellent work. If I was you, I would have been asking myself, "Is the entire RV water damaged?" The answer is most likely yes.
Sadly enough..yes that is often the answer
Yo AZ E! Amigo you have a lot of patience to do a job like that. More importantly your doing it right. Keep up the strong work.
Thanks 👍
I need a nap just watching the work put into this rebuild! You guys are true craftsmen!!
thank you!
WOW.... James, that's what I call GRACE, not throwing the "others" under the bus!!! We all have had jobs that we wish we had a better end results.
Thanks for watching!
That’s a huge job. You have a lot more patience than I do. Cheers
The value of a true trades person is their ability to make something damaged and make it work and look good.
Thanks for watching!
I had a Winnebago Vectra. It had delamination and a roof which popped off in the wind.
I now have a Newmar and am so much happier with their conventional wall construction.
I cannot argue with your decision.
Awesome way of flushing up the low spots with the fiberglass tape . I’m rebuilding the rear wall in my camper and have the same situation. Now I know what to do . It’s NOT easy at all but you and Chad have helped me so much with my camper rebuild . Great work and always love watching.
I'm happy to hear the videos help. Thank you!
She must really like her motor home to spend that amount of money on it. I would have lived with it or just traded. But to each his own. James I appreciate the time you take in showing these repairs. I do work on my RV, just minor stuff. I'm too embarrassed to show my so called expertise. Thankfully this type of delam is not as common on a Wanderlodge. Still have to maintain the roof and window seals. The Wanderlodge makes up for it in other repairs that require help from online support that have the same issues. Thanks again for your videos. I appreciate them.
thanks for watching!
Your work arounds are very ingenious. As always impeccable work and Thank you for educating the masses.👍
Thank you very much!
Watching you work on these RV's is so inspirational. You do some really great work, you and Chad should be commended. If I am able to buy an RV I would drive to AZ just so that you could work on mine.
Wow, thank you!
Another excellent job... I see so many of these with delamination every time I pull into an RV park. I am glad all I have to worry about is rust... mine is all steel.. but of course it still has some leaks.. just cannot seem to escape them..
You and me both!
Excellent work ethic as always James and Chad! I am always blown away by the dedication you both see these difficult projects through. 👏👏🙌🙌
Much appreciated!
The quality of your craftsmanship makes it seem as if you personally own this coach 👍
thank you very much
Another great job james and Chad’s a great straight man !
Chad is the best, hands down!
Dude you're awesome I pray this young man continues on with you learning and carrying on good work.
I appreciate that!
Very nice video again. I am glad you show as much as you do, the owner probably will also, help them understand the amount of work required to do it. Not only do I enjoy your explanation, and hard work but you scored big with Chad, do not let it go to his head but he seems like a great tech also. So hard to find good help, and great techs. Thanks again for the video and all your time editing it for our entertainment and learning. Stay safe and healthy.
you are welcome and thanks for watching
What doesn't seem interesting to you because it's your job and you've been doing it for years. Is very interesting to us that like to have an understanding and working knowledge of RVs. Thank you very much. We also can't get enough of roof videos. This is coming from an aircraft mechanic
thank you very much!!
What an AWESOME video!!!! Thanks for sharing!!! Of all the videos I have ever watched on this subject, yours is by-far the BEST one.
Wow, thanks!
You are welcome, but thank you for the work you do and share. There are not too many videos covering this specific subject. The ones that are out there jump over too many steps or recommend the wrong products (i.e. wrong adhesives). I am sure the editing is a lot of work, but showing the process from start to end is important for the DYIer who can't pay the big bucks for repairs. Keep up the great work!!
Enjoyed the music, it was a great addition. Cheers
Glad you enjoyed it I was afraid it might get annoying but there was a radio on for some of it I needed something more than silence.
Ditto
When you first see it you think there is no way that can be saved. Pretty impressive work!
Thanks for watching! :)
😮wow. Thankfully they found you guys.
I'd like to think, that if I were doing this job, based on my total lack of knowledge, I would probably have used marine glue. I don't know about RVs, but airplane owners use that on their planes to make those sorts of repair. Or at least they did. I'm glad you did this job.
Yikes. Sure glad you know what you are doing. Good job. Happy trails!
Thanks 👍
Man, this is the job i did over the summer (where I routered my thumb). built a 8x8 table in the backyard to do the work on. I worked for a week scraping and sanding the luaun off the filon. i wish i'd seen this and/or thought to use the drywall tape as a spacer. i have some in the garage!
another great vid, James and Chad.
thank you very much, I'm sorry about your thumb. I didn't want to leave the layer, but this was real fiberglass and not filon so I figured I risked much more if I tried to take the last layer off.
Beautiful work man it's a pass form me good job guys I am 60 years old I wish I would have known about this type of work back in my day I probably would have been right behind you doing it it looks like a smart way of doing things and getting things done in a proper great way it takes a lot of brains to figure things out like that you the man bro good job locating the leaks 🇺🇸🇵🇷👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽🖖🏽😊 P.s
when I get ready to retire in a few years I'm going to get a motorhome I'm already thinking about the beaver I seen a few of them online they're beautiful motorhomes but with me I'm looking more for 2005 and up I'm glad you were able to find your dream Beaver motorhome you real lucky to find that diamond in a rough
Thanks! I sure do love it
really really labor intensive to repair these machines.I live in washington state,west side and its nearly impossible to find an RV that has NOT leaked.I have a friend with a nice motorhome and every spring he goes over it with a fine tooth comb,,carving out and replacing any caulk that looks suspicious.Examining and replacing any seals that do not look perfect.It takes him a full 2 days to do this after which the entire coach gets a meticulous wash and wax.
Drywall patch tape was a great idea....thanks for the share...
thank you!
Academy award stuff James.
thank you again!
You da man James! Keep up the great work 👍
Thanks! Will do!
James it got to be a dirty job but I believe you guy’s will do a good job fixing it up i would hate to be doing it good video keep up the good work guy’s
Thanks for watching Leslie!
I love your videos showing how you do things the best way you can without high-tech tools 🔧
I appreciate that!
Thank you for sharing James... lots of hard work again..👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
My pleasure!!
I've done major water damage repair on RV's, it's a royal pita, but the couple I did turned out well......
Great video James. But if I ever have one of those I’ll find the leaks and leave it. Man what a job
I know what you mean.
I have never been more afraid than I am right now... we have an '07 Tour built on an '06 chassis. Yikes!!!! Thanks James!
Get to caulking!! ..lol...hopefully you dont have these damn issues!
you should be able to spot delam by pushing on the walls and of course looking for rust and stains.
I wish I could take six months off and come work for this guy for free. So much knowledge 😖😖😖👍
I'm a big jerk to work with, or so my son tells me
It really is criminal how cheaply these things are built all manufacturers!
You would think the one area that they could spend some significant money and time in his waterproofing the exterior.. really a shame how they are built to fail.
Even more of a shame how the consumers put up with it.
Ps it looks like you do very high quality great work keep up the good work!
Good to see a fellow Samsung Note 9 user! I was nearly ready to put my 2005 Winnebago up for sale after watching your roof and j-channel videos. This may clinch it! I'd like to know if that coach lived in a super wet climate. Seems like quite a bit of rust on what little I could see of the chassis. I don't have any of that, so maybe this has been exposed to a lot of rain. Thank you so much for documenting this, it really does show that owners need to keep up on maintenance, especially the areas way above eye level.
I broke my note9 five days before it was paid off so now I have a s20. I never liked the curved screen edge, but that stylus saved my life with a broken screen. Thanks!
Should the foam thermal break be on the outside or inside of the RV? DRV, Jayco (modern Designer FW) and FR (Riverstone) have placed the thermal break to the inside. I know this is an old video, but thanks for showing what is involved in a repair like this.
James, I'm fixing a bay door on our 2003 Newmar and it going to involve glueing filon to styrofoam (white), (I think the outside painted surface is filon, Newmar said it might be plastic,?? Since that Sta bond glue is basically unavailable to the general public what glue would recommend. Water based contact adhesive? Spray foam? PL 300 foamboard adhesive. A new 46" bay door is almost $ 800.00 plus I'll have to paint it or have it painted. The paint on ours is nearly perfect so I'm going to attempt to fix it.(delamination between the filon and styrofoam. Thanks
Digging the music. Also going to request a sound clip of the exhaust when that one is running as I see shiny mufflers underneath there. Assuming a CAT C7 in it?
I never looked at the engine, I want to say it was a Cummins, CATs are less common on freightliners.
Music was perfect, plz add more!
you skills are amazing good work wow lot of work
Thank you very much
That fidlin seems to significantly increase your speed and productivity. I recommend playing that the whole time if you ever work on my coach. 👍
LOL, editing is so magical like that.
Very informative Sir, ..thanks
we all have done things we not proud of - we do the best we can with what we have
Love the out takes
those are my favorite too. Thank you!
This video series, Part 1 and 2...(3?) has been so helpful. My CC has this exact issue but I believe the water damage came from around the windows. Both damaged areas have a window that the wood framing around the window is rotted. Plus CC does not cover the entire outside layer with foam so the framing is exposed unlike W. The CC exposed steel framing is now rusted due to the moisture and would have to be cleaned and treated before repairing. Is there a product that can be used in lieu of Lauan that would act as the barrier between fiberglass and foam? That way the week point (Lauan) if it got wet it wouldn't separate and cause de-lamination? On my coach and this one and all others that had the de-lamination issues visible from the outside the only issue is that the three layers of wood sheets that Lauan is made, separates from and then there is no structure bonding the wall. Love your channel and work ethic, expect an email shortly:)
azdel is the new standard. I have not tried to source it though.
James, enjoy your videos. If I didn't live 2,000 miles away I would have you fix my Class C bunk area. Guess I will have to wait for warmer weather and try to do it myself. Thanks for all the helpful videos. I do have one question. Why don't you and Chad have a long handle floor and ice scrapper to slide under the fiberglass to break it away from the luan?
not too many places in Phoenix stock long handle ice scrapers, I thought I had one, but the handle was too long anyway and the shovel worked well.
Will never buy a winnebago thank you for your videos I was contemplating one.
As a future RV owner I am now terrified of not finding a leak until its very expensive. Can you share on future videos, the labor time required to do repairs, so we have some idea as to cost.
like most shops, it's difficult to share pricing as everyone has different ideas what a job should cost and why. I quoted this one at $5500 and worked on it from Monday to Friday all week.
Great video, you guys do a awesome job.
Thanks so much!
Outstanding work.
Glad you like it!
I could feel the pain just watching this!
YOu and me both
That is a huge amount of work and you guys are doing it right. I'm just shocked at the shoddy construction, it's not like no one knows how to build watertight walls e.g. boat builders do it all the time...... Esp. given the cost of these things, the profit margins must be massive - that said, it sounds like they are using 1970s construction techniques - boat builders moved to vacuum bagging decades ago as it is way more efficient.
A few manufacturers do use vacuum bagging and I think it is becoming more common, but unlike boats and planes these things don't sink or fall out of the sky so the bar is pretty low. :)
Great video i would have continued on with the rear and find the leak, isnt there a thermal imaging camera you can use to scan these roofs and walls to determine how much rot there is behind? You can rent them... Keep the rig cool in side if hot outside or hot inside if cool outside, rotten wood doesnt conduct heat and with a thermal imaging camera easy to see leaks damage without tearing apart, they use this on houses and i think it might work with you guys, anyway great work!!
I appreciate that, the wall did feel very good above the loose area and neither the owner or I wanted the cost to get out of hand. Thanks!
Have you made a video on which manufacturer has the best overall build quality?
I have not. I always prefer Tiffin products though.
You do great work 👍
Thank you so much 😀
This is very interesting
Thanks for watching, David!
I hope you make good money, it is very obvious you do the best you can on really messy rework/repair jobs. I'd look at something like that and run in the opposite direction! I do really like adhesives , under proper conditions, used correctly they are crazy strong. Some car companies glue their car body panels on, wild! ....
I think I prices are much lower than would be expected at most shops. I am amazed how strong adhesives can be. Prevost glue there stainless body panels on too.
Nice work!
Thanks!
The corner reminds me of chimney flashing corners where an overlap (uphill side) is needed and therefore double flashed. I think haste at the factory causes a lot of this.
Seems likely
Got another question. Why wouldn't you just take the foam down off of the camper and replace it with some fresh foam board? Is there stuff attached to it on the other side?
Awesome work as always! Seems like you always get handed a crap sandwich. I know where I’m taking mine if I need this kind of repair done even though it would take a couple days to get to you. As always very interesting video!
It might be my fault for making these videos. :)
my wife and I just did this and the driver side of are 96 Monaco Windsor 34 foot no slides replaced all the wood and all the wood on the roof and put a new tpo roof on it never again!
I understand how you feel completely. Good job, did you take pictures or video?
@@AZExpert pictures
Is it necessary to remove all wood glued to the foam...even if its is a very thin layer? Your videos are amazing by the way...If I were close to AZ...I'd just take it to you guys
Can you say, "Opening up a CAN 'O WORMS!" 🤣
🤣😂🪱🐛🐌
Dang, I was going to say the same...lol.
that is how I felt for sure.
Where do you buy your panels from?Because I went in to Lowe's and home depo the panels they have looked same but it's not the same.
Great video... you are easy to listen to.
*Shouldn't you have a mask while you are sanding and atomizing styorfoam and black mold?*
Yes you are correct, I even had a mask in my pocket. For what it's worth we were outside in a well ventilated area at least. I knew better but kept forgetting.
Seems you are no stranger the ways of fixing the irregularities. As you mentioned labor job. But seems most that you post are , except the roof inspections. Those go quick. You care about the work you do and it shows
The roof inspection videos are much easier to make.
Thanks for the video finally leaned the one thing in life I care not to do lol . Guess the best way not to see it come back in after repairing is do not cut any corner hu ?
I have a real similar issue with my 05 journey 36g in the exact same spot. Would you be willing to do job this again?
Good thing its not snowing
there's a reason I put up with the summers...for now.
Have you ever replaced an interior wall panel? I would love to see the video.
Yes there are quite a few in my library where I have done full restorations on vintage trailers
James, I am going to replace the back half of the underbelly of a motorhome with panels of lauan primed and painted on 6 sides and FRP glued to bottom side. What glue would be best to fasten the FRP to the painted lauan?
Can you tell me where you are located ? I have some water damage to my used , recently purchased RV . I’d like to speak with you about it , or ask if you could give me an idea where I could have it reported properly . It’s tough to find somebody that works on these in my area z
How many vapor impermeable layers are needed in a wall containing wood?
great job
thank you
Just amazing!
thank you!
lol you bought a new shovel for this - sure hope you made good money on this project
Thanks for the information. Do you have any of video of how you seamed the Filon/fiberglass under the slide out?
ua-cam.com/video/r4DCFRsNg6M/v-deo.html should be the last video of the series
@@AZExpert Thanks for the reply. Quick question where can I purchase Azdel panels? I've search but not having much luck. I'm rebuilding my big door prize toy hauler replacing a lot of damaged framing. I want to price out replacing the tin panels.
James, thank you for this part 2.
Please educate me about the foam. After using fungicide, could a person spray a coat of kilz on the foam?
I thought about this when watching the video, and thought I’d ask your thoughts about this?
I’m definitely looking forward to seeing your next video regarding this repair.
Thank you.
I would not recommend it Kilz would just coat the foam and keep the wood from sticking and of course mold won't grow on the foam only the wood.
OK, you have my attention. So should I get rid of my winnebago? How can I prevent this?
no dont get rid of it, just inspect it periodically for sealant gaps and leaks.
@@AZExpert got it. thanks
I wonder if you could use a power planer set at a 1/16th depth and (carefully) shave off the luan?
James perfectly demonstrating how to eat an elephant. One bite at a time
Great video thank you.
Glad you liked it!
As always great work. Would it be easier to cut new luan boards to size rather than scraping old luan?
I am not sure what you mean. The old stuff needs to be removed.
@@AZExpert I was referring to the luan (plywood) that you removed to scrape. I didn’t see new wood being used.
What exactly is the name of the adhesive you use? I am completely renovating my 2000 Coachmen and I’m not sure which adhesive I can use with plywood to lumber.
You mentioned the roof is all foam no frame. When a roof is on a winnie is sagging does it need new foam?
if a Winnebago roof is sagging there is definitely a big issue and should be addressed.
You said the luan is not structural in the walls because there is bracing. Is there any problem with just leaving a delaminated wall section that is only a couple of feet wide after the roof leak has been repaired? It hasn't gotten any worse in the last year and you have to look very closely to see the delimitation.
There is little harm in it, though you still want to fix whatever is leaking.
Do any manufacturers use exterior-grade luan paneling or is it all designed to self-destruct and delaminate as soon as water gets to it? Thanks for the sensible videos. We appreciate your explanations.
They use whatever is cheapest
@@AZExpert Of course they do. Once it goes out the door, it's YOUR problem.
That seems so crazy to use something porous like wood as a laminating layer. A layer of fiberglass and epoxy on that foam would be so much stronger and waterproof. I've poked around on a friend's '99 Fleetwood and it's built that way. At least it will not rot and delaminate from a waterleak on the sides.
What is the name of the adhesive remover that you sprayed on to get the glue off?
In aviatio, industry there are elastomeric fillers and those would have worked to relevel the sidewall and the RV wall itself.