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6ofus · 02-12-2020, 06:15 PM

Hello all

We looked at a 2000 Bounder 31W, 54k miles and 1643 generator hours. We have been looking at Bounders around this age and really like this floor plan. Routine maintenance was done and records were kept. Very clean inside and out with one exception, water damage in the shower.

RV tech went through and did a pressure test and fixed the leak, then cleaned and sealed the roof. He said he fixed the air conditioner (no cold air) and fixed the generator (I don't remember what exactly was wrong with that at the moment).

There is no delamination on the RV. There is a soft spot above the shower but not on the ceiling. I will try to post a picture below.

Being that it is a 20 year old RV, there is going to be a leak somewhere at some point. Hubby said he is okay with cutting out this spot in the shower and replacing.

I know water is like cancer, and we should run. When is water damage "Ok" when purchasing an older RV in your opinion? Has anyone purchased an RV with this type of damage and regretted it later on?
https://photos.app.goo.gl/1sjSB2WCFmUuYxXq9

I know I'll get honest opinions here and that's what we are looking for.

CathedralCub · 02-13-2020, 12:30 AM

I feel like I don't have an entirely clear idea of exactly where the water damage is . . . but if your husband has the ability to repair the bad spot then this would be handy both today and down the road. If the deal is worth it then you can save a lot of money on the unit by doing a little remediation work.

6ofus · 02-13-2020, 04:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CathedralCub

I feel like I don't have an entirely clear idea of exactly where the water damage is . . . but if your husband has the ability to repair the bad spot then this would be handy both today and down the road. If the deal is worth it then you can save a lot of money on the unit by doing a little remediation work.

Thanks for the reply. The wall directly above the shower itself is soft. There are water marks where they skylight is but the ceiling is not soft. The ceiling is pretty solid.

It does pay to have a handyman around

cavie · 02-13-2020, 04:21 AM

2 possibilities. 1- sky-lite leaking or 2- vent pip in the wall thru the roof leaking. Since you say there is no soft spot on the ceiling then I would suspect a tank vent in the area going thru the roof.

Get up on the roof and have a look see. Repair will require opening the wall/ceiling area in bathroom or the room on the other side. If hubby is handy man it is fixable.

Gary RVRoamer · 02-13-2020, 11:33 AM

I totally disagree with the "run away form leaks" dictum, but you DO need to be able to assess the nature and extent of the water intrusion. It may well be trivial - I've suffered leaks in our several Rvs over our many years of RVing and never had one fall apart or make us ill or any of the other warnings. Rare indeed is the RV that never leaked anywhere.

If your hubby is comfortable with the idea of cutting things open and fixing, he probably has enough savvy to assess how bad the damage may be. If you like the coach, make an offer commensurate with the damage to be repaired and go for it.

CathedralCub · 02-14-2020, 12:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gary RVRoamer

I totally disagree with the "run away form leaks" dictum, but you DO need to be able to assess the nature and extent of the water intrusion. It may well be trivial - I've suffered leaks in our several Rvs over our many years of RVing and never had one fall apart or make us ill or any of the other warnings. Rare indeed is the RV that never leaked anywhere.

If your hubby is comfortable with the idea of cutting things open and fixing, he probably has enough savvy to assess how bad the damage may be. If you like the coach, make an offer commensurate with the damage to be repaired and go for it.

Well said!

Rolling Ragu · 02-14-2020, 04:57 AM

We bought a 9 year old coach that seemed "like new". Got it home and on the first rain we had a leak. My heart sank and I was sick to my stomach. Could I be one of "those" people? I pulled the passenger side window frame off and discovered all of the wood was rotted. Fortunately, we bought it from a dealer that stood behind the leak, even though it was "as is". Can't say enough good about the dealership!

It took several trips to figure out the strange leak, but eventually it was fixed for good. The passenger side window was removed, the wall section removed (all cuts behind cabinets), a little mold was treated. All was put back together and two years later we are still in good shape.

I saw the process of fixing the rot, and would not be afraid to do it myself. At first, things look scary, but it's mostly light construction, nothing a handy person can't do.

The tricky part would be, how do you know the rot is isolated? It could have been a disaster for us. In the end, you have to go with your gut and use as many clues as you can to decide. Mine was aluminum framed with foam insulation, no smells, no other soft spots, no sign of delamination on the outside, etc.

I would not be afraid of it, just make an educated decision. Being 20 years old, you are in a price point that you will likely not find a problem free coach. That's a consideration too.

Waiter21 · 02-14-2020, 09:10 AM

Quote:

When is water damage okay

When it significantly reduces the purchase price, and you, the buyer, have the abilities to repair it.

Where is the water coming from?? How much work is it going to take to do a repair.

Looking at the photo, its tough to get an idea where the water is coming from or what the damage is.. No ceiling damage is a good sign, I wonder if its water over-spray or even condensation from the shower..

When we purchased our ole Mirada, I got the seller to significantly reduce the price because of water damage. In that case, it looked a lot worst than what it was (but the seller didn't know that):

Repair interior wall de-lamination damage – 2001 Coachmen Mirada 300QB

Rolling Ragu · 02-14-2020, 12:16 PM

I didn't see your photo this morning. Is it a situation where the seller might allow you to dig behind that shower? It will need to be done either way. I don't know if I'd touch that without doing so.

ga traveler · 02-20-2020, 08:52 AM

Our dealership was a Fleetwood dealer. This is VERY common for Fleetwood. 20 percent of the time it was the seal leaking and 80 percent of the time it was the skylight cracking. You can tell it is coming from the skylight leaking from the water stain on the ceiling. This is a easy repair. ,loosen the shower wall. Pull it back. Remove the wall panel to just below the shower wall. Check the wood bracing. It will probably be OK. If not repair the braces and install new paneling.

AlanTerry · 02-22-2020, 01:44 PM

Just goes to show you need to inspect your coach roof and body and seal or caulk at minimum once a year.

All coaches/trailers will leak at some point.

BOSTONBERNIE · 02-24-2020, 02:41 PM

What is very important to know is where the ceiling is soft does definitely does not mean where the water is coming in,it is only the release point or possibly the low point at that time. Fixing the soft area at that time is only a band aid. The leak could be coming from ten feet away and eventually move to the next low or week area.All that being said the leak area must be found and sealed first. Water damage in an RV is a red flag for sure....don*t run but walk away fast.

Alan_Hepburn · 02-24-2020, 04:43 PM

When is water damage okay?

When it's in someone else's RV...

the__Birdman · 11-18-2020, 11:29 AM

We bought an RV with some water damage here recently (granted we were unaware of the problem until after we bought it).

The thing we learned is that you never know what you're going to get with water damage. We had a spot that looked awful that turned out to be an easy fix and then a spot that looked like no big deal that ended up being a pretty large dilemma.

I am decently handy but wouldn't say I totally know what I'm doing when it comes to restoration work.

Below is the link to the 2 videos I did on repairing the water damage (we found mold unfortunately)

https://youtu.be/Qfv7lqilZSY - Mold Damage repair w/ reseal of windows
https://youtu.be/FWf6MUTGs5Y - Window reseal and minor water damage

Maybe this will help sway you one way or the other. I was pretty bummed when I found out there was water damage but after going through the process and eliminating the problem I feel much better about it.

That being said though if you are going to repair it make sure you have plenty of time. It always takes longer than expected when fixing these leaking windows/water damage.

Hope that helps someone in the future.