Repairing water damage.

[knaveman67]

Hello! I recently purchased a 1981 Fleetwood Tioga Class C with a little water damage. I've removed most of the damage and am trying to dry it out and repair the leaks, but since it's December in Washington it may take some time.

All the videos and articles I've seen on repair show RV's with mostly wood construction, but mine is steel tubing. I'm going to re-insulate and add a vapor barrier before I put panelling back on. Is there anything special I should do or look out for regarding the steel tubing before I put everything back together?

[GraySeal65]

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[guardrail53]

The steel tubing is not going to show? You are talking about inside of the walls, so I would not worry about it? Up to you, I guess?
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[knaveman67]

Thanks for the feedback! I've got so many questions and so happy to have found this place.

[knaveman67]

So I'm done repairing the damage and trying to dry everything out. I'm getting ready to put everything back together soon.

As far as insulation is concerned, it originally had 1" blue rigid foam. I was going to go with the same thing but with the foil back. Is there any real benefit of using the foil back in this application? Should I foil tape everything as a vapor barrier?

Panelling will be thin plywood. Should I glue or screw? Obviously using a vapor barrier will make glueing a little challenging.

I'm trying to make the old rig as comfortable as possible since we may be staying in it for a while when we but some property.

[alvo]

A full bead of construction adhesive along each tube will make the wall panels more rigid. It generally know as a torsion box, the kind of construction used in Ikea furniture, hollow core doors and the interior walls of your RV. Makes for light and strong panels.

[sam-3]

We repaired many walls in our 1990 25ft. HiLo due to water damage. Our had steel framing. Sand the steel and use Rust oleum primmer and Riust Oleum paint. Our a good primmer and paint some other brand. Our interior walls were stripped to the metal. Then we used bondo on the fiberglass. Use an industrial respirator and follow the directions on the can. Can be purchased at Walmart or any auto parts store. Then we used sheets of insulation with out foil backing. Seal any leaks with lexel caulk. Some expanding foam was used. Our paneling was glued on with a very generous amt of heavy duty liquid nails. Walmart has the best price. Could have used two tubes per sheet of paneling in a "s" pattern. DH used a floor roller to press against the paneling. The repairs were completed in 2013 and we have had no leaks. Paneling is to be left in the Rv 24hrs before install to aclimate. Hope this helps you. Use HD liquid nails to glue in the insulation. Liquid nails didn't "eat" the insulation. Take out all your windows and reseal. You Tube has a video on how to do this. Keep us posted.