Trailer repair help needed!

[Dave B]

I need some advice, fast. The travel trailer had some water running down the inside window on the door, so, I get some sealer, then when I go to seal it, my curious nature led me to look at the bottom of the door. I touched it, and the bottom moulding fell off, screws and all! Got down and looked back up into it, the entire bottom piece of wood framing for the door is rotted out!

So, does I:

A: Order a new door through the dealer? Bound to be spendy.

B. Take the door off, take it apart, rebuild it myself? NEVER monkeyed with anything like this before.

I have nowhere DRY to put the trailer with the door off while I do the repair, but I spose I could seal the entrance with plywood and a tarp. Have no idea how long fixing the door would take--guessing if I fixed the thing I'd just go to the lumber yard and get the same stuff it was made of, then what, nuke it with sealer in case of a similar problem?

Any and ALL advice appreciated!

Deep Down Dave

 

[Deezul1]

Try fixing it yourself, if you screw it up the most it will cost is the new door you were going to buy anyway,I have stripped the siding completly off of 2 different campers to replace rooted wood and its no big deal. If things are glued together and it will damage them to seperate them go buy a heat gun and heat the glue and most times it will release just fine. This stuff is usually not to hard to fix. Also try finding a RV surplus place or ask the RV repair shop about used doors, sometimes you get lucky.
Good Luck

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96 SLT Laramie CC 5spd, 3. 54, no muff, no cat, 5"turn down tip. (its for sale)
. Member NRA/USPSA

 

[HDH]

Dave, I had the Same problem with my old trailer i had. What I did is Rebuilt it. Its easy. First off, The lumber used in RV's is Not standard sized lumber, My Door was Made out of styrofoam core with a wood frame and some kind of sheet plastic for the inner and outer sides. The Lumber for the Framing was something like 1 1/4 X 3 1/4 I think. What I did was to Buy some Poplar wood 2x4's and ripped them down to size, I then cut them down to Length and used them to rebuild the door. After that was done, I sealed the outside edges with clear silicone for protect from future water damage. This project took around 4 hrs for me to do. And I am Not that good with wood working!
I hope this helps.
Doug.

[This message has been edited by DieselRam (edited 04-15-2001). ]

 

[Dave B]

Thanks guys. Yep Doug, same thing: the door is foam core, with actually a minimal amount of wood. Of course my makita drill charger blew a fuse on me today, and it would be one of those fuses that has endcaps that must be soldered on... arrggghhhh Anyway, I have a friend that works for the trailer outfit,and am going to price the door just for grins. If its much money, out comes the drill and the heat gun! The wood is in fact the odd shaped stuff..... weird. If I rebuild it, I'll do just as you did. Plus I'll soak the wood in some sort of preservative first.

EDIT-UPDATE: WHOA #ad
started taking some of it apart just to take a further look see... . the ENTIRE bottom of the door totally came apart, all rotted. I'll compare the price of the new one (wholesale) vs. time/trouble... ... . you'd think they'd build them better than this!

Tx!

D

[This message has been edited by Dave B (edited 04-15-2001). ]

 

[HDH]

Dave;
When I priced a New Door for my old Prowler, I Think it was going to cost something like $150. So I rebuilt it instead, The cost was $15. #ad

Doug.

[This message has been edited by DieselRam (edited 04-15-2001). ]

 

[zzman]

Say Dave,
I checked on fixing the frame on my trailer door,
the welds are broken. The dealer said that the door and
frame was one unit. I was quoted $357. to replace it.
Mine is a Wanderer, I have decided to re-weld the joints.
I think that included labor too, not sure.
Good luck
Ron

 

[Ron Bissett]

Originally posted by Dave B:
I need some advice, fast. The travel trailer had some water running down the inside window on the door, so, I get some sealer, then when I go to seal it, my curious nature led me to look at the bottom of the door. I touched it, and the bottom moulding fell off, screws and all! Got down and looked back up into it, the entire bottom piece of wood framing for the door is rotted out!

So, does I:

A: Order a new door through the dealer? Bound to be spendy.

B. Take the door off, take it apart, rebuild it myself? NEVER monkeyed with anything like this before.

I have nowhere DRY to put the trailer with the door off while I do the repair, but I spose I could seal the entrance with plywood and a tarp. Have no idea how long fixing the door would take--guessing if I fixed the thing I'd just go to the lumber yard and get the same stuff it was made of, then what, nuke it with sealer in case of a similar problem?

Any and ALL advice appreciated!

Deep Down Dave

Dave cheap fix , take off door turn over place two scrap boards or plywood to sandwich door bottom to shape, fill with long strand fiber glass filler ,found at body shop supply or home supply stores, this will take place of wood and be stronger than wood will take drilling sanding bolting or screwing ect cost about 20$ or so Fallow mixing instructions . takes about I hour and will last longer than the orignal wood Try it youl like it.


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[Dave B]

Well, I decided what the hay, so I tore into it. #ad
ALL the wood in the door was rotted! Apparently the weatherstripping lets some water in on the top edge of the door; and because Daffy and Sylvester didn't seal the screw holes on top of the door, it drains into the cavity, which is filled with foam. LOVELY.

New door is $125 wholesale. Used ones around on some lots but they want about the same. So, as suggested, I'll attempt to fix this on my own tomorrow nite. Have to cut some sort of wood to fit... maybe soak in preservative, etc. , use stainless steel screws, etc. , and seal the heck out of the thing. Actually had a FUNGUS looking thing growing out of it!

ddskipper: I like that idea with the glass, unfortunately, all wood in the door is rotted... ...

I see a tent in my future... .

UPDATE: that freakin fungus is IN THE FOAM. According to pictures, it is dry rot. Gonna try rebuilding from total scratch, using new foam, and maybe some plywood... . I hate this

[This message has been edited by Dave B (edited 04-18-2001). ]

 

[HDH]

Hey Dave, I had that fungus amongus too, I mixed up some bleach solution in a windex bottle and sprayed it down to kill that Fungus.
Doug.

[This message has been edited by DieselRam (edited 04-21-2001). ]

 

[Dave B]

That fungus s--- literally ate itself through everything in the door!!! I WAS, WAS, nearly to what I thought was the end of the project... . but, either my brain or calipers were off... . I sandwiched new foam with 1/4" plywood, and was going to put the skin over that. BUT, now the thickness is to great for the channel to fit over. I have to find a way to thin out the plywood... ... ... router? Planer? DRUM SANDER??? May go grab a drum sander... . need about 3/32 total, so maybe that is the way to go.

Back at it... ...

 

[tmacc]

Dave Rather than sand the plywood. (BTW most wide belt sanders wouldn't go thinner than 1/4". You would have to put it on another pc of plywood to be able to sand it. ) Could you cut the frame thinner, or is the foam core that thickness? Also, 1/4" luan plywood is only 3/16". Various thickness foams are available at a building supply place, such as Home Depot. If they don't have one in the thickness that you need, maybe the combo of 2 different pc will work. HTH

[This message has been edited by tmacc (edited 04-22-2001). ]

 

[Dave B]

Sighhhh. Well, rather than start over and do it the way the factory did it, I went ahead and used a router on the edges of the plywood, then sanded with my belt sander inward from the routed area to feather it. The mickey mouse frame goes around the plywood/foam sandwich..... you'd THINK these idiots would just used 2x2 and 1x2 industry standard stuff... NOPE. Gotta have it shaved a little smaller just to make life difficult. Be using a buddy's table saw to plane down the 2x2 and 1x2s next. This is just to match the routed surface on the edge of the door, and this allows the channel trim pieces to attach around the door. Door will be a little fatter in the middle than around the edges, but don't think it'll matter... we're only talking 1/16th or so.

Yes, I AM reinventing the wheel..... and darned tired of it... . oh well... ...

 

[HDH]

Originally posted by Dave B:
Sighhhh. Well, rather than start over and do it the way the factory did it, I went ahead and used a router on the edges of the plywood, then sanded with my belt sander inward from the routed area to feather it. The mickey mouse frame goes around the plywood/foam sandwich..... you'd THINK these idiots would just used 2x2 and 1x2 industry standard stuff... NOPE. Gotta have it shaved a little smaller just to make life difficult. Be using a buddy's table saw to plane down the 2x2 and 1x2s next. This is just to match the routed surface on the edge of the door, and this allows the channel trim pieces to attach around the door. Door will be a little fatter in the middle than around the edges, but don't think it'll matter... we're only talking 1/16th or so.

Yes, I AM reinventing the wheel..... and darned tired of it... . oh well... ...

Hey Dave, Just Be carefull that the Thickness of the Door doesnt have an impact on the door latch operation.
Doug.

 

[Dave B]

ITS DONE! AND IT WORKS! Not bad for a redneck rookie with a Makita saw! The trim and the skin hides all the mistakes (and boy IS there plenty. . ), and it will NEVER ROT again. It is one HEAVY S. O. B. ! So far screws and hinges holding. Can't say I'd do this again, but I did make it work. Thanks for the responses.....

p. s. If you have an RV, take 5 minutes and get some clear rubber silicone and dab it over the screws on the trim pieces on the door; the header, the footer, and the sides. I'd also tape off the skin and the trim, and run some along the crack between the skin and the trim on both sides... TRUST ME, you'll be glad you did!

[This message has been edited by Dave B (edited 05-07-2001). ]