Up at 04:30AM with my bride, I must say I had a fit full night thinking about the damage to the fiver. Donna Googled the RV Tech who came and gave us the estimate, and he was clean with the Better Business Bureau here in MO. but she found one complaint in some RV repair link, where he did a repair in March of this year to a travel trailer of a roof leak and siding,and the leak came back and the trailer owner was not pleased with his work and rated it poor. It was also a $2500 job. I think that finished him with us. He did charge $50 to come out and make the estimate and said if we had him do the repairs he would deduct it from the costs. I guess I’d rather be out $50 than $2500.
I went our and took some pictures to post, wherever the leak is it is under the cabinets and between the hot water heater and the sinks, it is not wet to the touch under there but sometime it was leaking as you can see. we have to see what cause this first before doing to much repair work.
Yesterday morning Donna and I ripped up all the tile flooring and peeled the edge of the carpet back, there is no damage to the half of the floor under the carpeting. We are going to remove the carpet from the rest of the floor except for the slide out when we put the new floor and a hard covering down.
As you come in the door out from under the sink cabinet to just under the edge of the rug on right.
Moving forward in front of sink cabinet. The light color is dry and hard.Only soft spots are where it is actually black.
The damage ends at the door under the fridge and hot water heater.
Another view of the end.
Overall view rear to front showing all damaged areas, anything under the cabinet will have to be replaced also.
Were looking at about 4-5 feet on the right side of the floor the left 4-5 feet is clean and hard and should be good to go.
As you can see this is going to be a pretty good job for whoever does it. We are both sick over it. The Tech did say that it was probably leaking and wet over a long period of time possible when we bought it. He said it takes several years for the wood to get like it is in several places. I know I noticed the one soft spot by the door at the end of last summer. and we just put off having it checked until now.
Sure wished I lived close to Steveo and Karen as I would tackle the job myself if I had a partner in crime with some RV knowledge.
I like the idea about having a carpenter look at it, maybe I can find someone that will do that. Right now we are kind of at an impasse until we decide which way to go.
I appreciate the help and comments. Just another rock in the road to full timing, but we will get their someday and in a fiver that is “Much, Much Better Than New”.
Be safe out there. Sam & Donna….
OMG- that looks terrible. Hoping the actual damage is better than it looks. I like the idea of a good carpenter. This does not look like it really needs to be done by an RV tech.
ReplyDeleteHave I told you about the term Uf-dah?? This is definitely an Uf-dah kind of thing. :(
ReplyDeleteSam,
ReplyDeleteJudy is right, this is definitely Uffda!! You were right not to hire the guy who charged $50.00 to do an estimate. The honest guys out there do not charge to do an estimate, if the next guy tries tell him thanks but no thanks.
You need to find out where the bad parts really end. I did this by using a putty knife and using the side edge to see how far it goes into the floor.
If the soft spots are small then you may have lucked out, but if they are about the same size as the dark areas then this could be a big job. If not, then maybe the link I sent you may help fix this, a carpenter will know.
The good news is, they may be able to replace a large enough section using full sheets to make this a better than new repair.
Do the putty knife test and let us know how far the bad areas go. Try and check inside the cabinets where you can get to the floor as well. It sure does look like this has been going on for awhile.
I'm almost scared to remove my carpet, I can only imagine what it looks like up around the passenger seat from our leak last year. :(
Good luck,
Erik
Oh yeah, an overlay is fine in a bathroom or small room like that. Putting a new subfloor over the old one in this case I think would be a bad idea, I could be wrong, hopefully a carpenter with a lot of years experience will have the right plan.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you could send the pictures over to Route 66 RV, they do a lot of this kind of repair work. http://www.getyourkicksrv.com
Maybe they can take a look and give you some ideas that might help keep a repair guy honest.
Erik
Ok, Erik back again, whats in the cabinet right next to the door? It looks darkest there and then it looks like it pooled in the other areas.
ReplyDeleteErik
The honest guys out there do not charge to do an estimate, if the next guy tries tell him thanks but no thanks.
ReplyDeleteNot even close to true. It could even be that the guy who is the most honest is the one charging for the estimate.
YIKES! McGuyver needs to take a look at that...I just have a feeling he would take up that icky floor for sure....Carpenter would know about it. It would be ideal to get a carpenter who owns an Rv so he is familiar with them.
ReplyDeletethat is just nasty Sam..we feel so bad for you!..hope you can get this fixed quickly and maybe it won't be as bad as it looks!
ReplyDeleteDawg gone it, I sure hate it about your problem Sam....Bummer. But I'm sure it can be repared and you will be fine. I'm not to hot on a regular house carpenter with no RV experience. They seldom even want to mess with a RV and don't understand them. I'd be leary of that....good luck buddy..wish I was closer...
ReplyDeleteKevin & Ruth,
ReplyDeleteAgreed, it is possible that a very good RV repair man or carpenter might charge for an estimate. However, in my lifetime (I've been around awhile) I have only heard of people looking to soak you wanting to charge to do an estimate.
I bid for work as part of my business and never in 25 years have I considered charging somebody to try and get their business, it makes no sense to do so and it turns off the customer.
As in this case, clearly he didn't make a good example of himself. But hey, he did walk away with $50.00...
Just my 10 cents (marked up for inflation)...
Erik
Sam.. looking at the pics... one possible source of a leak that might be overlooked is a small drain hose on the fridge outside grid. It is entirely possible that it is no longer poking out the grid door to the outside where it can freely drain condensation... and might be stuck inside the fridge cavity and leaking slowly inside and down onto the floor below....
ReplyDeleteJust one more possibility to check on!
Karen and Steveio
ps looking at the pics, one would think if you dismantled the entire cabinet and sink and pulled them away from the wall, replaced the entire flooring underneath, and replace the cabinetry would be the best bet. I would think a good carpenter could do this much better than some jack of all trades RV tech?
God bless you..its going to be quite a job..but I'd possibly like others said steer more to a carpenter or really good handyman versus TV techs....it may not cost as much...first order of the day I guess is to find out where the water is coming from....good luck!!!!!
ReplyDeleteHubby says he wonders where is your hot water tank and if it leaked from outside in a rain by the vents to the hot water tank. Not sure if I am saying that right. Ron says to give him a call if you want 830-363-7623 - remember we are CT here. And he agrees with Stevio about taking up the cupboards and replacing the floor all the way across.
ReplyDelete