Don and Roberta Walker called Onward RV, a mobile RV repair service based in Maryville, Tennessee, to take a look at their 1998 Coachmen Santara. This little Class C had been sitting outside uncovered for more than a year when the Walkers asked Mike Richert, Onward RV’s owner and chief technician, to clean it up and get it road-worthy again. Unfortunately for the Walkers, Mike quickly discovered a major problem — a roof leak that had been allowing water to seep in under the fiberglass exterior and get into the cab area of the motorhome.
Here is the motorhome the Walkers brought to the Onward RV repair facility in Alcoa, Tennessee.
She’s dirty and stained by mildew, but Mike knows that’s not the big problem. Undetected, even a small leak can do a great deal of damage over time.
In the shop, Mike begins to peel back the fiberglass exterior.
The amount of rot is enormous. Outside and in. The entire cab-over bunk area is rotted.
So the weeks-long process of removing the rotten wood and getting the Walkers’ motorhome back to a usable condition begins. Rotten wood is removed. New wood is installed and painted.
The bunk-over cab is put back together, outside and in.
The bunk with entertainment center is re-installed, looking good as new.
Now the outside clean-up begins. Before and after:
The exterior cleaning wasn’t an easy process either, but the results were great!
And we’ve gone from this:
To this:
What a difference! And finally this 1998 Coachmen Santara is ready to go home.
And here are the Happy Campers, Don and Roberta, who were thrilled with the outcome of this big job.
The moral of the story is the same one we’ve made in this blog before: nothing is more destructive to an RV than to have its roof neglected. Regular roof care and maintenance is paramount to the health, usability, and value of every RV. Regardless of the type of roof your RV has, regular visual checks, cleaning, and basic maintenance are necessary to keep the roof in good condition and head off damaging leaks and expensive repairs. Just ask the Walkers!
Mike Richert is the owner and chief technician of Onward RV, Maryville, Tennessee. Onward RV serves Blount, Knox, Loudon, and other counties of east Tennessee. Visit the Onward RV website at http://www.onwardrv.com and LIKE us on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/onwardrv.
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