Decorative wallboard

Has anyone replaced the decorative wallboard inside their Trailmanor?

We had a water leak at one side of the window between the stove and the wardrobe in our 2720. The water got behind the wallboard which is now swollen in some spots and disintegrating in others.

Wayne removed the window and recaulked. That fixed the leak, but we need to do something about the wallboard. Any ideas?

[RockyMtnRay]

[quote author=MawCraig link=board=2;threadid=1737;start=msg12234#msg12234 date=1078408812]
Has anyone replaced the decorative wallboard inside their Trailmanor?

We had a water leak at one side of the window between the stove and the wardrobe in our 2720. The water got behind the wallboard which is now swollen in some spots and disintegrating in others.

Wayne removed the window and recaulked. That fixed the leak, but we need to do something about the wallboard. Any ideas?
[/quote]

Maybe some kind of plasticized (vinyl) wallpaper...the washable kind that's for damp environments like bathrooms? When the trailer is folded and you're traveling on very wet roads, it's possible for some water to work its way up above the lower side seal (I've particularly noticed a grimy coating on the bathroom wall more or less directly over the TM's tire after extended wet road travel). So whatever you put on there, it's got to be somewhat water resistant and fairly easy to wash clean.

Repairing this type damage could be perplexing. What you wish to do is to reinforce that which is there and to smooth out the bulges. Adding a second layer of composition may add negatively to the weight of that roof section. I know of a Manorite that damaged the rear wall in his TM. The damge extended to the interior wall as well. His was repaired beautifully by adding a layer of thin aluminum, the same type that is laminated to the walls. It is about as thin and light weight as you can get. It may be necessary to add a think layer of filler to even out the bulges. Be wary of the amount of glue (contact cement?) that you apply. Possibly, you could omit the contact cement at the spots where the new covering might be "sucked into" low spots. <I hope this one gets past the censor.> A new surface could be the result if one side of the aluminum sheet is prepainted or you might reapply a layer of wallpaper.

[Bill]

[quote author=MawCraig link=board=2;threadid=1737;start=msg12234#msg12234 date=1078408812]The water got behind the wallboard which is now swollen in some spots and disintegrating in others.[/quote]

I'm trying to remember the construction in my '02 TM, which is locked in the garage, and I thought it was aluminum skin inside and out. But aluminum wouldn't swell and disintegrate.

It sounds like your wallboard is a pressboard/chipboard type of material. Once this gets wet and starts to disintegrate, it can't be repaired. It also loses all structural integrity, so it will continue to cause problems. Where it swells, it will drag as the shells slide past each other as you open and close. My recommendation would be to remove it. Perhaps you can cut a slot through the board and slide a knife behind it to separate it from the underlying foam, so you can leave the foam in place. But I doubt it. The best answer may be to simply cut out the damaged board, and the foam underneath it as well. Clean out the foam cavity, and put a new slab of foam in place, gluing it to the outer skin. Foam slab is cheap and easily available as insulation in Home Depot-type stores - make sure it is closed-cell foam!

Now choose a wallboard material to make a patch out of. It can be the same as the old material, but it doesn't have to be. The important thing is that it should have the same thickness as the old. Masonite "tempered hardboard" is pretty easy to work with, and has a nice smooth front finish. Cut a new piece of board material, as a patch to fit closely inside the opening. Mounting the patch solidly will be the tricky part. Cut some 2" wide strips of the new board material. Put glue on 1" of the width, and slide that gluey half behind the solid wall material all around the hole. This glues the strips to the back side of the undamaged wallboard, and leaves a 1"-wide ledge sticking out into the opening. Let the glue dry, then put glue on the ledge, press the new patch of wallboard onto the gluey ledge, and hold it until the glue sets.

Gorilla Glue is great for this sort of thing.

Now you have a solid flat patch where the swollen and disintegrated wallboard used to be. Re-wallpaper the area to make it look decent.

Did that make sense? I think it's one of those things that's easier done than said.

Bill

This is an intersting thread because I have been wondering how you can update your TM. Wouldn't you think that under the wallboard is aluminum skin? How is the wallboard attached to the aluminum skin, with glue or screws? I know that there is a matching decorative trim around the wallboard, maybe it covers some hidden screws, staples, etc. There should be a way to remove the wallboard easily and replace it. I bet the factory has first hand info on this.

I have thought about using woodgrain formica around the lower half of the living area to give it a warmer feeling. Anyway, I would hope that I can hang on to my TM for many years and give it a new look by replacing not only carpet and upholstery but the wallboard too!! I like the new beige and light brown schemes they are using on other travel trailers.

I'll have to check with Wayne when he gets home from work; but I'm pretty sure that when we had the window out to recaulk around it, we did indeed find the aluminum skin behind the wallboard.

I thought I had read somewhere that there was a wooden framework around the windows, but all we had was a hole cut in the aluminum and foam "sandwich."

I have a feeling that the wallboard is glued to the inside aluminum wall, which should make it challenging to remove.

The vinyl wallpaper does sound like a good option because of its ability to resist moisture....