Shell deterioration

Casey Freswick · 06-30-2019, 10:34 AM

Have a couple of issues this summer. I think this is a long term situation that I have just realized as it has gotten progressively worse. The bottom corner of the front shell, when popped up it is just to the right of the sink, is soft. I am thinking from water seepage over a long period of time. When I knock on the wall of the shell there is makes a noise like when you would tap on cardboard. The outside is solid. One foot in is solid. The wallpaper this year was a mess in this area. I pulled it off. THe wallpaper just above sink was looked like it had been wet. Under that wall paper there is is a wood paneling. Thought it would be aluminum. I know water has gotten in here. I just bought 1/2 pipe insulators to put in the vinyl seals. So how do I fix the mushy wall? Will it dry out? It is a small area but not sure how to fix it.

**Bill** · 06-30-2019, 01:00 PM

Somebody - Larryjb? - just went through this, so you'll get a good answer shortly. In the meantime, you might scan through the Exterior and Interior forums for his posts on the subject.

Bill

**Larryjb** · 06-30-2019, 07:56 PM

Funny this should come up. My repair isn't holding up as well as I would like, but I'll get into that in my own thread.

Here isa link to my issue and what I did. This should be a starting point for you:

https://www.trailmanorowners.com/for...ad.php?t=18922

Casey Freswick · 07-04-2019, 09:00 PM

Well this was no small job. I did not spend much money. BUt the time involved was significant. I would guess about 20 hours. So here is what I did. I replaced all the wood on the front shell. There are three pieces. The wood was rotted on the sink side at the top and the bottom. The wood on the top was rotted on the sink side. The wood on the stove side was rotted on the bottom. So I replaced it all. That was not easy. Took off the metal housing. Had to bend back the aluminum. Then had to take the vinyl off. Took each stable off separately. This was time consuming. My wife the seamstress said the vinyl was still serviceable. So I washed it with a scrub brush. To get the wood out I used a sawsall to cut the wood so I could pull it out. Also had to cut screws on the top. Then I used my table saw to fabricate new wood pieces. All this was complicated because some wood was still glued. Then I replaced the wood using silicone and a glue. Once I got the wood on I could attach the vinyl. After doing it wrong and starting over a couple of times I finally got this pattern down. I used 3/4 inch hot water pipe insulation, but cut one insulator in fourths and put that in the inside of the other insulated, to give it a little more pressure. Bought a stapler to staple the vinyl into place. Used silicone to get the opening water tight. So I would not get a repeat of my problem. I then screwed the housing back into place with stainless steal screws. Sounds easy. Was not. But I believe I have a better than new seal on my front shell.

Casey Freswick · 07-06-2019, 04:44 PM

Here are some pictures of my project.

**Larryjb** · 07-06-2019, 05:08 PM

Ah, that wood! I did have to replace one of those on mine as well. Because I was also replacing the interior wood panel, my job took much longer.