Water Damage to Plywood Walls - Any Advice?

[teardroprescuist]

Hello all,

Brand new teardrop owner here with a problem - maybe big, maybe small - that I'd like to have a few people weigh in on.

After running in the rain for three hours and perhaps three days of light rain, the base of the plywood walls of my TDT are drawing in water from what must be the bottom edge. The trailer is less than 90 days old and has been run 95% in sunbelt states in excellent weather.

Does anyone have any opinion on how serious this problem is, and if it is to be fixed, any advice on how to proceed with repairs?

Thanks in advance for your advice!

teardroprescuist

[les45]

If you don't fix it now you will have major problems in time. Caulk, seal, and paint the heck out of it. Remove as much trim as you can to get to all the hidden places. Also consider treating as much as possible with CPES before applying anything else.

[dales133]

Pmf!

[GPW]

Looks like nobody did the all important end grain sealing ... That needs to be done ...after everything is thoroughly dried ... If you have any water induced ripples in the skin , you can clamp a board to that while it Dries completely and that will help flatten it ..." The Mixture “ of 75% Mineral Spirits and 25% Polyurethane varnish does a great job of waterproofing plywood , and everything else .. As the Foamie people will attest .
This all should have been done at the "factory” ... and is a warranty issue ... Good Luck !!!

[Tomterrific]

I'll parrot what everyone else has said and say it again in a different way. Two things I see rather quickly.

The metal on your trailer seems to be layered up against the wood. Water/moisture will get behind this metal and stay there! Needs removed and slathered with caulk or at the very least caulked around each seam. Even a small gap between metal and wood will suck up water due to capillary action, it can even do this from the bottom. Let me add that there is ribbon and rope caulk that will ease the job.

Water runs down hill but it hangs at the bottom in heavy drips. Plywood is very vulnerable to this water hang as the end grain sheets suck up the water quickly. The thinned polyurethane will be sucked up into the dried end grain to block water intrusion.

Be aware, you are not the only owner who must deal with water. I thought I was safe but I just noticed a bad area about 30 minutes ago. Darn! Mine's in the bottom front so I think it is from water hang or possibly as weird as condensation between the ceiling and roof! :(

T

[KennethW]

Bleach will kill any mold that might have formed.
My first TD is wood. I learned a lot. When I built my second TD no wood to rot or discolor.

[PaulC]

Would it be at all possible for you to follow our guidelines and reset the size of your photos please.

Paul

[teardroprescuist]

Hello all, and thanks to those of you who've weighed in with advice; it's much appreciated.

Paul, I've resized the images to be much easier to see (they were poster-sized)
I couldn't however find clear guidelines on photo size - would you be able to provide a link?

I've changed the images in the original post to reflect the starboard side, as there is also water ingress starting at the top it seems. This reply contains photos of the port side.

A further question; the manufacturer has offered to sand the sides and place aluminum sheeting over them (same material as the roof). Is this a sound strategy?

thanks again guys

teardroprescuist

[PaulC]

Thanks for doing that, much appreciated. If you go to the "Forum Problems" link at the top of the page there is a section titled "Help with photos"

Cheers
Paul

[GPW]

Adding aluminum without fixing the leaks would only leave you with “rot in a Can “ ...

[Graniterich]

That is not a sound strategy. You must stop the wicking of water

[daveesl77]

I can almost guarantee (as others have said) that the water intrusion is coming in from the edges of the ply and has nothing to do with the coating. If it were the coating then the dark areas would be in wall areas and not near the edges. Only way to fix this is
1) remove stuff down to where you can see the edges, seal them and then replace or
2) remove stuff down to edges and if possible epoxy after allowing wet spots to dry completely.

Putting something over the top is just hiding the problem, not solving it.

dave

[GPW]

All those wooden parts should really be removed and ALL the edges (and all Holes too ) treated THOROUGHLY with a waterproofing mixture ... Then the top edges/seams/corners where water can ( and will ) get in needs to be sealed with something substantial .... We experimented with Eternabond tape and found it quite durable ... and sealing ... A job that should have been done in the first place ... and yet another example of irresponsible trailer building ... of which there are too many examples to choose from ... :doh:

Ps , the bottom looks like "wood in a channel" , bound to hold water ... This area needs a a proper Drip Edge to transition water from ply side to ground , bypassing the trim altogether ...

[troubleScottie]

Not to completely hijack the thread, To GPW

What is a proper "dip edge" ? Where would it be relative to the shown trim? Could you provide a drawing?



It seems that no matter what you do, an outside L shaped trim along the bottom edge will always have the possibility of catching and holding water. And trim along the top edge does not guarantee a seal.

If you are using the trim as accent eg complimenting the trim along the top edge or actually securing the side wall to the trailer, would a flat piece ending at the end of the side wall be better as there is no where to collect water?

For a typical 3 layer wall, would it have been better to have

Click for a bigger view

• no overhang and no trim, just a well coated/sealed outer surface and edge of outer wall and middle wall. The inner surface of the outer wall is glued to middle wall [probably the most common solution (??)]
• a well coated/sealed overhang and no trim? ( Red area of outer wall in picture ) This might just be moving the issue to the middle wall's edge
• would flashing ( blue vertical or dark blue/purple L shaped ) inside the outer wall be good? Or is such a barrier just another problem waiting to happen? Or just too much over building?

No matter what solution is provided, the weak link is the plywood edge, be it the top or bottom.

[Socal Tom]

Hello all, and thanks to those of you who've weighed in with advice; it's much appreciated.

Paul, I've resized the images to be much easier to see (they were poster-sized)
I couldn't however find clear guidelines on photo size - would you be able to provide a link?

I've changed the images in the original post to reflect the starboard side, as there is also water ingress starting at the top it seems. This reply contains photos of the port side.

A further question; the manufacturer has offered to sand the sides and place aluminum sheeting over them (same material as the roof). Is this a sound strategy?

thanks again guys

teardroprescuist

I think you need to determine the cause of the wicking, and see how bad the damage is. The alluminum trim on the bottom might be the cause, if its keeps water from running away properly from the ends lf the ply. If the plywood is still good under that trim, and the bottom of the ply can be sealed effectively then the aluminum covering could be ok. I would ask that they also give you some sort of warranty around this repair. If the walls decay in the next couple years then you shouldn't be out a bunch of money.
Tom