Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Help! This is my 1st post and appreciate advice. I bought my TD used last year and have been taking it out monthly to state parks. Last month was the 1st rain event--downpour is more like it! Rained heavy the 1st day out and soaked the galley and back end. Got home, inspected and dried out but appears to be some damage. Edge has warped and pulled away from the hatch. I've been reading here about adding the rubber seal to the hatch edge from Trimlok or McMaster-Carr. I'm also wondering about adding another lock to mid-hatch edge to try and pull it back into alignment. It is made of plywood throughout. Advice would be appreciated. I love this thing and am not going to let a little rain slow it down! Thanks!

Hi Judy & welcome. A little more information would be helpful. From the pictures, I can't tell how the hatch actually seals. Is there some sort of gasket or seal attached anywhere? The way it looks, it doesn't seem to have any overhang along the side, is that correct?

It looks like the hatch just sits inside the side walls and that there isn't a gasket to stop the water, but I could be wrong.

Hi! thank you! There is a rubber gasket along the inside hatch cover but that's the only thing.

Judy,

The one side is clear now.... What does that seal seal against?
I can't see a seal seat.

Does the hatch skin come right out to overlap the sidewalls?
It looks like it may end shirt witch wouldnt be ideal at all and while a desgin flaw if it does should be an easy fix.
As pchaust said the gasket needs to compress down onto something well to seal.

Hi! So there isn't a rubber seat seal. On the other side that is flush, it snugs up against the lower hatch edge which is just plywood.

Its a bit hard to tell from your pics as im only on my phone but it looks like you may need to add a trim of some description to the hatch edge and a seal on the underside
Its somewhat similar to my hatch in design

Read the original post, she said the wall got wet, warped, bowed out and now does not sit under the hatch. At least that is how I read it.

Judy, can you post a pic of the inside of the galley wall? I'm wondering if you can add a stiffener along the inside of the wall to pull it flat again (this would have to be under the area where the hatch rib closes and only if you don't have cabinets and counter top interfering.

If that isn't practical, you could form some aluminum angle around the profile of the sides walls to cap the edge and stiffen it up flat again.

Either way you will have to make sure the ply is really dried out, sand any existing finish off of the edge, then this seems like a perfect place for a penetrating epoxy, like CPES. Once that has the wood stable, and the top of the wall is back in line under the edge of the hatch, putting another piece of corner trim on the edge of the hatch, as suggested above, would held shed the water off the sides and keep it out in the future.

You're correct that the wall has pulled away. There is a slight lip the hatch sits on but it isn't flush like the left side. Here is the galley interior and the cabinets may be in the way. I've been thinking about this constantly and used the wood hardener before on my house. Would I need to sand down the interior wall and edge, wet the wood, then pull it into alignment with some pipe clamps? Let it dry, add hardener, re-seal wood, add rubber seat seal on edge. Sounds like I've got plans for the weekend! (and then some!)

I don't think the CPES will add any strength or stiffness, at least not enough to hold the plywood from flexing back. (The reason I recommended it was to stop the exposure form continuing to rot the wood.) I think you will still need some type of mechanical stiffener, some sort of lip or backer. Unsupported flat things don't have much resistance to bowing, even 3/4 inch plywood.

It also appears from the pictures that your galley hinge is flush with the side walls. To best divert water away most people extend the hinge about 3/4'" or more over the side wall. A simple fix for this would be to add a flexible forever hinge in front of your galley hinge. Screw one side on the roof and let the second leg of the hinge lay on top of the galley hinge. That side will move up and down when the hatch is raised. Here is what I am referring to.

http://teardroptrailerparts.com/Plastic_Hinge.html

I would also try and find out exactly where the water is coming in from. You might check out on the same site I posted for you their Galley gasket. It is a soft fairly thick gasket that compresses very well, making a great seal.

If what I am saying does not make sense, let me know and I will take a picture of how I used the forever hinge to help my leak in the galley.

ok ! You can not add 1x material inside to stiffen the wall as it will interfere with the hatch spars. Adding them outside only aggravates the water intrusion. The only real easy idea I can come up with is to get some vinyl wall cove and cut it to about 2 maybe 2 1/2 inches wide and apply it directly to the wall top edge. Between the ultra sticky adhesive and a few well placed flat headed tacks this addition will do two things. It tightens the gasket to vinyl fit and the vinyl will redirect the wind driven rain down and away from trying to climb in the galley. I am not sure what it will look like aesthetically but it is a repair that is quick and yet easy to remove if it just looks too bad to stand. I can not see the hinge area across your trailer but that is another big problem area when it comes to leaks. I leak proofed mine with sheet rubber and a couple pieces of aluminum flat stock.



If you look close mine almost has the same problem of the wall walking out from under the hatch skin. I installed a garage door bottom gasket on the wall to seal mine.

You can see it pretty well in this pic.

Judy, what's the outside skin made of for the hatch the way it sits now?

I'm asking because it might be possible to add another layer of skin on the outside of the hatch & extend it past the side walls. Then you could add some trim on the under-side & make a gasket (like Bob has shown) on the existing wall. This would help seal the edge better and keep water outside the wall in the rain, so it can't get inside the wall edge. Still thinking.... tim

The reality is the hatch is not properly made. The builder did not understand water intrusion. The hatch needs to be over the side wall. A flat material on the hatch extending over the edge of the side wall is a first step. Saturate the edge of any plywood with a thinned, penetrating solution of poly. Next, a seal on the wall edge to keep out the water before it gets inside. The flat edge in stalled on the hatch will compress and seal.

You have already heard about the hinge. I agree the hinge should have a rubber strip running over the hinge, and extended out over the sides. Get two aluminum floor/carpet transition strips to secure and seal the rubber strip on each side of the hinge. Cheap, has holes already and can pick up at any home center store. Cut to size with a hacksaw if you can't get the right length.

I'm concerned the rest of your camper might have water issues. Caulk every seam to keep water out.

Tom

Nothing like a little sanding to reveal the truth in what you've all been saying--the problem is worse than I expected. The skin of the hatch appears to be sheet metal veneer. Not sure on the outside side walls but there are a couple places where it's pulled away and I'm re-attaching with liquid nails then it will be poly over the top. I ordered some u-channel for the edge and got some weather-stripping to go over it. I don't think that's enough. The hinge suggestion is the next step. I also am planning to silicone all the interior seams. Bottom is coated with tar. Thank y'all so much for your help! I will let you know how it goes. I'm supposed to take my granddaughter out next weekend so am motivated.