Newbie question - water damage to 14' Terry

[dawn_mdb]

Hi All! Hoping for some general advice/info. We recently purchased a 1974, 14' Terry travel trailer. In most respects, it appears in good shape and we didn't pay much for it. We had been told that one of the prior owners installed the roof vent incorrectly and because of the resulting water leak, the interior ceiling panels had been replaced. However, after getting it home and taking out the cushions, closer inspection, etc., we've found evidence of further water damage, mostly in the rear of the trailer. I know, we should have checked it out better, but now it's ours, so...

Here's my question: How can we best determine if the trailer is safe to haul/use? The guy we bought it from stored it outside and has not used it more than 1-2 times for at least the last 3 years. No musty smells inside at all. Front 1/2 of the trailer shows zero evidence of water damage. Floor is in perfect original condition (no bubbling, etc.). Worst damage seems to be on rear wall, paneling is "bubbling" and a few cracks. Hard to tell extent of prior ceiling damage since they replaced the ceiling panel. All advice, comments appreciated. Despite discovering this "can of worms," we love our tiny vintage trailer and can't wait to take her out in a few weeks! Thanks in advance.

[mikeschn]

Hi again,

As I mentioned in the other thread, we need photos... Seriously though, we can do a lot better job offering advice, if we can see what you are seeing...

If you need help with photos, click on "help with photos" up there in the menu!

Mike...

[dawn_mdb]

okay! I'll take a few (probably tomorrow) and post them for all to see. Hubby has "puttied" some of the minimally damaged areas, but being the mom of the family, I want to make sure we aren't covering up something dangerous. Don't want/need the perfect beautiful trailer (yet!), but DO want and need safety!

Thanks for the quick reply, Mike. COOL pics of your trailer in progress, didn't get to the "end" of the thread to see if you finished it, as I am late to a dinner with friends. Speaking of... signing off! Back soon.

[angib]

Here's another call for pictures.....

Needing to replace interior panelling makes it sound like a fairly serious leak and in that case it might be expected that the framing underneath was damaged (rotted) too. Replacing that can be a major task - there are quite a few photo galleries of trailer repair jobs floating round the internet (google 'trailer restoration' maybe?) and you could scare yourself by looking at them.

But the upside is that those same galleries will show you those trailers had corner joints you could see through! As safety risks go, it's likely that your trailer is up there with things like 'windshield hit by large splattery bug' - I'm hard-pressed to see how this problem could be more than just a nuisance.

To back up the photos, try some gentle pushing in the area of the water damage, maybe with someone looking at the corresponding joint outside. You'll quickly see if you can move, say, the side away from the rear.

One other thought is: does it look like the new panelling has been added over the old panelling (ie, look at where the new stuff ends)?

Andrew

[dawn_mdb]

Hi Andrew - thanks for the reply. The trailer corners are rock-solid where the roof meets the sides, and where the back meets the sides as well. No movement or separation. We can push a bit on the interior paneling in the rear of the trailer where it has warped, but only a little bit -- I'd say 1/2 inch or less. The "studs" (is that what the interior wood frame pieces are called?) don't move when pressed. I think the mom in me MAY have over-reacted about the safety issue. Hubby poked around pretty good and he has given the trailer a thumbs-up.

Seeing as how we are not up for a major renovation for now... I suspect we will be spiffing her up with a serious cleaning, rouge and lipstick! Not nearly as impressive as some of the restorations/original builds I've seen on this site, but our goal is adorable (me) and functional (hubby).

Thanks again for the insights - very helpful! I'll post before and after pics, although we've already removed the horrid blue carpet. Still deciding whether to recover the funky 70's avocado-green-and-disco-blue-print cushions!