Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

My apologies if this is the wrong forum.

A previous owner (not the one we bought the trailer from, the one they bought the trailer from a year or so ago) had the roof professionally sealed up.

There is what appears to be old water damage that was painted over around the vent:



It isn't soft, it's as if the top layer of plywood split but nothing deeper. My thought was to cut out that top layer, and then do a thin layer of wood putty to even it out, and then paint over it. Is that the correct course of action?

Eventually we want to replace the vent with a Fantastic Fan, but I'll need to put 12v power to it (there is 12v nearby, if necessary I can do a surface wire), and that isn't going to happen immediately.

Dave,

It might work, but a "patch" is a patch, no matter how you go about it.

The thing to keep in mind before convincing yourself that a patch will correct everything, is that the water that damaged the paneling had to go through/around the framing first.
The framing might be just slightly damaged, and still be plenty strong, or...
Water damage in old trailers ( and new ones too) is rarely just surface damage.
If you plan to replace the fan, that will give you a good opportunity to check the framing for unseen damage.

Rob