Delamination

[oceannanna]

Part of my Four Winds Motorhome coach is beginning to delaminate. Can anyone advise me as to if it can be repaired and how to fix the problem.

[shields]

Welcome to the FMCA forum.

If you could provide further details, it will be most helpful. You'll find that the more information you provide in your post, the better the responding advice will be. In this case, how old is your motorhome, and where is the delamination (roof?, sidewall? other?)? Also, is the delam near a window, door, air condiitioner, ect.? Before you decide whether and how to treat the delamination, it will be important to figure out what is causing it. Some frequent causes are water intrusion, lack of sealing, wind lift, and structural damage.

If you can provide details or pictures, we will try to help you out.

Best wishes,

Tim

[oceannanna]

Part of my Four Winds Motorhome coach is beginning to delaminate. Can anyone advise me as to if it can be repaired and how to fix the problem.

Thank you for replying....I own a 24ft Four Winds 5000, 2005. The shower leaked 2 yrs ago. Had roof repaired, had roof checked last 2 years, everything Ok. I now notice the back corner of the Motorhome where the shower is located has some delamination on both the top corner of the back and top corner of left side. I have also noticed delamination over the rear wheel wells. If sides are from the leak, why would delamiation occur over back wheel wells? Please advise as I recently lost my husband and desperately need advice. Thank you.

[oceannanna]

Thank you for replying I own a 2005 Four Winds 5000. The shower leaked 2 years ago. Had roof repaired. For the last 2 years had roof checked and it was okay. I now notice some delamination on top of back wall (left hand corner) and top of left side wall (top right hand corner) where side and back meet. I also noticed delamination over both rear wheel wells. If delam on side/back is from leak can it be repaired? What has caused both real wheel wells to delam? My husband recently passed and I am in desperate need of advice. Thank you.

[shields]

If the roof previously leaked in the same area where the delamination now appears, the two events may be related. The exterior siding of most motorhomes is glued to a backing (i.e. substrate) material. When water gets into those areas it can destroy the adhesive bond between the siding and the substrate. In other cases, especially if the substrate is plywood or a similar material, the water causes the substrate to swell or come apart, which in turn pushes the siding out.

As to the wheel wells, those areas often have water intrusion issues because the tires throw water forcefully when driving in wet conditions. Consequently, your various complaints may share moisture intrusion as a common cause.

Yes, delamination can be repaired, but it is sometimes an expensive proposition. The repairs range from opening the area and injecting additional glue (relatively cheap) to removing the siding and rebuilding the substrates (pricey). A creative body shop might find other ways to reattach the delaminated areas.

While it would probably not work for a newer coach like yours, I've seen some older motorhomes where the owner simply put screws or rivets through the delaminated areas to resecure them. It wasn't pretty but it probably worked well.

Your best course is probably to find a reputable RV collision and paint center, and have them look it over. Shop around; you'll probably find considerable variation in prices. I hope this helps and wish you well.

Tim

[bingford]

I have seen repairs done with epoxy and clamping. There is one company that I found that makes a special epoxy for repairing mild delamination without sidewall removal. Check out www.delamrepair.com. As you know, fixing the water problems have to be done first. Good luck