Renovate 1988 Bonvoyage 27F Classic

Good morning, all! Yesterday we began tearing in to our new-to-us 1988 Bonvoyage 27F Classic. If you haven't followed our saga, we bought it sight unseen off of eBay. The bad news: the seller didn't disclose that it had extensive water damage from a previous leak. The good news: the seller and I reached an agreement where they reimbursed us a substantial amount for the undisclosed damage, so our total investment in the trailer stands at about $800 right now. Of course, we still have to get the title worked out, but that's another post for another day.

I thought you might be interested in seeing what we got done in a couple of hours yesterday. We moved the mattress and took down the big cabinet over the bed. We got almost everything off the ceiling in the back, and then took down the bathroom mirror and overhead cabinet. We learned to start by unscrewing the light fixtures and taking them out by unscrewing the wire nuts (make sure to re-cap the "live" ends!) Getting the cabinets down took removing the false bottom from the cabinet and unscrewing the screws at the back and along the top of the cabinet opening in the front. I used blue masking tape and a sharpie to label everything we took off, and, of course, took photos every step of the way.

What we found was that the water damage was more extensive than we thought. Under the wallpaper the rotted wood was still wet! That's so weird to us, when we live in Colorado and it hasn't rained or snowed in a couple of months down here near Boulder!

The walls have to be completely rebuilt, and parts of the ceiling as well. <Sigh.> But we're going to take the opportunity to completely change the floorplan, so stay tuned!

I've attached a few photos. Thanks for all your encouragement!

I admire your positive outlook on your rebuild. I will have to do a little of that as I have to replace the [4] of the ceiling panels but it is not as extensive as your project. Good luck and take pictures to help the next one confronted with a similar problem.

Jerry Curtis
2406 T

88 Restoration

Thanks for the pictures. It helps me to be able o give you better advice. I noticed your light globes (square ) have holes in the center just like mine do. This is a bad design,fire hazard. We will probably replace this summer to LED. We didn't have to do any interior ceiling replacement or exterior roof replacement. So I can't offer advice on that. I would think you would want to do the roof repair first. Just a guess on my part. Gary K 42 would be good for advice on this. Forgot to tell you something very important. 100% advise you jack your trailer up at all four courners on the exterior and support with 2x4s. This takes the stress off the cables and will allow you to get more soggy wet mess out of the wall. Even HiLo trailers that are up for long periods or on seasonal sites should do this. This is specific for HiLo trailers. Call me if my DH can describe how to do this. I even stained and finished my 2x4s as they were outside for five months. Women are into "pretty". DH will grab anything and use it as is. I would also advise you to remove each window and reseal with butyl tape. While the window is out you can see the condition of your interior wall. I'm not suprised that you found more dammage then you thought originally. Remove all wall material down to the fiberglass. You can always dry the fiberglass off with an old towel. See if your heater/furnice works. This can be used to dry the trailer out. It is amazing how a little water can travel great distances. It may not be possible for you to do repairs until the better weather. Hopefully your friend will be able to give you some advice.

88 Restoration

I mentioned about using 3M bondo on the interior fiberglass. This gives it a hard water proof seal. I have seen this two part epoxy at our local AutoZone store. My theory is that the water dammage is caused by pinpoint holes in the fiberglass that you can't see. Also the water intrusion occurs when the exterior caulk has gone bad. Roofs go bad and don't last forever,just like your house. Our roof is rubber and this summer we had to put a 20 ft. patch on it where the roof turns to go over the side. We are high and dry after our restoration. Once you do all the tearout maybe you can spend some time figuring out what paneling you are going to use. If you would like I can compose a list of supplies you will need for your restoration. Another day,another post. Take care.

Good evening, all. We are making progress. I think we have all the water damage identified, and it's extensive. Both sidewalls from the door all the way back will need to be rebuilt, plus the rear endcap, plus some of the ceiling. We have most of the yucky beadboard insulation out, except for bits around the windows and doors. Some of it was still saturated, and when we had a really cold night the other night we could see ice crystals in the black mold. (It's really yucky, I will spare you a photo).

Tomorrow I will keep digging out the gunk in the channels, aided by a nifty new shop vac we got (the old one, if you'll pardon the expression, didn't suck). I will probably try to get the shelving in the endcap out in one piece. We know there's more rot below that window, and that it has an active leak. If I can get the shelving out in one piece, I can use it as a template to build a framework to put back.

We are changing the floorplan quite a bit. This is our fifth trailer, and the way we camp we usually stay at campgrounds that have toilets that are okay. We really don't want to mess with all the plumbing that this trailer has, so we are taking out at least the bathroom sink and toilet. We will use the kitchen sink and a cassette toilet. The shower is also going, since we love to swim and it works well to go to a public pool, shower, swim, shower again, and then go back to camp. Plus, the previous owner/s obviously had issues with shower water leaks, and I just can't see keeping something that a) has been the source of problems in the past, and b) we know we won't use.

Instead, we are going to put a king-sized bed in the back where the small double bed and bathroom are. So today I tore out the bathroom cabinet, toilet, and shower. The bathroom sink and toilet are intact, and if anyone wants them, PM me and we can "talk."

We're thinking of calling this trailer "Katrina," since we know it came from the Gulf Coast and has a lot of water damage. (Get it?)

Renovations

Glad to get an update. Sort of having RV withdrawl this winter. DH went to the lot where we store our RV to make sure the cover was secure as this is the first season we have been able to cover it. I am refinishing a very old hutch for my neighbor with DH help. It has the original finish and one layer of turquoise paint. In order to work safely I am wearing a 3M dust mask. I would highly suggest you do the same to prevent mold problems turning into health problems. Maybe you are already doing this. You could use a razor blade scraper to get some more of the stuck brown paper off the wall. DH did this as my hands aren't as strong as I would like after four hand surgeries,but pain free. I used locking Nurses forcepts to grip some soggy stuck gunk where the rail meets the wall. I was thinking the wall couldn't dry out with gunk between the layers. Broke one pair and got another at Hobby Lobby with a 40% off coupon. Got a little nervous when you said that you were taking the toilet out. I was thinking about very rainy,cold nights having to leave your bed for the campsite BR. We used a cassettee toilet with our popup and it was a life saver with a small child and rainy weather. My small child is now 24. We don't use our shower either. The campgrounds we stay at have adequate shower houses and in a pinch a sponge bath works. We got a special plumbing cap that goes somewhere under the trailer and caps the water to the shower off. We left the BR/shower intact in case we ever want to sell it. We kept bumping the shower water on. Last piece of advice,if you use 3M bondo on the walls you won't have any wall leaks. Feeling like a broken record as I keep repeating my self. Refer to my restoration pictures to see how clean we got the walls. Yes, Katrina sounds like an appropriate name. The reason anyone has wall and roof dammage is because they didn't catch the need to fully remove and renew caulk and reseal their roof. You are absolutely right about the need for a good shop Vac. I own two and wouldn't be without them(different size hoses).Now and then when we raise the HiLo up and down small pieces of old wall still fallout. Your cabinents look in good shape. Take care and enjoy your christmas.

showering while out camping

Flip flops are a survival must for showering in a public bathhouse.

Oh my!

We have a HiLo that needs extensive repair - unfortunately our own fault. After seeing your picures you give me hope!