First let’s start with some info: We have a 1997 Jayco Eagle Pop Up Camper we loving call “Pop and Lock Patty ” and no she isn’t old she’s Vintage thank you very much. But here she is in all her glory.
She was a hand me down from my husbands parents. Who lovingly said “You can just have her” to which we jumped at. So now you get to jump with us. Into what? We have no idea…
You know I will say I’m all for a cool rainy day with the windows open to let in the relaxing sound and breeze, less so when it’s while I’m sleeping in the camper as it drips onto your face at 2 am…..(insert side eye here). Thus begins Week One of our Camper Renovation: The Quest for a Dry Interior. With a skill saw, nails, hammer, sealant, a prayer, and a handful of YouTube videos the hubs set to work with some questionable enthusiasm.
We soon learned that leaks had a way of distracting us while hiding another. While we thought we only had one major one we actually had two, one across the entire back and corner of the roof ledge and one across the entire front of the roof ledge. So began the cutting out of the rotten pieces of wood and also the puzzle of assembling it back together.
Removing the canvas
To get to the rotten pieces first you will have to remove the canvas and a “trim” per se which is fairly easy. The canvas is held in at the top on the inside by a few screws ( ours was: two at each pole, one on either side of door, and one in the middle across from door) and also being tucked into the bottom of the strip (trim) that is stapled into the plywood at roof line. Once you have done those two things you will have to remove the screws holding the bottom of the canvas in place on the outside ( four total on ours) of the camper and then the canvas slides out of the track at the bottom ( tried the best I could to show the track).
getting to the rotten wood
We used a flat head to remove the staples from the trim that was on top of the rotten wood at the top and placed it off to the side ( you can see it hanging down in a above pic of the back corner rotten wood). I will admit this is where I paused and sat there wondering how hard it was going to be to put the canvas back into place….it wasn’t hard at all but it is a two person job. So this is what you’re left with. This is usually where we say “Do we know what we’re doing…No….are we going to keep going…..Yes.” Cause people that’s how we learn! Moving On!!!
getting to the rotten wood
To be able to work on this part you will have to lower the camper down and we rested it on some foam and four buckets that we had sitting on the closed bunk ends (you can see the buckets in one of the pics below) to distribute the weight. Big help!
You will then have to remove the trim and weather strip at the bottom of the roof edging which is held in by screws and staples on the underside of it. Once that is removed you will need to unscrew the side trim, it is held together with screws and butyl tape. You will than separate the roof ledge from the wood using a scraper, which is pretty easy to pull apart but you will still want to be careful cause you can put a kink in the roof so you will want to pull upward gently (it helps to have someone hold it up while you cut the rotten wood out).
cutting out the rotten wood
We used a 3” handheld skill saw to cut the wood pieces out (sorry couldn’t find a pic). Now we were working on a corner and with it being a corner you will need to replace the entire back piece before you do the side piece because the side piece runs the entire length of the camper and is stapled into the back piece. So to get the back piece off you will have to pry it a part from the end of the side piece.
replacing with new wood
We used a 1/2 inch thick plywood for our pieces. Using wood glue and 1 1/2 inch long wood screws along with clamps and you will want to let it set overnight (we wanted to be sure it was set and it was so humid at the time we wanted to give it plenty of time). You will than reinstall your trim with new butyl tape and screws as well as caulking your seams for weather proofing and no more leaks (we used Flex seal caulk for this). You will than repeat the same process on the other rotten pieces of wood. I will say the front piece went faster since it wasn’t a corner and we had already done the back one so we knew what it took.
Andddddd Ta Da!!!!! Look at us out here repairing campers! We were really proud of ourselves and congratulated each other with high fives and cringy dance moves. But hey you celebrate how ever you want too that’s just our go to.
I would like to say in closing that we thank you for coming and hanging out in our little corner of the world. We hope you come back next week because we are working on the canvas and showing how we got it to stop looking like a crime scene. No joke….. See you then.
