Roof Soft Spot Troubleshooting

[Kendra Kaye]

UPDATE: a new thread about repairing this roof has been started here
https://www.popupportal.com/threads/roof-repair-or-rebuild.137263/#post-1435627

Hello,
I am new to this forum and to pop up camping. My husband and I bought a 1998 Viking 2460 about a week ago with the intention of completely updating the inside of the camper and doing some minor repairs that we noticed when we bought it.

Unfortunately we went into the whole thing uneducated about what to look for in a used pop up camper. We've since found more than we first realized that needs to be fixed, including a soft spot on the interior ceiling.

The area is about 1 square foot to the right of the air conditioner, but we are not sure if the water is coming from the center seam in the roof, the way the new air conditioner was installed by the PO over the summer, or perhaps the old air conditioner.

The soft spot is barely noticeable, other than when you push on the ceiling in that area the insulation gives a little more than in other areas.

What is the best way to determine the source of the leak? And do we need to open up the ceiling to let it dry? What is the best way to do that with the wallpaper like covering over the ceiling?

Also, we plan to redo all the exterior seals on the camper, but can't quite figure out the roof center seam that runs directly underneath the AC. It does not seem to be sealed with anything?

I attached photos of where the soft spot is on the interior of the camper as well as the center seam on the outside. Apologies that the exterior photo is a little dark, it was getting dark out when I took the picture.

Thank you in advance for any tips. Excited to be a part of the community.

 

[vdotmatrix]

More than likeLy it is leaking from where the a/c it is mounted to the roof. Remove cover on the a/c. Look for stop gap repairs the previous owner did to hide the trouble before he sold it.

definitely get under the popup and go directly to the four corners and push up to feel for soft spots.

remove the plastic cover from the interior at the a/c and find out where the water is coming from.

A big garage will be a necessity. You may have to remove the a/c unit and repair the roof leak…this should be the priority, you must repair the water leak.

you should have more info in your post profile like where you live, generally, make model year of your equipment so people will be more likely to respond. Whatever is wrong with your camper, you have come to the right place.

 

[Kendra Kaye]

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond. Since I posted this we have done all the things you suggested.

We have completely removed the AC, which is a Dometic, placed in new last summer - beyond that I'll have to go look at the paperwork for model #. We believe the PO, who installed it himself, did not properly tighten the gasket. It looks like water was getting in around all 4 sides from where the AC was. We don't believe there were any prior repairs to the roof.

Roof materials were still wet when we opened things up. We live in Iowa where we get a lot of weather extremes.

We took out the bed slides so that we can have it in the garage and pop the top. Winter may get too cold soon to do much work.

And yes, soft spots on all 4 corners, the length of the back of the camper where it meets the wall, and possibly under the door. We can't see it from the bottom there but can feel the floor give a little when we push from the top right at the entryway.

So far our repair list look like this:
- roof repair
- floor repair
- redoing all exterior seals
- we want to update all the plumbing to PEX while we have things opened up
- and we think the water heater needs to be replaced. Anode was non existent when we took it out and flushed out lots of rust from the water heater. Are looking at a tankless water heater made for pop ups.
- then we still plan to do all the cosmetic updates we had planned to do from the beginning

The roof repair definitely intimidates me the most. The floor feels pretty doable as long as we can get the cabinets out to fully access the floor.

I've since started a new thread about the roof that had been receiving replies:
https://www.popupportal.com/threads/roof-repair-or-rebuild.137263/#post-1435627#

More than likeLy it is leaking from where the a/c it is mounted to the roof. Remove cover on the a/c. Look for stop gap repairs the previous owner did to hide the trouble before he sold it.

definitely get under the popup and go directly to the four corners and push up to feel for soft spots.

remove the plastic cover from the interior at the a/c and find out where the water is coming from.

A big garage will be a necessity. You may have to remove the a/c unit and repair the roof leak…this should be the priority, you must repair the water leak.

you should have more info in your post profile like where you live, generally, make model year of your equipment so people will be more likely to respond. Whatever is wrong with your camper, you have come to the right place.

 

[vdotmatrix]

OMG, is all I can say. People buy Pups to be able to enjoy life and these ^%#$^%#$ sell people headaches.
If you have a garage in which to work in that will be good!
You can remove everything in the cabin. take pictures of everything and label stuff. It all comes out very easy. The floors can be peeled away and put back...the inside paneling can be removed as well. I think I removed the tent so I could really work on stuff....which is what I an doing now...but I did all the heavy lifting years ago with a serious roof repair winthin the last few years.

Search on my user name and find posts around I guess 2013 or 2014 when I repaired the corner and replaced a section of the floor in the corner. You will see the architecture of the walls once you remove the interior paneling and outside vinyl....all held in place by the aluminum top rails....

I am getting ready to investigate why one of the bunks doesnt open up level.

I removed the portable water tank. the propane stove and some other stuff for more storage space and they are sitting in the attic.

The roof......mine is solid. I reseated and sealed the molding with butyl tape and Profllex RV.... good stuff!

You have come to the right place. take your time. do not cut corners. think, industry standards for repair.

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond. Since I posted this we have done all the things you suggested.

We have completely removed the AC, which is a Dometic, placed in new last summer - beyond that I'll have to go look at the paperwork for model #. We believe the PO, who installed it himself, did not properly tighten the gasket. It looks like water was getting in around all 4 sides from where the AC was. We don't believe there were any prior repairs to the roof.

Roof materials were still wet when we opened things up. We live in Iowa where we get a lot of weather extremes.

We took out the bed slides so that we can have it in the garage and pop the top. Winter may get too cold soon to do much work.

And yes, soft spots on all 4 corners, the length of the back of the camper where it meets the wall, and possibly under the door. We can't see it from the bottom there but can feel the floor give a little when we push from the top right at the entryway.

So far our repair list look like this:
- roof repair
- floor repair
- redoing all exterior seals
- we want to update all the plumbing to PEX while we have things opened up
- and we think the water heater needs to be replaced. Anode was non existent when we took it out and flushed out lots of rust from the water heater. Are looking at a tankless water heater made for pop ups.
- then we still plan to do all the cosmetic updates we had planned to do from the beginning

The roof repair definitely intimidates me the most. The floor feels pretty doable as long as we can get the cabinets out to fully access the floor.

I've since started a new thread about the roof that had been receiving replies:
https://www.popupportal.com/threads/roof-repair-or-rebuild.137263/#post-1435627#

 

[Kendra Kaye]

I will for sure take a look at some of your previous posts.

Sure as heck learning more than I ever wanted to know about pop up campers, lol!

Thanks for your encouragement and advice

OMG, is all I can say. People buy Pups to be able to enjoy life and these ^%#$^%#$ sell people headaches.
If you have a garage in which to work in that will be good!
You can remove everything in the cabin. take pictures of everything and label stuff. It all comes out very easy. The floors can be peeled away and put back...the inside paneling can be removed as well. I think I removed the tent so I could really work on stuff....which is what I an doing now...but I did all the heavy lifting years ago with a serious roof repair winthin the last few years.

Search on my user name and find posts around I guess 2013 or 2014 when I repaired the corner and replaced a section of the floor in the corner. You will see the architecture of the walls once you remove the interior paneling and outside vinyl....all held in place by the aluminum top rails....

I am getting ready to investigate why one of the bunks doesnt open up level.

I removed the portable water tank. the propane stove and some other stuff for more storage space and they are sitting in the attic.

The roof......mine is solid. I reseated and sealed the molding with butyl tape and Profllex RV.... good stuff!

You have come to the right place. take your time. do not cut corners. think, industry standards for repair.