As any of you who have owned an old RV the risk of carpenter ants invading your wall panels is a real risk. They just love them when the seals leak and the luan materials get wet and just provide that perfect environment for living. We got the RV and instantly I noticed a high population of carpenter ants roaming around so while we started tearing into the water damaged wall panels from the inside it was a perfect time to evict our 6 legged guests! Borate salts, sprays, foams and all that while we were not living it helped a great deal.
Another issue with an old RV are the leaks (which lead to the ant issue!). Around aluminum windows, trim, anything that required a screw, you name it and it needed replacement. First was to uninstall the windows, strip the old worn sealer and use silicone and new self-tapping screws to secure the frames in place. Second, check the ENTIRE aluminum panel exterior for pin-holes (why so many????) seal them with silicone and repaint. Third, remove all the old trim strips that someone decided to caulk but not fix and reinstall with new gasketed screws (stainless!) and new silicone sealer under the trim to make sure no water gets in.
By far the largest enemy of an old RV is the "universal solvent" : water. If you can keep out the rain, you have won most of the battle! All the rot, mildew, smells all came from having water get into the RV. Now that it's watertight again the rest of our work is progressing even faster!
No comments:
Post a Comment