Front wood replacement on 10' CO

[Anewway]

I was in the process of resealing the front of the camper when I found this rotted corner.

View attachment 30278

View attachment 30278

Off it came and a new piece will be installed.

 

[Anewway]

Rusty screws and new piece of plywood being traced.

 

[Rusty]

This is one of those spots where butyl sealant really pays....double line and top caulking should keep you dry

 

[Anewway]

Rusty any recommendations for butyl tape? I have some for the vents but may be to wide and thick for this application.

 

[Rusty]

Tape comes in all shapes and thicknesses...I'd go with two lines of 1/8" tape under the gutter then a seal of urethane in the top of the joint of the gutter to the top.
keeping in mind...urethane is a good, flexible seal but all the movement you get with Alaskans....check it regularly...a bead should be good for a couple years....I think they'll someday dig us up and find butyl tape still sticky.....if the Egyptians had used it...... who knows

 

[Anewway]

Tape is on order, thanks for the tips Rusty.

 

[Anewway]

Asking the braintrust for some help with this situation. The new front piece is in place but as can be seen in the pic the 2x2 is rotted a good 12" from the front.
I attempted joining the front plywood with a 8" SPAX lag screw but it split the rotted 2x2. Removing the offending 2x2 seems like a quite a job. Thinking of adding a sistered 2x2 above and then cutting out 12"-18" of the rotted wood. Any suggestions are welcome.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

A 6” (or more) scarf joint might be stronger. If you sister, I would try to replace all of the rotted wood butted up against the end of the good, then span the sister over bothe pieces. Sistering in the scarf would be even stronger. Saturate the wood with epoxy as a precaution against future leaks...

 

[Rusty]

Plus 1 on the scarf and sister combined....use CPES or west system epoxy
I'm looking for a structural rigid foam to use in situation such as this....no luck yet..
But.....there is a expanding foam with more strength than wood....I had a documentation line going for repairs to the curve transition in CO's.....another location often rotted for all the penetrations above....the expanding foam worked well in retaining fasteners and machining....it only had a 2 or 3-1 expansion so it was manageable......I'll come back and provide a link
Alumni lite corp is the company and "alumifoam" is the product....20# resist density....you can take a ball peon hammer to this stuff and not dent it. I used the material to fill voids left from rotted wood on the curved section...without disassembly....and it worked. I had replaced 1/4-20 bolts and tightened them nicely....holding the forward guides....had to be done in small, 1-2 oz pours and consecutive pours bonded well....
It really pains me to see all the major disassembly done to secure a stable retention of fasteners....and the discouragement that follows... These are simple frames and there shold be a reasonable repair which could be done with everything left intact....get em back on the road quickly and hold shape well down the road ....all the results went up in the fire...ugh