I bought my 22fbs new about 1.5 years ago. This spring a bulge started developing on the siding. It is about 42 inches long, 6 inches wide, and about 1/2 inch out. Is there a way I can fix this? From what I understand the warranty ended about 6 months ago. I can press it in flat, but it pops right out again. I was thinking the best way to fix it would be to take a 42 inch long piece of molding, drill some holes for screws, pump some epoxy in the screw holes, then screw the molding on. Don't want to fix it that way, but if I can find a piece of molding that matches the color it may look ok. Anyone else have any ideas? Thanks for any help.
22fbs bulge or long bubble in siding
- Thread starter bbells
- Start date
Do you have filon siding? It depends on what caused the bulge but in some cases you can drill some holes, inject epoxy and put pressure on it until it sets. Then you would have to fill in the holes with epoxy and micro balloons or filler, sand it smooth and finish it off with Gel-coat. I've cut a section out before, sanded off and replaced the damaged wood backing and glued the panel back on filling the cut lines with epoxy and filler. It's not that difficult but it is time consuming. So far the best epoxy I've found is West Systems and their 105 resin. You can find it on Amazon or many of the boat places.
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Thanks! man, it is nice to hear that someone else thinks there is the same solution I do. It does not appear to be water damage. It just seems that that area just came unattached from whatever is under it.
Check your windows! Hole cut too big
The hole was cut too big on at least one of the windows on my 22fbs. The rubber gasket had no contact with the rv outside wall. On the top the only thing blocking water was a thin string of caulk. Thus, in 1 to 1.5 years since new my trailer wall has delaminated and there was no way to know if there was a leak without taking the window off. I would suggest anyone who buys a new trailer to take all their windows off and check them before leaving the dealer lot. Might as well do it then because you need to do it every 3 months to retain your warranty anyways (no way to check for leakage without doing this). I have attached a photo of 1 spot. There are several spots like this around the window. The wide part on the bottom is where the window drifted down, leaving even less area for the gasket on the top of the frame. I am now taking the rest of the windows off since I have several other bubbles on the siding. Heartland says the delamination is water damage and not covered by the warranty - Plus it has been over a year since new.
The hole was cut too big on at least one of the windows on my 22fbs. The rubber gasket had no contact with the rv outside wall. On the top the only thing blocking water was a thin string of caulk. Thus, in 1 to 1.5 years since new my trailer wall has delaminated and there was no way to know if there was a leak without taking the window off. I would suggest anyone who buys a new trailer to take all their windows off and check them before leaving the dealer lot. Might as well do it then because you need to do it every 3 months to retain your warranty anyways (no way to check for leakage without doing this). I have attached a photo of 1 spot. There are several spots like this around the window. The wide part on the bottom is where the window drifted down, leaving even less area for the gasket on the top of the frame. I am now taking the rest of the windows off since I have several other bubbles on the siding. Heartland says the delamination is water damage and not covered by the warranty - Plus it has been over a year since new.
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So, I took the window off. It is water damage caused by the window hole beng too large. I posted another post with a pic. The hole was so big that the rubber gasket did not touch the side of the trailer at all in several places. I had to add a 1/2 inch shim on the bottom to get the top high enough. Now I will be taking the rest off to see if they have the same problem. My wife is very upset that our new trailer will be junk in a couple years because of this.
mlpeloquin
Well-known member
Build the area in the corners up with fiberglass and a maureen epoxy. Trim it at the exterior face with a good sharp flush cutting saw. It will ruin the saw, but who cares. Then tape well, prime, and paint it just enough to cover the epoxy/fiberglass. Use plenty of 50 year caulking when putting it back together.
Huh. The moderators moved my post telling people to check thir windows before picking up their new trailers to this thread. Obviously a ploy to limit exposure of the issue. I am finding out that I am not the only one that has a wrecked trailer caused by this. My wife is saying **** time.
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TravelTiger
Founding Texas-West Chapter Leaders-Retired
I'm sorry you seem to be having an unusual issue with your coach. But I can guarantee the moderators don't move things for less exposure, they move things so people with similar issues or models can find it better when searching the forum. They don't work for Heartland. They are owners just like you.
Secondly, it appears you were threatening in your post, which is not acceptable according to forum rules. I can also guarantee that a threatening attitude won't get you anywhere with solving your issues. We've been through a delam issue with our ElkRidge, just 2 mo. after the 1 year was up. I had to pay to have a window removed by a repair service to take pics and send to HL. With calm, non-threatening conversation, they eventually agreed to help us out and get it fixed.
If you have multiple issues of delam, my (and HL's) question will be, "did you maintain the caulking as recommended in the manual?" If not, then I am not exactly sure what they can do for you. If they help you when you didn't follow recommended maintenance, that sets a precedent to help everyone that doesn't follow the recommended maintenance.
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Please reread the posts.
What part of my post is threatening? The part where my wife wants ***** since she bought this for my retirement present and due to damage caused by faulty assembly the value of it dropped to almost nothing? That isn't threatening anything. It is a statement of fact.
As stated, I have inspected the trailer more than once every 3 months. But, since the seal on the windows was never there because the hole was cut too big there was absolutely no way to know there was a leak until the delamination started. Now the side is showing bubbles in several locations. I am taking the rest of the windows off to see if it is the same thing.
I have contacted Heartland 4 or 5 times and got the same response - No coverage. And, being a csr, I was nice. Although, once I told them the window holes were cut too large no-one has responded. Now i am just getting mad at losing thousands of dollars.
What part of my post is threatening? The part where my wife wants ***** since she bought this for my retirement present and due to damage caused by faulty assembly the value of it dropped to almost nothing? That isn't threatening anything. It is a statement of fact.
As stated, I have inspected the trailer more than once every 3 months. But, since the seal on the windows was never there because the hole was cut too big there was absolutely no way to know there was a leak until the delamination started. Now the side is showing bubbles in several locations. I am taking the rest of the windows off to see if it is the same thing.
I have contacted Heartland 4 or 5 times and got the same response - No coverage. And, being a csr, I was nice. Although, once I told them the window holes were cut too large no-one has responded. Now i am just getting mad at losing thousands of dollars.
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LBR
Well-known member
That probably did it.
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TravelTiger
Founding Texas-West Chapter Leaders-Retired
I agree. Your tone in the post seems very angry. Maybe rightfully so, but that doesn't get anywhere with folks when you are asking for help.
What is the date of manufacture? If your unit sat at the dealer for a long time, they may not have maintained the caulking, and your problems may have started before you even took possession.
If you are having delam all over the trailer that does not appear to be water related and you have maintained the caulking correctly, then it would be best to nicely request that your issue be elevated up a level. I think you need to contact Heartland and go up to Eric McDaniel or Jim Fenner (Head of Customer Service), to see if the window miss-cut is something that can address. Likely, the first level CSR cannot address that problem.
You'll need to have lots of good pictures showing the issues and the caulking around those issues. And I would ask more specifically, "What could cause this type of significant failure in such a short timeframe?"
Because of the window hole being too small the caulking does not matter. The leak was impossible to see without moving the window.
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