1995 Concourse- help with a RV Dr. punch list?

[Bett]

Bett, my trunk was also moist and we found that the door bezel that surrounds the door was not right up tight against the body.
We placed a couple of screws to tighten and caulked around it temporarily with a non silicone caulk, and it stopped the water intrusion.
You may want to check that first. Then all the other areas that can allow water to seep I , like the ladder screws and light lenses et cetera.

Thanks! It was quite dry when I took possession of it in Texas (even after the storms I hit), but the damage was bad- all the boards were swollen and warped. I have heard tales about the madness that chasing leaks can cause, especially so in that area. I am going to be buying non-silicone caulk in bulk in a week or so when I get her home.

Do you have a favorite product?

[Astrodokk]

No, as I haven't had the reason to use any except for that area as of yet.
Blue~Go has a thread about those type of products though. He uses marine butyl tape (putty) that he uses for re-bedding.
I just went to a hardware store and bought flexible, non silicone caulk as a temporary fix until I can re-bed that area when I rebuild the box.

[Bett]

I’ll make this one short as I’m at work. I just got the estimate for some things (two weeks after I dropped it off ) and I’m a little shellshocked.

For instance, $1,200 for resealing my roof. And don’t doubt that it needs to be resealed but that price shocks me. $1,100 labor And $90 for 5 tubes of DiCor Non-leveling goop.

The toilet:

I am having sticker shock. I know it’s summer and finding someone to work on this will be challenging.

Any recommendations on a place/way to find independent RV techs?

[Blue~Go]

I haven't even looked at the attachment yet, but anyone who suggests "re-sealing" the roof is not touching my Chinook. This is something you do to typical RV's with completely different (and I'd say lesser) roofs. Our roof is molded fiberglass. There is nothing to re-seal (usually involves gloppy coatings).

Now if they actually meant remove and re-bed all of the attachments, then sure (but then why not say that). At 25 years old any items penetrating the roof could certainly use re-bedding (roof vent, TV antenna, railings, etc - and Air-con new gasket) but that's not re-sealing the roof; that's re-bedding items where there are holes cut (and no silicone, thankyouverymuch).

[Blue~Go]

PS: I did open it now but can't get past the beginning of "door window" to see the rest.

PPS: Everyone is different but I'd say start doing some of this yourself unless money is no object. (Plus, sad to say, probably 75% of RV "techs" are not up to snuff, IMO.)

I removed my entire Air-conditioner (inside, wiring, roof shroud, etc.) in about two hours. That included rigging up a slide so I could get the beast off the roof solo (110#). I'm not quicker than average. The cover is about 8#.

[Scott]

Do you have an inverter, leveling system, or slide out? Didn't think so. Listing those items on the estimate suggests something could be askew. Do they have the correct RV? Maybe that's just a part of their generic form.

The layout of the estimate is difficult for me to read, and I'm not confident that I'm totally grasping it. $334 to replace a toilet seal? That job should take an hour from beginning to end, max, barring any tragic mishap. $400 to swap a water pump? That's a 20 minute job and an $80 part.

The materials prices are enjoying a 100% mark-up, and the labor prices are severely bloated. Do they provide the labor hours per job? Do they break it out more intelligibly in another document? I'm really sorry to be negative, but I'd hate to see a fellow Chinooker get fleeced.

I can think of two things that might be going on here. First, when you start dismantling an old RV, you never know what you're getting into, and you might run into unpredictable situations that can get pretty nasty. So maybe their estimate is heavily padded to cover such circumstances. It would be more fair to quote you the realistic time/materials to do the job, then charge for extra hours if they run into problems. The second thing is that they're in San Jose, and shop rates there are some of the highest in the country. Consider getting an estimate somewhere to the east, like Modesto. I recognize the geographical inconvenience, but it might easily pay for itself. Call around and ask about shop rates and availability. Then as you said, it's basically peak season. If it took 3 weeks to get an estimate together, how long will it take to do the work? Rats.

As Blue said, the estimate was cut off. Is it possible to attach a .pdf? I'm curious to see the whole thing.

[chin_k]

I agree with Scott that sometimes it is like a rabbit hole when a tech is working on the RV, but it is ridiculous to charge $200 in labor for swapping the water pump. It is right under the sofa, and the fitting is easy to connect and disconnect. The two wires are clearly colored, and it is pretty straight forward job.

It maybe unfair for me to make other comments since I did not see the estimate in the entirety, but my guess someone is getting a nice Summer vacation from you.

[Bett]

I haven't even looked at the attachment yet, but anyone who suggests "re-sealing" the roof is not touching my Chinook. This is something you do to typical RV's with completely different (and I'd say lesser) roofs. Our roof is molded fiberglass. There is nothing to re-seal (usually involves gloppy coatings).

Now if they actually meant remove and re-bed all of the attachments, then sure (but then why not say that). At 25 years old any items penetrating the roof could certainly use re-bedding (roof vent, TV antenna, railings, etc - and Air-con new gasket) but that's not re-sealing the roof; that's re-bedding items where there are holes cut (and no silicone, thankyouverymuch).

I understand - they are certainly not detailed or precise with the estimate paperwork. Hopefully that DiCor non leveling sealant they recommended is the right stuff??

The price seems nuts fo. I haven’t considered myself to be very handy in the past, but that isn’t to say I can’t learn. I know it’s hard on the knees and maybe the back, but is there any reason I couldn’t do this sealant removal and rebedding myself? Is it a learning curve and easy to screw up? It needs a thorough wash too. I was happy to pay someone else to do it but not at this price

[chin_k]

Is there any evidence that it need to have the DiCor sealant applied? I don't see why our rig need to be resealed with 5 tubs unless it is going to cover the entire top surface. Don't know your rig, but mine only have a few places that needs to be rebedded, and a single tube is more than enough.

Now, for $1100... does it take ten hours to apply 5 tubs of sealant? I can't visualize how can anyone spend that much time on the fiberglass top. It is not the hull of a 5 million dollar yacht.

[Bett]

PS: I did open it now but can't get past the beginning of "door window" to see the rest.

I will try to post the whole thing. They want over $6k to do the toilet, roof and a few other things plus a ton of ‘diagnosing’. Half the stuff I brought it in to have diagnosed, they’ve listed again on the quote such as ‘furnace not working, diagnose’. Duh. That’s why I brought it there.

PPS: Everyone is different but I'd say start doing some of this yourself unless money is no object. (Plus, sad to say, probably 75% of RV "techs" are not up to snuff, IMO.)

I will be learning it all from scratch. No teachers, no power tools except a drill! So I’m in RV maintenance Kindergarten

I removed my entire Air-conditioner (inside, wiring, roof shroud, etc.) in about two hours. That included rigging up a slide so I could get the beast off the roof solo (110#). I'm not quicker than average. The cover is about 8#.

I’m definitely not equipped to do something like that. I sure wish I were.