There is so much to learn about the world of RVs, it's crazy. And since we have a fifth wheel, there is even more things to worry about, from the truck that tows it, to the hitch, to the king pin, I have to know about the car's gross vehicle weight, front axle, rear axle, pin vertical weight, the fifth wheel base weight and carrying capacity, total tow capacity and gross combined vehicle weight! I am probably even forgetting some other things.
In any case, the most important thing I have learned one needs to be aware of is water. Because it will slowly infiltrate and could total your RV. Sadly, we discovered water damage in the nose of the fifth wheel. Amy saw it on the side wall when sitting on the couch. One can tell because the glue between the wood and the siding gives away and the feared "wall ripple" shows on the side of the RV. We inspected the inside wall and the bad part is that we felt soft wood. That means water has been there for a bit and it's starting to rot the wood. Depending on the extent of the damage, the repair can even cost more than the cost of the RV. And we just started our journey!!!! It is frustrating, maddening, and scary. We are wondering if the guy who sold it knew about it and didn't disclose it. Pretty crappy thing to do if that is the case.
We contacted our insurance and they came to see the RV while we were in Savannah. The guy was very nice, he has been on the RV industry for 20+ years and was sharing a lot of his knowledge. He didn't seem as worried, since the affected area is fairly small and we should be able to contain the damage. We are not actually sure if it will be covered, they could deem it a "pre-existing" condition. I am not sure how they determine that. We never saw that bubble when we purchased it and we even paid for an RV inspection before buying. Nothing came up, which adds even more to our surprise.
One thing Alan (progressive guy) mentioned was that if you own an RV, either you learn to fix things your own, or you spend half of your travel time on a shop. Awesome. I guess we need to adjust our expectation when it comes to trouble-free road tripping. I wish I was more handy, I guess I am going to have to learn the hard way. First lesson, caulking. Not too bad, Apparently that is the #1 tool of the RVer. Caulk the poop out of the RV. Windows, roof, any small crack anywhere, caulk it! In the next few days, I will be going around the RV windows and applying silicone like nobody's business.
As for the rotten wood, we still don't know. Alan seems to think that we could seal the window, (stop the leak), dry the wood, (since it is very small and does not seem to have compromised the integrity of the structure), and call it a day. We could attempt to fix the "ripple" on the outside wall, but that is just a visual thing. We could always try fixing it by squirting some glue through the window.
In summary, we got a big scare when we found the water damage, after talking the insurance dude and a few fellow RVers, we felt a bit more reassured, and now we just need to sit tight find out what the insurance outcome will be. Hopefully we hear by the end of this week and it goes our way. In the meantime, we'll continue to travel and caulk away!
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