BigFoot 17' Repairs

[g4fishing]

Hoping to get a 17' BF back on the road after it has sat for many years. It has had water damage and that will have to be addressed. Not really sure where to start! I plan to take it into the local rv repair shop to see what they think but am hoping to do as much of the work as possible myself. Any advise would be welcome. I'll try and attach some pictures.

[Steve Hammel]

I'd start by cleaning/scrapping that roof and removing the vents to find out what I have. Make sure you have a covered area or tarps at the ready in case of weather. Once you see the damage you can make decisions on what to do next. For that type of work I'd steer far away from an RV shop unless you are wealthy and have a need to spend far more than the trailer will be worth. Get in to it and get your hands dirty. You may find it is not as difficult as you first imagined.

Steve

[ZachO]

Yep, first advice is that unless you have a good friend working at the RV place, don't bring this thing anywhere near it. Chances are they'd just laugh at you anyway. RV shops do business making overpriced repairs to functioning units, not working on junkers.

Not to call this one a junker...but by RV industry standards, that's what you've got.

You'll need to find the extent of the water damage. Could be that it'll need to be fully gutted, could be it won't. Start seeing what appliances work. If you do need to gut it, knowing before you start whether the fridge, stove, furnace and electrical system work will help you plan finances and all that. Once it's all pulled out it's a lot harder to test.

[g4fishing]

Good advice - thank you.

[Steve Hammel]

Can you take more pictures of all the "Visible" damage on the inside? This could be far easier than what you are imagining. Is the damage limited to the roof directly around the vents? If that's the case then just cleaning up the roof and removing, refitting, and replacing the vents will go a long way towards repairing the serious structural aspect of your project. The interior roof material itself would need to be repaired but that is more of a cosmetic fix that you could do with the material of your choice. I definitely would test out all your systems first though. Also how old are the tires? No matter how much tread they have trailer tires have a definite "shelf" life.
Steve

[ZachO]

Agreed. While it could be a complete gut job, it could also just need a new ceiling piece around the vent. Someone replaced the original with a newer, powered vent sometime in the not-too-distant past, so it could be they didn't seal it correctly (well, obviously they didn't) and the water damage is fairly new.

A LOT more photos is the only way you're going to get an internet assessment through us But you'll just need to start poking around and find the extent of the damage. There was a thread here a year or so ago about someone replacing the ceiling in their Bigfoot. Might help you see what's involved. I'll look around for it.

[ZachO]

Here and here.