Cracked Egg

[Raya]

Oh, neat-o! The kayaks sound nice Years and years ago, one of my first experiences with fiberglassing was building a cedar strip canoe in a class and then glassing the outside. Around ten of us took the class, built the canoe, and then it was sold to pay for the class/materials. It was a neat experience.

My first "very own" experience was sheathing a ply/epoxy boat - I, too, used System Three for that. Man, that was NOT fun work: I had set aside one specific three-day weekend to do it on, and that weekend just decided it had to be in the 90s all weekend (which is really, really unusual up north where I was living). Man, I bet I lost 20 pounds just from being suited up all weekend sanding and glassing. Was I ever glad to get that done.

Sounds like you've got the best of both worlds now: You understand the process.... but don't have to actually do it

Raya

[melissab]

Hi Dave, Hopefullly you will be getting your baby back soon.

I was just wondering how did you convince the insurance company to repair the Egg and not total it out and replace it with a new one? With that kind of damage one would think it would be over their percentage for repair.

Melissa

Well, we finally got the damage estimate back. It is just under $10,000. They guarantee to repair it as good or better than new. They considered splitting it in the middle and replacing the kitchen and possibly the top but decided that would cost even more. We shold get it back in 3-4 weeks.

It took so long to get the estimate, I was concerned that they might that it. we were already discussing what options we would add or subtract if that was the conclusion. We would not change much but thankfuly now we do not need to consider that possibility.

Dave

[Dave Fish]

I did not take any convincing, The repair shop was concerned that they might total it but teir estimate was only $100 more than the preliminary estimate from the insurance company based on my pictures and description of the damage. It would cost almost twice te damage to replace it accounting for purchase price of a new one + delivery + state taxes. It isn't like there are any equivalent 09 models on the used market.

I worry a little about getting it repaired but like repairing a car after an accidental, both the repair shop and the insurance company give a life time guarantee on the work. The shop indicated that the repaired areas will be stronger than original.

It will be a little inconvenient if there are problems since the shop is 70 miles and a boat ride away.

Dave

[melissab]

Awwwwwwwwwww, I see now. I didnt realize your Egg was so freshly hatched. I looked in your profile but the year isnt listed. 70 miles AND a boat ride? So the shop is on an island? Guess that would make sense as it's probably a boat repair place, lol. Be sure and post before and after pix when you can.

Melissa

[Dave Fish]

Awwwwwwwwwww, I see now. I didnt realize your Egg was so freshly hatched. I looked in your profile but the year isnt listed. 70 miles AND a boat ride? So the shop is on an island? Guess that would make sense as it's probably a boat repair place, lol. Be sure and post before and after pix when you can.

Melissa

Actually, we live on the island North of Seattle. The repair shop is South of Seattle. It is a shop recommended by the insurance company that does nothing but RV body repair. They also had a local medic unit show up for a repair estimate while I was there. They do about 38 rigs a month and have a full time staff of 22. Many of the rigs I saw were the bigger motor homes & 5th wheels.

BTW, we can take a bridge adding another 60 or so miles to the drive.

Dave

[Dave Fish]

Well, it has been 3 months since i took the egg to the repair shop. Finally got it back! It looks just like brand new. here is what they did:

• Removed more then 2 garbage cans of fiberglass from the right side across the roof the the left side - from the stove, across the roof vent, to the dining window.
• Ground it down to a thin layer of remaining fiberglass then built it back up to the right thickness,
• Finished the fiberglass to the smooth finish - spent a week of steady work doing just the fiberglass.
• Removed the back overhead cabinets from the trailer and repaired them.
• Repaired the refer cabinet in place, since they couldn't get it out.
• Replaced the Fantastic fan - guess what? They had to get one special made from the factory because the roof is only 1 1/8" think, much less than most RVs. That took an etra week.
• Replaced the awning.
• Painted and gel coated it.
• Made sure everything worked.

Wescraft in Fife WA did the work. They only do body work - on RVs, semi's, buses ambulances and the like including custom painting. Although this was outside their normal big rig, stick built repairs, they did excelent work and we are very satisfied with the results. They had a couple of surprises of their own like the Fantastic fan and needing to order plastic or nylon rivets from Canada.

The repair man was very impressed with the quality of construction compared what he has seen in the stick builts.

Glad to close this chapter.

Dave