Project Relamination
The molding that I installed during Phase I was removed today and it looks really good. The butyl tape was all intact and sticky. None of the screws showed rust. The caulk along the vertical molding (on the front of the trailer, not the side where the Phase I repair was done) did not look good and this had me worried. The front wall is very delaminated, with as much as 2" of deflection. I can see the fiberglass moving/waving when I'm driving down the road at 70 MPH. Here's a picture of the caulk (ProFlex RV).
I think that all the flexing of the fiberglass messed up the caulk. However, like I said above, there is no moisture under the molding. The very thorough job that I did to completely coat the inside of the molding with butyl tape was key the lack of moisture. We've had a fairly wet spring, so I was concerned.
Here's what the front of the trailer looked like after today's effort. This is exactly how it looked after I (easily) peeled off the fiberglass. The piece of fiberglass on the left was folded across the stud and under the plywood underlayment. The only parts of the fiberglass that were still attached were at the top and bottom moldings.
I'll create a new thread for Phase II, which will use a different method of attaching the fiberglass than was used in Phase I. No messy epoxy this time!











