So i’m working on a 1999 Coachman class B with a fiberglass top and want to post it for some outside thought. There’s a piece of wood that is fiberglassed into the fiberglass ceiling probably for support and mounting and it came like this from the Coachman factory. Before i bought it, it already had a leaky vent and already had damage. Now that i’ve fiberglass patched that same vent hole, want to know what to do about this damage inside. Here’s 2 pictures of the damage and a picture of the other identical side to compare it to:
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It looks to me like the water from the leaky vent got all up into that piece of wood and got locked inside. Now it’s definitely not ideal, but could i just leave it there and use it like i would to build the ceiling? Or do i have to remove it and replace it?
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Greetings & Welcome!
I’m no fiberglass expert, and don’t want to be, so I’d take it to a fiberglass boat repair shop and have them fix it right.
For a DIY project, I’d probably try a fiberglass boat forum.
Most of the fiberglass tops I’ve encountered have had a metal cage and insulation sandwiched between an inner and outer fiberglass skin. Since your inner shell and metal cage appears to be missing, I would try to have a new metal cage fabricated, add insulation, then figure out hot to finish the interior side. You have lots of irregular curves to deal with, so I’d probably go with foam padding covered with perforated vinyl. That would help prevent any moisture getting trapped up there.
I’m lucky, my high top has no holes or vents or anything in it, so it doesn’t leak. Every time I’ve had something with vents or other holes in the roof, I’ve had to fight leaks, I sure don’t miss that…
Good Luck!
"Always avoid complicated solutions to solve simple problems." ~ OffGrid
