Delaminating bunk end-HELP!

[Fishinggunny]

Guys, I noticed that the front bunk end on my x17z started delaminating. I dropped the bunk end and went inside. To my horror I discovered extensive rot under the bunk at the piano hinge. I pulled back the protective film and found the wood sheet is rotted almost all the way across the bunk at the piano hinge and has pulled away from the styrofoam core and the outside skin. I have no earthly idea how that much water could have gotten in side the bunk end wall. It's obvious that has been there awhile to cause this much damage. Is this fixable? Can the dealership replace the bunk end? Anyone have this issue? What did you do?

[Grumpy]

Dealer can just order a new bunk end.

[ALJO]

or the DIYer fixes it himself and try todo a better job than the original manufacturer.
The RV industry is a lawless industry (read the small print), but they do offer some relief in their warranty offerings.

[Raspberry]

Cannot answer on pricing as mine was replaced under warranty due to extensive fading. BUT I can tell you the yes the bunk end is replaceable. Jayco shipped a new bunkend to the dealer already painted, but dealer had to put on the stickers. Also because the canvas was in great shape they reused the canvas from our old bunk end, so if your canvas is good that should be reusable without paying for new one. But they may have to replace front wall too so the color matches if there is a difference. The whole front was 13.5 hours of labour.

[Scott91370]

Mine on my 19h is the same. That is the project after the floor replacement (I've already done the ceiling). Man I should have traded this thing in and let the dealer worry about it.

[Fishinggunny]

I think I have developed a plan to fix the bunk end. I cut out all the rot and scraped the wet material off down to the outer skin (I'm working inside out). This ended up being slightly less than a third of the original bunk end. I'm letting it thoroughly dry out then I'm going to mix and pour some self leveling epoxy directly onto the outer skin to fill the area between the inner frame, level to the surrounding original material. I'm going to use epoxy used for bar tops. This should fill all gaps and adhere well to all other surfaces. Once dry, I'm goin to overlay a thin layer of ply wood over the whole bunk end and glue it down with construction adhesive. The final fix will be heavier than the original bunk end, but only my son sleeps on that end so should be well within the weight limit.

[Scott91370]

If you wouldn't mind taking some pictures I'd appreciate it!
If you don't have a place to host them I can give you my email address.

Thanks!

[DocBrown]

That's a good plan and very likely what I would do. I'd like to see pictures too, inside and out.

[Fishinggunny]

Scott, I cut out the damaged material with a roto saw then pried it up with a putty knife. The pic is what I am left with. The rest of this project is going to have to wait until I get back from a cross country tent camping trip with my son which starts Monday.

[Scott91370]

So it is set up just like the rest of the camper with the luan/foam/luan construction. It may be the easiest of all three projects to repair.

Thank you!

[Fishinggunny]

This pic shows another angle of the cleared out material.

[Fishinggunny]

I think I've discovered the cause of this headache. The caulking on the outside bottom edge of the bunk door was cracked allowing water to enter the bottom of the bunk end. The layer between the outer skin and the styrofoam inner core is layers of some type of paper. This just wicked up the water pulling it higher into the wall. This has been going on for some time to create this much damage. Lesson learned. Inspect all sealed joints every six months and recaulk as necessary.

[Jopopsy]

Can you post a picture of where you think it came in?

[Subaru297]

You might want to add some micro balloons or something to lighten the epoxy mix. Will still be very strong. Might even add some R value to it!

Cheers

[KenC]

I know this is an old thread, but I recently purchased a 2014 X17J that had the same issue. The Velcro flap and contact paper on the interior hid the issue pretty well. Before I dig into mine to far, I was hoping you might remember how yours was constructed.

Is the outer skin of the front bunk door a layer of fiberglass on top of plywood?

Where the bottom part of the front bunk door frame bolts to the door, near the hinge, is there a piece of wood in there?

[netlos]

Went through this a few months ago, check this thread.https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f...ed-101969.html

[Scott91370]

Originally Posted by KenC

I know this is an old thread, but I recently purchased a 2014 X17J that had the same issue. The Velcro flap and contact paper on the interior hid the issue pretty well. Before I dig into mine to far, I was hoping you might remember how yours was constructed.

Is the outer skin of the front bunk door a layer of fiberglass on top of plywood?

Where the bottom part of the front bunk door frame bolts to the door, near the hinge, is there a piece of wood in there?

Mine did not have any structural/frame wood inside the bunk ends. Just the luan.
It was (from inside out) wall paper, luan, insulating foam, fiberglass outer.
Just make sure the glue you use will not melt the insulating foam. I learned this the hard way and mine still looks delaminated.

[netlos]

Originally Posted by KenC

I know this is an old thread, but I recently purchased a 2014 X17J that had the same issue. The Velcro flap and contact paper on the interior hid the issue pretty well. Before I dig into mine to far, I was hoping you might remember how yours was constructed.

Is the outer skin of the front bunk door a layer of fiberglass on top of plywood?

Where the bottom part of the front bunk door frame bolts to the door, near the hinge, is there a piece of wood in there?

At the hinge no, no wood, left and right side have a piece of wood on mine, it is a 2018, not sure if different years were built differently.

[Thorw]

Any pictures of the end results of the repair?

[netlos]

I thought I had put up pictures, lol
Here are a few of after I ripped out the wet stuff, and the final result!