Well, this has been the most eventful night in our year of full-timing.
A hailstorm just passed over Kerrville, TX, and shattered the bathroom skylight over the shower. We're open to the storm now. Thankfully, we left the gray water line open yesterday to do laundry, so the water pouring in after the hailstorm should pass through. Big mess to clean up, though.
The hail may have shattered our air conditioner shrouds, too. Water has saturated the foam filters and is coming in through the interior grills. We have towels spread everywhere. Ceiling is wet, too. Don't know what else we can do tonight. Still too much lightning. Tarps on top of the coach tomorrow, I guess. Similar storm is forecast for tomorrow afternoon.
I've sent a note to Foretravel, asking about a replacement skylight. Any other suggestions? Anything else I should look for in the a.m.? Just a little dazed right now.
Richard & Susan
So sorry to hear that! My mother lives in Fredericksburg so I'll be checking on her place now that I read your post.
I have no good advice about the skylight or shrouds. I think you've done all you can at this time. You can temporarily cover them in the morning with plastic sheeting maybe, just to get you through the rain until you get replacement shrouds and skylight. We had rain water enter through the a/c unit one time when I didn't have the shroud secured and got surprised by a shower. No permanent damage as we were there to dry everything up.
You'll be ok for now. So sorry you are having to deal wth this! Good luck.
Chris
Oh man, that sounds like a nightmare.
No way you can even go up and at least tape plastic trash bags to the AC shrouds? I'd be way more concerned about those than the skylight. That would be terrible for the water coming down the AC to migrate into the ceiling. This is what I had to do coming home from Dumont Sand Dunes a couple of months ago when the wind got really bad and it started hailing and noticed an upturn in wind noise up top. Went up to check and the front shroud was almost shredded and the rear one was completely gone. The plastic stayed on for the whole trip home and not a drop of water came inside. The heavy duty large outdoor size was perfect, just unfolded it and taped it on around the edges. But there was no lightning associated with that storm. I don't have experience with lightning.
I'd also check to be sure that water isn't getting in between the outer skylight material and the ceiling. Do what you can to be sure the water can freely flow into the shower.
Chris,
Thanks for the encouragement. Do check on your Mom's. If you look closely at the the screen capture from weather radar, you can see that shortly after the magenta and white parts passed over us, it may have continued southwest-to-northeast across Fredericksburg?
Hope not! Best wishes for no consequences from the storm.
Richard & Susan
Jennifer,
Thanks for the input about the A/C shrouds. It's raining and there is still lightning, so no chance right now of getting on the roof. The ceiling is already wet, so we're just going to have to live with the result. Hoping that Chris' point about no permanent damage holds true for our situation, too.
We appreciate you caring!
Richard & Susan
Plastic trash can lid and duct tape
Sorry for this event but I would be up on the roof no matter what to try and stop the inside roof from getting any more water on it. Your interior lining could be history soon, sorry to say.
JohnH
Just start blotting the ceiling with dry towels as much as you can now to start drying it out. If you have any fans, run them pointed at the ceiling. It looks like the worst has passed you, so maybe you could get onto the roof safely at this time to try to cover the openings.
Restoration companies like Service-Pro helped us after our fire. They can suck moisture and kill cooties like nobody else. Your insurance can help, perhaps. I wish you well. We are watching the storm in New Braunfels from TN. Wish we could help, too!
Thanks, all, for the support and encouragement.
When the rain eased a little, we turned on the docking lights and headlights. Went outside and discovered hail broke our Highlander's sunroof. Car is full of water and, of course, the body smashed with hail dents. Don't know if a dent doctor will be able to finesse these out or not. Some are pretty large and deep.
The good news: we're fine. This is nothing like people who lose homes in a fire or a flood that completely destroys everything in its path. We'll get this stuff worked out. It's just inconvenient when the coach is your (only) home, and ditto the car. Guess we'll find out how good our insurance is.
More tomorrow.
yes plastic trash lid, or maybe you have or could get some rubbermaid storage containers to fit over anything that needs it and stick them to the roof with some adhesive caulking. Boy oh boy, what a nasty unforeseen event. All the best.
Richard, how perfectly dreadful, I am so sorry... :-* ...such a helpless feeling, just relieved to know you two are OK physically...this is an alert (at least for me) to know more about the shrouds, til now I'd thought they were something completely different....just so sorry you have to go thru this. Do what you need to do when the sun comes up but keep us posted at some point.
Richard,
Sorry for the problems. A/C shrouds are say to replace once you get some.
Check this post out for your skylight. You can find others with a quick search.
Hope this helps and things get better soon,
Rich and Peggy
Replacing our shower skylight (http://www.foreforums.com/index.php?topic=16677.msg107951#msg107951)
The good to this story is no one was in the shower when the sky light busted.
Richard and Susan, I hope you are OK and safe. I am sorry to hear this story, just as you were getting settled in for the summer. Try to get as much water removed and dried out as soon as you can. Call your insurance person. This type of event should be covered under you Comprehensive coverage. There are folks out there who can help recover from this.
That is my fear with the coach outside and in storm country. I am glad you are ok. Insurance claim will probably be your best bet.
So sorry to hear of this terrible event . I had a similar situation several years when hail broke through my roof vent. I stuck an umbrella through the opening and opened it up. Probably wouldn't work in high winds though. I wish you best of luck getting through this. Rodger
What a great idea, will sure have to remember that one, no climbing on the roof and exposure to the elements and SIMPLE.
Roland
Sorry to hear of your misfortune. I was at camp Foretravel on the 3rd and 4th of May and 2 coaches were there for hail damage repair.
If you have comprehensive insurance the hail damage and associated water damage should be covered
I read about how it was wet and what I have done is similar to bogey, suck it dry as you can with a wet dry vac and then put a box fan on the wet areas and let it blow on the damp areas. this will get rid of the water. Both are cheap at big box stores. You will have it dried up quickly for probably less than 100.
Oh no, the car too. So sorry to hear that. It has been a bad spring in the hill country - friends in Boerne got hammered a few weeks ago by hail, doing $5500 damage to a car, destroying pool equipment and plumbing, metal roofs on houses, etc. I think many service providers in the area are backed up trying to handle all the claims, and our friends just finally got State Farm out to their place two days ago. The dent repair and auto glass people are very busy but you should be able to get someone to replace the car glass, even if you have to head in to San Antonio.
You may be able to find a/c shrouds at a local place in Kerrville - I remember one along the main street there. Might have better luck going to San Antonio for those as well, however. Very easy to replace, once you have the new ones. Best of luck handling everything!
Chris
The wonderful part of our lifestyle is that you can always move to get better service. Your insurance company can suggest where you can go to get estimates and repairs.
Scary stuff ! Escapees magazine had a article in their recent issue about a couple that got hit a couple of years ago. Totaled out their 7mo old Winnebago & Jeep. We spent 2 periods sharing bathrooms in COE campgrounds on our last trip due to tornadoes, but no damage. Guess that's why we pay the bucks for insurance.
The very best thing is no physical damage to yourselves.
Let me know if Foretravel does not have the double dome skylight in stock. I got one there the last week of April when we met you on the parking lot. But we're home now, parked inside, and have not installed it yet. I could go to the coach today, and retrieve it, and ship it to you.
My cell is 214-850-8303
Had Hailstorm damage a couple of years ago. Now I carry rubber matts (harbor freight) to cover solar and skylight. Our 1992 foretravel has a larger skylight them most have now - if you need a custom size the following company makes any size and very reasonable. Skylights from AiA Skylights - Velux, Replacement, Custom Skylights (http://www.aiaindustries.com)
Glad you guys are o.k. When we had the Airstreams, hail was our biggest fear, as they could be (and were) totaled.
Some of the HD, and Lowes have precut 2'x2' pieces of plywood, in racks, usually at the end of the rows, in different thicknesses. Guess I should pick up a 1/4" piece, and stash it under the bed mattress.
I also carry silver foil tape on a roll, and have for years used it to patch broken, or cracked skylights on roofs till I could get back with the new domes from my suppliers.
...and be a lightening rod? Some things just aren't worth it.
Richard and Susan I am so sorry to hear this and wish you the best. At least you are in Texas, near all the foretravel support that you need.
Looking West, sorry to hear about the water intrusion, and hope that you're able to quickly get back to your normal routine.
Has anyone given any thought to some protective coverings for the roof ACs and skylight prior to a hail storm? My neighbor
here in Tennessee throws a large piece of rubber about 1" thick over his tractor to protect it from hail, but not sure how you
would secure it to the coach roof.
Trouble with that idea is you cannot predict when hail will hit. We get a LOT of thunderstorms in West TX, and many of them are accompanied by hail. Hail is completely random, and crazy. I've seen skylights and windows blown out of houses on one side of the street, and on the other side, zero damage. I've seen hail fall out of a clear blue sky - coming out the top of a thunderstorm 20 miles away, and blowing downwind. Hail is scary - we've been extremely lucky in our house - only replaced the roof 4 times (due to hail damage) in 33 years. We're hoping our luck holds for our coach!
Home Depot and Lowes have a saw for cutting plywood. They will cut it any size you want.
Thank you, everyone, for the ongoing suggestions and messages of support. Talked to insurers for both the coach and the car. So far, so good.
Spent the day getting things securely covered, because we are still under a severe weather watch tonight and tomorrow. At the moment, the skies look more benign than I would have guessed. But, then again, they did yesterday too. A long-time resident told us the worst storms usually strike here between 10:00 p.m. and 2:30 a.m. We'll keep you updated.
Ordered a skylight from Foretravel today (thank you Dave & Dolly for the really kind offer!). Ditto for two air conditioner shrouds and a refrigerator vent cover. I think we're going to try to get to FT for an inspection before the final insurance claim is made, because we're discovering more every hour. We didn't see it, but others in the RV park reported seeing hail the size of tennis balls. We have seen picnic tables penetrated by the hail, pedestals destroyed, wooden pergolas knocked down, all the neon lights that illuminated the RV park entry sign destroyed, and virtually every car with a cracked windshield and, if the vehicle had a sunroof, the sunroof glass destroyed and tarps over the cars. It was quite a night.
Susan did a fabulous job today, making the interior seem like a home again, after we patched/covered all the we could on the roof. We also did what we could to help others who had less physical ability to get on their roofs, etc. St. Augustine said, "We progress by means of trial." I hope we made some progress today.
Many thanks again for the wonderful support.
Richard,
You might want to have an insurance adjuster (who does RV's) take a look at the whole roof for hail damage too. You would be surprised how beneficial that might be.
Jim
2002 U320
Good point, Jim! The previous owner suggested the same thing. Apparently there can be damage we wouldn't recognize.
Will do.
Richard & Susan
You have had quite an eventful year. I was planning to call you sometime to see how you were doing before I had seen this post about the hail. I hope it can all be fixed without too much hassle.