Girard Awning

[Gary Wolfer]

Anyone take the Girard Awning off a 98 vintage patriot or similar coach
I live on the Oregon coast and it is virtually worthless here as it is for shade only and it leaks water profusely down the inside of my wall I want to take it off and replace it with a different awning. Has anyone here taken one off. My objective is to seal the wall and next year replace the awning with a manual unit  like a carefree of colorado. I had a piece of rope stuck in it last year and threw the tension off. I finally got it close but the ends meet the wall when retracted but the center leaves a gap from the wall and water dumps down inside the wall. I need help.

[Gerald Farris]

Gary,
Your water leak is not caused by the awning not closing evenly. The leak is most probably caused by the "box" that Beaver cut into the wall to mount the awning into not being sealed properly. Even if you remove the awning, you will still have the "box" that is cut into the wall, and therefore the same leak. You just need to repair the leak, and that will sometimes but not always require removing the awning to reseal the mounting box.  

Getting the awning to close evenly after you have inadvertently stretched out the fabric is a very easy process. Just roll out the awning manually until you see the bare roller and install several layers of duct tape in the area where the fabric is stretched. This may take several attempts to enlarge the roller enough to make the awning close evenly, but it will happen.

As for removing the Girard and replacing it with a Carefree awning. That will be expensive, lower the value of your coach, and leave you with an awning that most owners classify as junk. My first coach had a Carefree awning, and you could not give me another one.

Gerald

[neil omalley]

Gary: go on Girard's website . I removed my awning last year to have it resewn. I would recommend two people just because the awning becomes unweildy when removing and reinstalling.

[Marty and Suzie Schenck]

Gary, Gerald is right about the box leaking. My 98 Monterey did the same thing. Pull the awning assembly out and seal the box. When you put the Girard back in the box, seal only the top and very front of the awning. Any water that gets in can then drain out the bottom. That's what Girard told me to do back in 2004. It worked and was not leaking when I sold it in 2007. Marty

[Gary Wolfer]

Thanks to both of you. I did not know the box was made part of the wall unfortunately. I hate the awning, it is not made for the wet pacific northwest. The slightest wind gets air under it and it lifts and drops and there is no way to secure it. I am afraid one day it will bend a rod and will not go back in. I already got a piece of rope caught in it and the back end would not close against the motorhome. It did not come with an attachment on the underside of the awning so the long handle will not crank it in or out. I had to make a makeshift rod for a wrench to crank it out so I could crank it all the way out and straighten the fabric so it would close both ends and after I did get both ends to close the middle has about an inch gap between the awning end and the box. I have water running down the wall on the middle and the floor is soaked below the refer. I am really tired of it. I had a manual awning on my Safari and had no problems except some misc parts that wore out and were easily replaced. It had a canvas tarp that was really nice. I know it would decrease the value but I intend to be buried in it. My son has my Safari. I may try fixing the box since it will not come off but I hate the awning.

[neil omalley]

How do you REALLY feel about it,Gary ?

[Marty and Suzie Schenck]

I am with you Gary. It is really not an awning, it's a sun shade. I would also prefer an A&E manual awning like the one that came on Bill & Wendy Roush's 1997 Monterey. If it's raining just lower one corner and enjoy. Progress isn't always better. Marty

[Gary Wolfer]

This summer I resealed the entire roof with Di-Cor I took off the out of date Satellite antenna and 20' of cable stretched across the roof and found a hole with a plate that was loose below the antenna dish. I patched the holes took off the solar panels and coated under all of them along with the air conditioners and vents. and resealed the skylight and everything else I could see. I put three coats of dicor on the entire roof and there were hairline cracks everywhere. I have already endured some pounding rain because where I am  is the Drift Creek Wilderness area on the Oregon Coast and annual rainfall here is 122" The roof has not leaked yet. Only the wall from the awning box. I think since the box will not come off and due to winter weather here I will hold off on the repair and add a 6" strip of coated pvc vinyl over top of the box for the rest of the winter and then decide what to do next summer. There is a very good Awning shop I have heard of in Brookings Harbor Oregon on the California border and I will have them help me decide what to do. Thanks for all your comments I appreciate them all.

[Edward Buker]

Gary,

My Girard has a rubber membrane that looks like it is bedded in Lexol that runs the length of the awning top housing to the sidewall of the motorhome. I have had the motrorhome for 4 years and this "rubber flashing" has stayed bedded and in tact. I put some 303 protectant on it from time to time. It looks professionally done and may be something that you can do this time of year. The membrane may be EPDM used for rubber roofs, not sure. Clearly there are many RVs with membrane roofs and the materials must be available in black. The ends of my awning enclosure also has a bead of Lexol between the enclosure and the wall of the RV. The bottom photo in this link shows the bedding and the rubber membrane that was used. The lower Lexol bedding is on the top of the awning enclosure and the upper bedding is on the sidewall of the RV below the strip with the rubber insert that joins the roof to the wall panel. Like I say I have had no leaks in 4 years and this system has held up without any real maintenance. It is not visible except while on the roof. Before I would remove the awning and go through that significant a project I would consider this approach given that excellent materials exist today that seem to do the job.

http://forum.bacrallies.com/m-1366837372/s-14/highlight-Lexel/#num14

Later Ed

[Carol Moffett]

Hello Ed and Gary,
   This is a great idea!  I am going to put this on the DH's to-do list for sure!  I have often thought that something like this could work but I have so far lacked the imagination to envision it.  We inherited a troublesome leak in our '02 Marquis awning.  It is just up front, above the door.  We are lucky in that it is just this one spot and not all the way down the entire awning, as in our old '98 Patriot!  The Angels at BCS performed a miracle for us this last Aug by completely removing and re-setting the door, as it hadn't been installed properly at the factory!  As we thought, and it was confirmed, the leak was coming from the awning.  But what to do?  I loath the idea of removal and re-seal because, I seriously believe, all that messing around MIGHT fix the leak up front but will also most likely disturb the rest of the GOOD that we've got going with the rest of it!  lol  If you get my drift?
   Been there, done that, with our '98 Pat.  SO, to make a long story short...Gary, TRY THIS FIRST!  It looks like a solution to all our leaking awning problems!  But, it won't solve the fact that it is a sun shade and not a water repeller!  I have to agree with you on that one!  Perhaps if you can stop the leak you might try that new product out there that makes EVERYTHING it is applied to waterproof (hydrophobic)!  They carry it at Home Depot, I think!  We may try that ourselves!  
Good luck and keep us posted on your progress!
Carol

[Edward Buker]

I wish I knew who did this job and exactly what they used given it has held up so well. The membrane may have come in some form of roll given the edges seem very straight. I am not endorsing any particular product here given I have not done the job myself but here are my thoughts...

A possibility might be to order a few feet of this tape to experiment with, cut a strip that would lap the joint area neatly.

http://www.bestmaterials.com/detail.aspx?ID=20022

You could make a right angle out of two pieces of wood to experiment with. Take a look at the awning case to motorhome sidewall joint with a tape measure and see what width would work well. I would envision maybe a 2 inch to 3 inch width, lapping half up the wall and half over the top of the awning case. I would think that you would clean the surfaces with a solvent wax remover, use a tube of Lexol to neatly fill the gap and seal the space between the awning and the RV wall. You would let that cure until it is well set. You would lap this tape over both surfaces and the cured Lexol joint using the peel and stick feature. Once it is neatly down run a bead of blue masking tape above and below the edge of the EPDM tape leaving maybe a half inch of painted surface exposed. You would then run a bead of Lexol that overlaps the edge of the tape, run a finger down the bead to flatten and spread it, and pull the tape with the Lexol still wet. I would try that on the wooden form until I had the technique down and was comfortable with the materials and methods. This is my best guess on how I might go about this project.

I have never used this type of one sided sticky EPDM tape but if in my experiment it would not pull easily and set back down well (once stuck it is stuck) I would run a piece blue masking tape at the right point on the RV wall above the awning as an alignment aid for the EPDM tape. I would work my way along peeling just the upper inch of the backing tape, sticking the tape to the RV sidewall only and then go back and peel the backing tape as you go along working it down onto the awning frame... best technique is something to work out on your wooden form until you are comfortable with the project.

Other ideas regarding materials and methods?

Later Ed

[Carol Moffett]

Ed,
   The stuff on your coach looks to be like a rubber or plastic cove base or mop rail.  If so, then the inside edges would be beveled and could possibly make this job very simple!  Interesting indeed!  Was this material installed at an angle or does it bend at all?  Your suggestion of making a templet is a good idea!
  Would it be too much to ask for some pics of the ends?  And maybe some long shots, of the length?    
Thanks!
Carol

[Edward Buker]

Carol,

The material is sloped some between the wall and the top of the awning cover. I can take a look in the next several days of the ends. The length is the entire top of the awning, one piece of material. The material does not seem to have much of a premade shape like a cove and is more rubber like then plastic. In the photo it does look like it has some beveling along the edges. I think the area under it is bedded with something, likely Lexol given there is not much space and it does not seem to readily depress. It could be some kind of RV or boat molding insert for some kind of aluminum extrusion but I think that is not likely given the dull appearance and the molding inserts are usually plastic that has a sheen. I do not think this material is something very special, you need something that was designed for rubber roofs that will hold up to the sun. If it will self adhere it is a big plus in my mind.

Later Ed

[Carol Moffett]

Thank you very much, Ed.  I am very hopefull!  Probably won't tackle this till next spring, beings this is the Pacific Northwest in Nov, but it is first on the list for next year!  We will be sure to share the outcome when we do.  Till then we will just have to carry on as we were!  Thanks again!
Carol. :^3=~

[Mary Collins]

BCS had to take off the awning to repair a crack in the roof on our 2003 Patriot Thunder. To do so they had to carefully remove the false backing of the inside cabinets to get access to whatever helps hold the box to the coach. Removing the awning did not look like a small or easy job.

We also have a poor opinion of Carefree, having had a number of problems with them on a previous coach. We have always had a great experience with manual ZipDee awnings on 2 coaches.

Mary