# Park Model Trailer Repair and Exterior Restoration > Park model trailer repair runs from about $1,500 for roof and flashing work to past $30,000 for structural repairs to walls and floor framing. These units are built more like a small house than an RV, which changes the materials, the trades and the running gear conversation entirely. | | | | --- | --- | | Business | OCRV Center | | Service area | Westminster, Orange County, Southern California | | Facility | 23281 La Palma Ave, Yorba Linda, CA 92887 | | Phone | (949) 799-3387 | | Email | info@ocrvcenter.com | | Typical range | $1,500 to $30,000+ | | Source | https://ocrv.online/vehicles/park-model-trailer/ | Park model trailer repair sits between RV work and residential construction, which is exactly why it falls through the cracks at most shops. Westminster owners with a sited unit find that RV shops do not work in shingles and residential windows, and contractors will not touch a vehicle on a frame. We do both. This page covers roofs, siding, windows, wood framed walls and the running gear that has not turned in a decade. ## Built Like a House, Registered Like a Trailer A recreational park trailer is a towable unit built to a size limit, sited for long periods and moved rarely. Because it does not have to survive constant highway travel, builders use residential methods: dimensional wood framing, sheathing, house wrap, lap or panel siding, shingled or standing seam roofs, and residential style windows and doors. That construction is a real advantage for repair. Materials are available at any building supply, the trades are conventional, and you are not dependent on a coach builder for a molded part. A rotted wall section is framing, sheathing and siding rather than a discontinued laminated panel. The disadvantage is that residential assemblies were designed to sit on a foundation, not on a steel frame that flexes when it is moved. That mismatch is where most of the cracked drywall, sticking doors and open seams in these units come from. - Dimensional framing rather than laminated panel - Shingled or standing seam roof instead of a rubber membrane - Residential windows and doors with conventional flashing - Lap or panel siding over sheathing and house wrap - Materials available locally rather than from a coach builder ## Roofs That Are Not Rubber Membranes This is the biggest practical difference from every other unit on this site. A park model usually has a pitched roof with shingles or standing seam metal over decking, with conventional valley, ridge and penetration flashing. It fails the way a house roof fails: lifted shingles, degraded underlayment, flashing that has separated at a penetration, and a valley that no longer sheds. In Southern California, sun does most of the damage. Asphalt shingles lose their granules and go brittle, and the underlayment beneath them ages even faster in a roof that runs hot. A roof that looks intact from the ground can be well past its service life close up. Reroofing a park model is a conventional job done on a unit that happens to be on wheels: strip, evaluate and replace decking, new underlayment, new roofing, new flashing at every penetration. Figure $4,500 to $14,000 depending on size, pitch, material and how much decking is soft. ## Residential Windows and the Flashing Behind Them Park models use large residential windows, and they leak the way house windows leak: at the head flashing, at the sill pan, and where the siding was cut too tight. Because the wall behind is sheathing and framing rather than laminated panel, the damage is slower and more localized, which is genuinely good news. The bad news is that it is invisible until the interior finish shows it. Wet sheathing under siding gives no exterior sign for a long time, and by the time the drywall or panel inside stains, the sill framing under the window is usually gone. The repair is conventional: pull the window, cut back to sound framing and sheathing, rebuild, install a proper sill pan and head flashing, integrate with the house wrap, then re side and refit. That is $1,800 to $6,000 per opening depending on how much framing has to be replaced. ## Siding, Trim and Southern California Sun Sited units get a lot of sun on one or two elevations and shade on the others, and they age unevenly because of it. The sun side chalks, fades, splits and pulls fasteners while the shade side holds moisture and grows mildew. Both need attention and they need different attention. Repainting a park model is closer to a house repaint than a vehicle refinish: wash, scrape and sand failed coating, treat and prime bare material, caulk the joints that should be caulked and deliberately leave open the ones that should drain, then coat. Getting the caulking wrong is the most common mistake, because sealing a drainage path traps water in a wall. Where siding has to be replaced, matching a discontinued profile usually means replacing a full elevation to a corner rather than patching in the middle, which is the same rule that applies to paint graphics on a coach. ## Running Gear That Has Not Moved in Ten Years This is the part owners forget until the week they need to move the unit. A park model that has been sited for a decade has tires that are chemically done regardless of tread, bearings full of separated grease, brakes seized to the drums, and often a frame with surface corrosion where it has sat on damp ground. None of that is a reason for alarm, but none of it should be discovered on moving day. A pre move inspection covers bearings and seals, brakes, springs and shackles, tires by date code rather than appearance, coupler and safety chains, and lighting. That work bills at the $260 mechanical rate and takes a day. A worked example on the most common request we get: window replacement with sill framing repair and siding integration, typically 14 to 24 hours of labor at $210 for $2,940 to $5,040, plus $600 to $2,200 in window, framing, flashing, siding and finish materials. - Replace tires by date code, not by tread depth - Repack bearings and replace seals before any move - Release and inspect brakes that have been sitting - Check the frame for corrosion where it contacts damp ground - Verify lighting, coupler and safety chains before moving day ## Frequently asked questions ### Is a park model repaired like an RV or like a house? Like a house, on a frame. Builders use dimensional wood framing, sheathing, house wrap, lap or panel siding, shingled or standing seam roofs and residential style windows, because the unit is sited for long periods rather than driven constantly. That means conventional materials and conventional trades, which is good news for parts availability. The complication is that residential assemblies were designed to sit on a foundation, not on a steel frame that flexes when the unit is moved, and that mismatch is behind most of the cracked interior finish, sticking doors and opened seams we are called about. ### How much does park model trailer repair cost? The range runs about $1,500 to past $30,000. Flashing and small roof repairs are at the low end. A window replacement with sill framing repair and siding integration is $1,800 to $6,000 per opening. A full reroof is $4,500 to $14,000 depending on size, pitch, material and decking condition. Exterior repaint with proper preparation is $6,000 to $16,000. Structural repair to wall and floor framing after long term water intrusion can reach $30,000. Body and finish labor is $210 per hour, mechanical is $260, and jobs over $2,000 carry a 50 percent deposit. ### My roof is shingled. Can an RV shop even work on that? This one can, and it is a real gap in the market. Most RV shops work in single ply membranes and lap sealant and have no business on a pitched shingle or standing seam roof, while roofing contractors generally will not take on a unit registered as a vehicle. A park model reroof is a conventional job: strip the old roofing, evaluate and replace soft decking, new underlayment, new roofing material, and new flashing at every penetration and valley. In Southern California the underlayment is often further gone than the shingles because the roof runs hot, so we evaluate both. ### How do I know if water is getting in around a window? You usually cannot tell from outside, which is the problem. Wet sheathing behind siding gives no exterior sign for a long time, so the first evidence is interior: a stain on the drywall or panel below the window, a soft spot at the sill, or a window that has started to stick because the framing under it has moved. By that point the sill framing is generally gone. If a unit is more than ten years old and has never had window flashing addressed, an inspection is worth it. We meter the wall below each opening and check the head and sill details. ### The unit has not moved in years. What do I need before towing it? A full running gear inspection, and do it weeks before moving day rather than the morning of. Tires are chemically done after enough years of sun regardless of tread depth, and they fail on the first hot mile. Bearing grease separates while sitting, brakes seize to the drums, springs and shackles corrode, and the frame often has surface corrosion where it has sat on damp ground. We inspect bearings and seals, brakes, springs, shackles, tires by date code, the coupler and safety chains, and lighting. That is typically a one day job at the $260 mechanical rate and it prevents a very bad afternoon. ### Can you match my siding if only one section is damaged? Sometimes, and where we cannot, the honest answer is to replace a full elevation to a corner rather than patch in the middle. Siding profiles get discontinued, and a patch of a slightly different profile or a different weathering age reads immediately. It is the same rule that applies to paint graphics on a coach: end the repair at a natural break rather than in the middle of a visible run. On a sun exposed elevation the color difference between new and existing material is significant even when the profile matches, so we usually recommend coating that elevation after the repair. ### Do you handle the interior as well as the exterior? Yes. Park models use residential interior finishes, so drywall, trim, cabinetry, flooring and paint are all conventional work, and we do them in the same visit as the exterior repair that caused the damage. The sequence matters: we stop the water, confirm with a test, dry and repair the framing and sheathing, and only then rebuild the interior finish. Rebuilding drywall over framing that still reads wet on a meter means doing it again, so we hold the interior stage until the readings are right even when that adds a few days. ### How long does a park model job take? Flashing and small repairs are two to five business days. A window replacement with framing repair is about a week per opening. A full reroof is one to three weeks depending on size, pitch and how much decking is replaced. An exterior repaint with proper preparation is two to four weeks. Structural repair to wall and floor framing after long term intrusion is three to eight weeks. Because the materials are conventional and available locally, parts delays are far less of an issue on these units than on any coach, so the schedule is mostly real shop time. --- OCRV Center performs all work in shop at 23281 La Palma Ave, Yorba Linda, CA 92887. Serving Westminster and Orange County. Call (949) 799-3387 or email info@ocrvcenter.com. Posted labor rates are published at https://ocrv.online/prices/.