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btowntincan · 07-02-2016, 03:24 PM

Hope you are right. If so, the planned new skylight will do the trick.

Chris

FLMarine · 07-03-2016, 11:51 AM

I would suggest dropping the belly pan and cutting out the insulation. When I pulled up the flooring I was able to not cut the foil insulation and I used a wet vacuum and sucked out just over 5 gallons of water trapped from there being no seal on the rear bumper. I still haven't put on the insulation as I planned, but I haven't noticed any difference in cost of energy.

The foil insulation traps the water and just saturates the wood if there is a leak.

If any of you that are currently pulling up your floor have any questions about how I did my repairs please pm me and I'd be happy to talk

**Hans627** · 07-04-2016, 06:33 AM

I have been reluctant to pull the belly pan as it looks like a big job. I was thinking that just drilling a small hole through the floor and through the insulation, to drain any accumulated water, in the center of each frame section, would be sufficient. With no water retained by the insulation, and the leak sealed, it would eventually dry. Am I missing something?

Thanks!

FLMarine · 07-04-2016, 06:54 AM

I haven't pulled the belly pan yet, but you would only need to drill out about the last two feet before you would be able to cut the foil that is trapping the water under the wood. Below is a picture of when I pulled and cut my floor out. You can see how close to the edge the foil pools the water on both sides. If I would have come across this thread three or four years ago I would have been able to save my floor.

Hans627, I was reluctant to start this project because it seemed bigger than I could handle, but after I started I realized it wasn't too hard. Taking the initial step is the hardest part.

SuperTrouper · 07-04-2016, 08:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hans627

I have been reluctant to pull the belly pan as it looks like a big job. I was thinking that just drilling a small hole through the floor and through the insulation, to drain any accumulated water, in the center of each frame section, would be sufficient. With no water retained by the insulation, and the leak sealed, it would eventually dry. Am I missing something?

Thanks!

Pulling the pan is not that hard. It's just dropping the stabilizers and drilling out some rivets. The most important part is drying the wood out which is easiest done by pulling the furniture out vinyl floor up and running a dehumidifier for a week inside. I did both and also soaked the floor in glycol to kill any mold and then dried again then applied Clear Penetrating Epoxy to preserve the wood structure and dried one last time. Took a month. Here's my whole story starting back on post 245 if you haven't been through the whole thread.

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f396...ml#post1262866

Brad

**Hans627** · 07-05-2016, 06:53 PM

Today I removed the rub rail to fix the leak between the bumper plate and the shell. It was a mess under there. Insulation was protruding from under the shell in a couple of places and it was dirty with mold and other "gunk". Plus it was wet. Using a hair dryer it was dried out and I got it cleaned up and caulked it with Silkflex. A couple screws twisted off when removing the rail which made it a little more challenging. But I got done.

I had a tube of Parbond and used it to seal the top of the rub rail. However, when I was just finishing the process the tube split (I guess from squeezing it too hard) and I had Parbond all over my hand (and it seemed like everything else). That stuff is sticky!

Tomorrow I am planning to seal the bottom of the rub rail, where it contacts the bumper plate, with Sikaflex. I can't see how water could possible get in under the shell after all of this. I hope I'm right!

I also have to install the rub rail insert and then I'm done with the back end of the trailer. I'm planning on checking around the rear windows also.

This whole process was a bit challenging, but it is what it is!

AirUSN · 07-03-2017, 09:04 PM

My first post here and I've read all posts up to the 11th page and jumped to the end of the thread.

I was just looking at a 2007 Safari FB a few days ago and strongly considering a purchase as it looks to be in good shape. But, reading this thread I'll take extra time in checking things out.

I wish it was a queen instead of a rear bunk, but I guess in time I can swap it out.

Plan on going to see the Safari on Wednesday. Keep you posted.

If I get the VIN, is there a 'carfax' sort of service to check on past history?

many thanks!!

dmbecke · 07-03-2017, 09:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AirUSN

My first post here and I've read all posts up to the 11th page and jumped to the end of the thread.

I was just looking at a 2007 Safari FB a few days ago and strongly considering a purchase as it looks to be in good shape. But, reading this thread I'll take extra time in checking things out.

I wish it was a queen instead of a rear bunk, but I guess in time I can swap it out.

Plan on going to see the Safari on Wednesday. Keep you posted.

If I get the VIN, is there a 'carfax' sort of service to check on past history?

many thanks!!

I looked at a 2004 and asked the owner to pull down the back belly pan
We did that and did not find a rotten floor
It really isn't hard
Just need a drill and a fiver gun to reinstall
I wouldn't buy a pre 2012 without doing this
Just a few stains on the one I looked at
We think the prior owner luckily fixed the issue earlier in the trailers life.

AirUSN · 07-03-2017, 09:36 PM

Maybe I should focus 2012+

rodsterinfl · 07-04-2017, 10:23 AM

I wouldn't make a difference on year. There have been instances of leaky new ones too. The only difference would be the rot may not have started yet. When I bought mine and then read the rot threads, I was always thinking about my potentially rotten floor. I have now seen almost my entire floor bare- rear trunk, front sides, etc. no rot. It is worth a look. I have never taken my belly pan off. Describe the work. Is it simply drilling through rivets and lowering then re-riveting?

bbradb · 11-30-2021, 01:54 AM

I had exactly the same issue as Supertrouper. 2009 FB 25 International. Couple of years ago End of season, parked trailer in heated garage. 3 months later, began a cabinetry project to add multiple drawers around trailer. Got to storage area under rear dinette and floor wouldn't hold screws in a couple places. This was a total surprise although I did notice odd staining on vinyl. Turned out several areas back there were sopping wet even after several months sitting in heated garage. After pulling furniture, cabinets and inner walls a good bit, ended up replacing 18" of flooring plus patching in a piece of vinyl.

What I concluded was that, with just typical drips and drops (I'm a pretty firm believer that all airstreams leak to at least this degree over time), moisture ran down between inner and outer walls and ended up collecting between the wood floor and the big sheet of quilted plastic that Airstream lays on top of frame before setting the aluminum shell on. With the seal caused by frame rails against sheet and wood and no room for evaporation, a pretty good puddle formed on top of plastic sheet. This sat there for months

bbradb · 11-30-2021, 02:02 AM

After repairing AND basically pulling out or slitting what foil I saw, I too installed inspection plates on my belly pan. Mine are 10x10 and they are removable with a few screws. I initially put in 2 ports. Added 2 more at other end of trailer and plan to install at least 2 more along the length for ease of annual inspections.

Im my view, and I wonder what the rest of you think, this is a gigantic engineering blunder by Airstream. Not sure if it was a different event from this series of posts, but one member on here I read about, showed a video of him slitting a bag of water that looked like a cows utter sack.