Rotting floor

[Decatur]

I have a 2005 Safari 28 foot rear bed room AS.
Discovered a soft spot in the floor of the passenger side rear bedroom closet area. I cut out the laminate flooring to discover a six inch square rotted sub floor area with a wet spot extending out about a foot showing water discoloration. This is area is aliened exactly with the rear cap riveted seam and rear awning attachment area. I removed the awning attachment hardware and re-caulked the plates, filled the screw holes with silicone sealant and reinstalled. The area still is leaking. Ran water down the seam line and no obvious leaks.

The interior "mouse fur" lined walls show no discoloration or signs of leaks.

Any suggestions where to look next or how to test the area for a water leak?

thank you

[nvestysly]

Hi Decatur,

I am not an expert on locating leaks but it sounds like you're on the right track. Slow, methodical, keep searching. It's a two person task - one on the outside and one on the inside. Many times water leaks are not obvious and a series of paper towels taped to the inside or placed in the appropriate location on the floor will show evidence of water not seen by the naked eye.

My main reason for commenting is your use of silicone. Once again, I'm not an expert but I'm reasonably certain that Airstream does not recommend use of silicone. There are several sealants suitable for our trailers and most are not available at home centers or typical hardware stores. Be sure to search for other threads regarding Sealants, Sealants Summary, etc.

In the metro Atlanta area you will be able to purchase the appropriate sealants from Southland RV in Norcross. Many of the sealants suitable for Airstreams are not commonly available in RV parts centers that service other brands.

On Edit: Here's the thread I was thinking of - it's long but has very useful information, some conflicting but that's what happens on a forum when everyone has an opinion. I've used most of the items listed in the first post and they seem to hold up well. Sealing an Airstream is something that has to be addressed periodically - every few years to every ten years depending on weather conditions and use.

https://www.airforums.com/forums/f45...ry-116214.html

[SuperTrouper]

Hi Decatur,

Not sure if your Safari is susceptible to the "rear bumper leak" syndrome but I found that the reflectix insulation layer under the floor can hold water that gets in for a long time. Your leak may be elsewhere and just pooling in that area. Check out this rather lengthly thread. https://www.airforums.com/forums/f39...ml#post1262866 I ended up removing the reflectix, drying the floor and epoxying the floor. - Brad

[panamerican]

Leaks can be elusive. You can look and see if there are glaring sources of entry, or you can play cat and mouse, but realistically having the RV pressure leak tested is by far the best and fastest way to find the sources of leaks coming from the exterior.

https://rvleaks.com/testing-locations/

It is not inexpensive from what I understand, but, you've already thought you found the culprit, only to find it was not the source. Your time is worth something, so even if you don't have the testing facility do the repair, at least you have a more clear direction on where to start, and in all likelihood, you may be surprised to find other questionable areas beyond your initial quest.

[Decatur]

Originally Posted by nvestysly

Hi Decatur,

I am not an expert on locating leaks but it sounds like you're on the right track. Slow, methodical, keep searching. It's a two person task - one on the outside and one on the inside. Many times water leaks are not obvious and a series of paper towels taped to the inside or placed in the appropriate location on the floor will show evidence of water not seen by the naked eye.

My main reason for commenting is your use of silicone. Once again, I'm not an expert but I'm reasonably certain that Airstream does not recommend use of silicone. There are several sealants suitable for our trailers and most are not available at home centers or typical hardware stores. Be sure to search for other threads regarding Sealants, Sealants Summary, etc.

In the metro Atlanta area you will be able to purchase the appropriate sealants from Southland RV in Norcross. Many of the sealants suitable for Airstreams are not commonly available in RV parts centers that service other brands.

On Edit: Here's the thread I was thinking of - it's long but has very useful information, some conflicting but that's what happens on a forum when everyone has an opinion. I've used most of the items listed in the first post and they seem to hold up well. Sealing an Airstream is something that has to be addressed periodically - every few years to every ten years depending on weather conditions and use.

https://www.airforums.com/forums/f45...r brands..html

Went to Southland and purchased their shop recommendation of gray Adseal. Thanks.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

On a 2005, the seals around each of the items that go through the roof would be pretty high on my list of suspects. Yes, this involves crawling around on the roof .... Seals around windows would be next on the list. Since they don't involve the roof, maybe you check them first .....

Bob

[Decatur]

Originally Posted by uncle_bob

Hi

On a 2005, the seals around each of the items that go through the roof would be pretty high on my list of suspects. Yes, this involves crawling around on the roof .... Seals around windows would be next on the list. Since they don't involve the roof, maybe you check them first .....

Bob

Thank you for the tip. I visually inspected the roof and sprayed water around the windows, no water coming into the trailer from those points.

[Decatur]

Possibly found the leak. Removed the chrome/rubber rub rail and metal mounting track from the rear quarter of the trailer. Someone removed the same before based on the multi holes and poorly installed sealer along the aluminum and banana wrap line. The area was very wet and full of black mud. Most of the screws holding the mounting track screws were rusted some to the point of having just a screw head and no shaft. Cleaned the area up to find a 1/4 to 1/2 inch gap between the banana wrap and aluminum. In a few areas the banana wrap was not riveted to the aluminum at all.
Cleaned the area up with solvent, reinstalled a few pop rivets, and filled the seam and all screw holes with Adseal (recommended by Southland Airstream). Let the sealer dry to a firm film and reinstalled the rub rail mounting metal using stainless screws, dipping each screw into sealer. Applied Adseal to the trim top and along the rear of the trim where it goes under the rear boot heavily. Also removed some of the old sealer along the rear boot hinge line and replaced / re sealed.
Going to let this set till Monday they try the water test.
I also put fans on the inside floor wet spot which are now completely dry (no rain in the past week) so finding a wet area should be easy.... ha ha

[SuperTrouper]

Hi Decatur,

Not sure if you followed my tread link above but I'd encourage you to get one of these https://www.amazon.com/General-Tools...dp/B00275F5O2/ and double check the moisture under the floor covering. If reflectix is under the plywood, the moisture will remain in the plywood under the floor covering. My hope for you is that it really is dry. - Brad

[Decatur]

Thank you. I did read your thread. I will cut a section out of the belly liner when I replace the rotted flooring at that time will discover if their is any reflectix under the plywood.

I did run a probe through the rotted floor ( small hole going all the way through) and did not discover any resistance or materials between the plywood and the belly liner.

Possibly the folks who did earlier repairs removed the reflectix all TBD.

First isolate the leak.

The moister gadget may be a good investment. Thanks for the information