Got Leak? (Trying to find source of water damage)

trikebubble · 02-23-2015, 07:39 PM

The Coles notes version first;

We noticed a soft spot in the floor of our Rockwood Mini Lite 1809 last summer. Yesterday was the day to finally start looking into it, and low and behold we have water damage.

The long way round the story:

- We bought the trailer used almost exactly one year ago. It's former owners had it parked for most of it's life at an rv park in the lower mainland, beside a river. (read: lots of water around, lots of rain, lots of moisture)
- We live in a relatively dry area, we don't get much rain, and only had snow on the roof for a couple weeks (max) this past winter). I also don't recall pulling it in the rain at all last year.
- Their is a nick out of the flooring in the floor (coincidentally or not) right above where the water damage is
- I pulled the flooring and found what I've documented in the pictures below.
- I can't (easily) tell where the water is coming from. I've been on the roof and cannot see any obvious visual signs, I've checked around all the windows and cannot see any obvious visual signs, I had pulled the cabinet above the stove last year to replace the stereo and noticed nothing in the way of water damage, I pulled the panel above the fridge last year to run tv wiring and noticed nothing, I pulled the panel behind the stove and looked down in behind and could not see any signs of water damage. I looked behind the fronts of the cabinets to see if their were any leak, drip, water routing stains or marks, and their is nothing.
- their is one gas line that runs close to edge of the damage from below the trailer. the conduit is sealed below, but their is space between the conduit and the gas line (enough to easily slide a cable tie down and out the bottom), when I peel back the conduit from the gas line under the trailer, it has green stains on it, as if water had made it's way into the conduit. (However, as the picture shows their is no visible water damage against the upper part of the gas line conduit)
- the fiberglass looking woven black membrane that covers the entire bottom of the trailer seems to have an air pocket (seperation, delamination, aggravation???) right below where the water damage is.
- I've looked all up under the sink, the drain pipe, the waer lines, and cannot see any signs of leaks or drips
- I removed the cheap pieces of wood that hide the guts behind the lower cupboards - and the one under the sink shows signs of water damage along it's bottom edge, but no other signs of actually where it is coming from. One of the screws that screws this panel down into the floor is also rusted, but only one, and neither of the other two holding the panel in the next cupboard show any signs of rust

Question time:

It seems much more likely that water is going to come in and down from above, right?
Is it feasible to think that water could somehow draw up the gas line from outside the bottom of the trailer?
Is it feasible that water could be coming in from somewhere, filling into the space between that delaminated outside membrane underneath, then working/wicking it's way up into the trialer floor?
When I pulled the flooring up, the wood that is bonded to the styrofoam was still slighlty damp. Is it possible that the leak occured over a year ago (when the previous owners had it located in the lower main-rain-land) and that the leak and associated moisture and rot has been able to exist on it's own for the past year, without losing all it's moisture?
I'm not certain, but I wonder if the little nick in the floor has any relationship to the water damage? It is not located directly over the worst part of the damage, but within the damaged area.
I opened the windows, andcranked the fan for a whole day and the moisture feeling in the styrofoam dried up, for what that is worth?

When can I have a bourbon? Should I start now, or wait until I've dealt with this issue?

Sorry for all the information, I figured I would lay it all out in hope it may help.
My main concern is finding the source of the damage. The damage that has been done, is now done, and I will have to repair it. I just want to make sure it does not continue.

Pictures to follow.

trikebubble · 02-23-2015, 07:42 PM

R3Jones · 02-25-2015, 07:26 AM

I feel your pain. I had a recent leak as well and it took a while to locate. I had a very slight leak on the flex piping that hooks to the bathroom faucet (under the tub). The water damage occurred almost 10' away. Basically the water was running down the bottom side of the pex piping to a low drip point. From your pictures, it looks like the leak could be originating from the joint in the flooring. Possible window or siding leak? Can you post pictures from outside trailer as well and point out where the leak is in relation to the pic?

R3Jones · 02-25-2015, 10:52 AM

Do you have any tanks underneath the trailer near the damage?

trikebubble · 02-25-2015, 11:15 AM

No tanks underneath close by. The only thing of significance under the trailer close by, is the gas line running up into the cupboard

Here are a couple pictures from outside the area above the damage. Their is one window and a vent. The sealant around the window could be suspect, but I'm not sure. I am going to have to pull the window to look inside I guess.

Mountndream · 02-25-2015, 11:23 AM

on the First picture above the plug, is that the reefer panel? if so, is the reefer draining onto the floor? just a question as I am no expert

dkelly · 02-25-2015, 11:37 AM

I don't see the drain line coming from the refer cover. That might be the problem.

geotex1 · 02-25-2015, 11:52 AM

Looking at your floorplan online, and recognizing that leak is right below your range, and seeing the sidewall photos of the location I'm going to give 5 options to consider: 1) condensation from the fridge because your drain is apparently not "peeping out" of the vent cover as it should; 2) your roof vent for the fridge has stale lap sealant and water is running down during rain - lap sealant does need to be refreshed; 3) the stove hood vent caulking has failed - had this on my 21ss but caught it fast and found factory only used caulk and no butyl tape under it; 4) window needs to be resealed; and, 5) your outside shower is obviously under the same cabinet and the plumbing fittings commonly loosen and drip.

trikebubble · 02-25-2015, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mountndream

on the First picture above the plug, is that the reefer panel? if so, is the reefer draining onto the floor? just a question as I am no expert

Quote:

Originally Posted by dkelly

I don't see the drain line coming from the refer cover. That might be the problem.

Quote:

Originally Posted by geotex1

Looking at your floorplan online, and recognizing that leak is right below your range, and seeing the sidewall photos of the location I'm going to give 5 options to consider: 1) condensation from the fridge because your drain is apparently not "peeping out" of the vent cover as it should; 2) your roof vent for the fridge has stale lap sealant and water is running down during rain - lap sealant does need to be refreshed; 3) the stove hood vent caulking has failed - had this on my 21ss but caught it fast and found factory only used caulk and no butyl tape under it; 4) window needs to be resealed; and, 5) your outside shower is obviously under the same cabinet and the plumbing fittings commonly loosen and drip.

Leak is below the range, the reefer is off to the left (as geotex1) mentioned.
I will check all the suggestions this Sunday.
Will the drain from the reefer be easy to spot and/or locate?
Thanks for the help so far everyone.

Archicamper · 02-25-2015, 03:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by geotex1

Looking at your floorplan online, and recognizing that leak is right below your range, and seeing the sidewall photos of the location I'm going to give 5 options to consider: 1) condensation from the fridge because your drain is apparently not "peeping out" of the vent cover as it should; 2) your roof vent for the fridge has stale lap sealant and water is running down during rain - lap sealant does need to be refreshed; 3) the stove hood vent caulking has failed - had this on my 21ss but caught it fast and found factory only used caulk and no butyl tape under it; 4) window needs to be resealed; and, 5) your outside shower is obviously under the same cabinet and the plumbing fittings commonly loosen and drip.

All very good suggestions. From looking at the picture, it looks like the water stain does not extend to the exterior of the camper. Is that the case? If you can get your hands on a moisture meter, might be able to determine the extent of the water damage if it is still wet.

If the water stain / damage does not extend to the exterior start working your way up from the stain and see if you can determine where or how the water is dripping. Could be the shower or may be transferring from the exterior wall above the floor.

I don' believe the gas line is the problem. Water usually doesn't run uphill.

wuffwuff · 02-25-2015, 05:20 PM

Could the previous owner have had a dog water bowl or something sitting there, that leaked and ran back under the cabinet?

Mojojojo · 02-25-2015, 05:24 PM

Was the floor wet? If not the leak could have been fixed but not the damage.

**Flybob** · 02-25-2015, 05:38 PM

Refer drain is a black ribbed plastic tube about 1/2" in dia. It should come pout through one of the vents to drain outside. Also make sure it was not from a outside shower leak that may not exist now.

trikebubble · 02-25-2015, 07:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mojojojo

Was the floor wet? If not the leak could have been fixed but not the damage.

The floor was not, nor has ever been wet since we have owned it (one year).
My wife questioned whether it would be possible for the leak to have occured prior to our buying it, but the moisture remained in the floor since then?

jz5w63 · 02-25-2015, 07:50 PM

Agree that the refer drain may be the issue, it is a 1/2" flex tube black in color that is supposed to stick out the grill between the ribs in the cover and drain outside. Additionally, our brand new FR Flagstaff leaked after a Florida deluge like a sieve through the frame of the refer panel as it had been installed with some non 3M, cheaper 2 side sticky tape which didn't stick to the wall of the trailer at all and barely stuck to the the grill frame. I pulled the frame entirely out which took about 2 minutes as it is only positioned in place by some clamps (they don't do much of a job of clamping) and used GE Silicone 2 clear to do the perimeter of the frame and then clamp it back in place followed by removing the excess that oozed out and then smoothing the perimeter smooth. No more water in the pots and pans and bottom of the cupboard under the fridge and under the adjacent stove. I suggest you check this. On our 2005 Rockwood we had a leak from the bath power roof vent because of hairline cracks to the exterior plastic frame of the vent, one on each of the 4 sides which I sealed and then everything dried up. Good luck. Note that water doesn't drain up so unless there is a breach in the underbelly and you've been driving on a lot of wet roads then the leak is from above but may as mentioned run down to a drip point near the largest damage area. See what is above that and follow whatever trail there might be back to the source.

Crockett · 03-06-2015, 06:52 PM

all the above plus: the refer side vent are seldom sealed with a dam on the inside lip to prevent water from intrusion onto the shelf. Large amounts can flow here. Vinyl is no longer glued to the floor, permitting water to flow long distances and do major damage. Please post pic of refer shelf area. Water most likely from shelf to floor and entered between vinyl and wood substrate at fender well cutout at floor or possibly at fender well area too. Condensate tube a possible culprit too...

jz5w63 · 03-07-2015, 10:21 AM

Had another thought - is there a leak at the shower drain or possibly leakage around the shower tap or from the shower tap plumbing behind? This may can run out along the subfloor.

trikebubble · 03-07-2015, 10:48 AM

Thanks for all the tips. I'll be looking at it again today. Will update later.

DAISY BOYKIN · 03-07-2015, 10:48 AM

Have you looked at all the screws that hold the trim on above the wheels. I had a leak when our unit was pulled in the rain only. The tires were slinging the water up into the wheel well,water being transferred to the floor inside. The Factory repaired the leak at last years rally. How about a drain from the kitchen sink or the kitchen faucet. I also had a leak in the kitchen sink drain after 2 years, these should be checked often. Also the plastic tub/shower drain is known to leak where it is attached to the tub/shower pan.

The punch hole looks like someone punched the hole to let water drain!!!!

Crockett · 03-07-2015, 03:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jz5w63

Had another thought - is there a leak at the shower drain or possibly leakage around the shower tap or from the shower tap plumbing behind? This may can run out along the subfloor.

Exactly, anyplace where vinyl may be cut and allow water to flow between vinyl and floor. fresh water fill through floor to tank below, shower drain with access through floor,ect...manufacturers use to use "full spread" glue under the vinyl virtually eliminating this problem. One could see water on the floor instead of its migration under the vinyl. Ive tried contacting manufacturers, consumer advocates, insurance groups to no avail. Ive seen new coaches totaled in 8 monthes and never a drop of water visible. Avoid "lite" coaches with foam core floors ect....just makes the problem worse...

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