access door leak/water damage

[RML]

Has anyone ever installed rain gutters over access panels? Have you ever heard of them?

We have a 2017 Rockwood A Frame with a front storage compartment accessible from two sides. It has the standard side hinge access doors with key locks.
The ‘drivers side’ compartment sprouted mushrooms last year. We then saw that water had collected inside causing this. We brought it to our dealer, it was out of warrantee, so we paid to have them caulk around the door, as it was deemed the problem. At the same time, it was obvious that the wood floor base under the linoleum was somewhat damaged and beginning to rot. They felt that it wasn’t real bad, and with the “door’ correction, all that was necessary was some under body sealer and that would do it. This year we were unable to use the trailer more than twice, and we didn’t notice water build up. However, we just brought it in for winterizing, when we picked it up, the floor was sprouting mushrooms again out the bottom exterior side , our dealer doesn’t understand why… HELP!
I'm thinking it will need a floor repair, and possibly a rain gutter to diffuse the water from the doors. Advice please.

[rsdata]

maybe a picture would help here about the doors that is.

I am picturing in my mind how that much water gets into a side door... more likely some vertical surface needs to be sealed.

As far as the mushrooms... did the interior get a through dry out the last time it got wet? Like peel back the linoleum so that air could dry under it, maybe using a fan to blow through the compartment?? As far as the fungus... I would saturate the area with a bleach water solution to kill that stuff off.

Depending on how damaged the interior is, if it is still intact and just soft you may want to try using this stuff... brush it on inside and out on the wood and it may stiffen it up ( after drying of course) enough to continue to be able to use it.

[RML]

Thanks, very helpful!

[tlspencer]

Water was flooding into the interior of mine via the front driver side amber light cover. Took forever to find out where the water was getting in. It was running down into the front storage compartment wall, into the side storage behind it and into the interior from under the dinette seat area where the water heater etc is. It was flooding in enough to soak rugs, took me a huge stack of towels to dry it up. We tracked it down by using the water hose and sealing off various areas the dealer suggested could be the problem including the side storage door (out of state dealer but awesome people, very helpful). Nothing helped until I decided out of desperation to check the lens cover. Hubby thought it was nuts but I took it off, not even the screws were sealed in on the driver side while the other one was. So I took the screws out, silicone into the holes, screwed back in and then sealed around the fixture itself and the lens cover. I'll have to peel it off to change the bulb at some point. Let it dry overnight and ran water over it again and no more water. We've had some hella crazy rain storms in the year since and not a drop has gotten into the camper anywhere.

[ACJC]

My 2018 Sunseeker outdoor kitchen access was repaired under warranty but began leaking again.i stripped off the caulking and removed all the upper screws and found the opening was cut too large so the sealant wasn’t bonding to the wall. I filled the void and behind the frame re screwed it and resealed with a butyl caulk and installed a rain gutter above the door top and so far so good. Had to scrub down the interior to rid it of mold/musty smell. I used the EZE RV gutter material and arched it down at the ends. Worked well so far.

[jmalanio]

I keep getting water in my basement compartments and when I recaulked the entire slide out above the one compartment, the water infiltration stopped, along with a small leak on the floor inside . Now I have water in a compartment on the other side and when I checked the caulking in that slide out, it also needs to be redone. It could also be coming from the roof as there are several small seams that need to be addressed.

[Hiliner]

I had leak on my aframe on passenger side front compartment door in very hard down poor. During hard rain lots of water was running off aframe roof on to tool box compartment, I added rv flex gutter just below side edge of big box lid and around the front compartment door, followed by caulk around gutter on door. I also bent the lock bar inside the compartment slightly inward toward the door. This seemed to stop my water problem. If picture isn't good enough let me know and tomorrow during day light I'll take some better pics.

[JArry]

I realize this is a somewhat old thread, but less than a year old seems workable, so here is my relevant follow-up question. (Hopefully reviving this thread is the right move; we shall see.)

I have gotten a little water inside my front compartment from time to time during hard rains, and I could never figure out where it was coming in, but it never seemed to be enough water to cause damage, so I would wipe up the minor wet spots on the linoleum and go on my way.

Well, emptying out the compartment the other day I noticed a depression in the floor tile at the front driver side corner of the compartment. I pushed on the floor, from both sides, and sure enough it is very soft and likely rotting out.

So it appears I will need to replace a section of flooring. I am not very handy with something that extensive, but I am thinking I can cut out a piece of the OSB - the bad portion only seems to be maybe 10 inches square max - and replace with treated plywood or some other waterproof OSB. Anyone else had to deal with this? If the OP reads this, how did you end up fixing your floor?

Of course I still need to find the source of the leak too!

[jmalanio]

First identify and correct the Leak or you’ll be replacing floorboards more than once. The water may be coming in from as high as the roof and making its way down on the inside of the wall (bad news) and then into the compartment. My floor was replaced from underneath by CampingWorld as the portion of floor that was soft was also extended to under the fridge cabinet. Steel floor supports were also added To help support the floor in that area.
There’s a YouTube video you should watch in how to reseal your RV that helped me. Look up Pete’s RV How to Reseal RV. It’s about 8 mins long and will save you time and caulking. If you’re doing the roof, you may need to remove old caulking first.

[JArry]

I usually specify this with a new thread, but to restate on this one, please keep in mind this is the A-frame forum. It's pretty unlikely that water is coming in through the roof and coming down into the wall. However, it very well could be making its way into the front storage compartment wall somehow. I was thinking possibly through the clearance light at that corner.

[pgandw]

Originally Posted by JArry

Well, emptying out the compartment the other day I noticed a depression in the floor tile at the front driver side corner of the compartment. I pushed on the floor, from both sides, and sure enough it is very soft and likely rotting out.

So it appears I will need to replace a section of flooring. I am not very handy with something that extensive, but I am thinking I can cut out a piece of the OSB - the bad portion only seems to be maybe 10 inches square max - and replace with treated plywood or some other waterproof OSB. Anyone else had to deal with this? If the OP reads this, how did you end up fixing your floor?

JArry

Having just crawled underneath my T21TBHW A-frame to bolt in the dinette table pedestal, underneath is just OSB sitting on top of steel frame members.

Cutting out a section of the OSB and replacing it shouldn't be too hard - I would use waterproof plywood and then paint the underside with epoxy or polyurethane paint for long life. I would make sure the new piece was big enough to sit on parts of the steel frame. Otherwise, you will need two pieces of plywood - the patch piece, and a bigger piece to provide at least 3" of overlap on all sides underneath the patch to hold it in place. And of course, both patch support ideas can be used together.

just my experiences
Fred W
2019 Flagstaff T21TBHW A-frame
2008 Hyundai Entourage
camping Colorado and adjacent states one weekend at a time.

[JArry]

Originally Posted by pgandw

Having just crawled underneath my T21TBHW A-frame to bolt in the dinette table pedestal, underneath is just OSB sitting on top of steel frame members.

Cutting out a section of the OSB and replacing it shouldn't be too hard - I would use waterproof plywood and then paint the underside with epoxy or polyurethane paint for long life. I would make sure the new piece was big enough to sit on parts of the steel frame. Otherwise, you will need two pieces of plywood - the patch piece, and a bigger piece to provide at least 3" of overlap on all sides underneath the patch to hold it in place. And of course, both patch support ideas can be used together.

That's pretty much what I'm thinking. I might place one edge of the new piece along an adjacent frame member but will need to fasten and brace the other edges somehow. Maybe I can get away with mending plates and corner L brackets as the main reinforcement? Hopefully if I do this right the edge of the new plywood will be flush with the cut-away OSB panel, but what do you think the best way is to seal it? No room for caulk, so maybe some kind of cement?

I have decided I am not impressed with the OSB that I have seen a fair amount of skepticism of here over the years. But I'm glad my issue is only in the storage compartment rather than the middle of the floor of the living space, so I can at least buy myself a LITTLE time!

[pgandw]

Being from the marine world I would use caulk. Put a bead on edges before putting patch in place. Smear the seam with caulk top and bottom when fastened in. OSB and plywood have problems with moisture in the edge and moisture trapped against it. Where moisture dries out quickly it does fine.

Mending plates are a good substitute for the underneath piece of ply. Just caulk well to prevent water getting trapped.

Fred W

[JArry]

Good info - thanks!

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by MGBussey

This is now happening on my brand new Rockwood 2109S. I notice that the adhesive used to secure the trim around the door edge itself (not the trim on the opening) is not pliable, and it has come unglued (very hard to notice). When rain hits the top edge of the door, I think it is soaking into the door through the rivet holes on the top edge of the door, and eventually leaking out of the door inside the storage area. When I open the door and tip it up, water runs out of the trim and down the door. This door has always been really hard to lock closed - I think the gasket is not on correctly, making it get in the way. So maybe my pushing on it to close it has made the adhesive break away from the door. I could bring it into the shop since it is under warranty, but I'm not real keen to do that - who knows what they'll try.

Just in case you didn't notice, the OP has an A-frame trailer and posted this in the A-frame sub-forum.
A-frame doors are nothing like the door in your Rockwood TT.

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