Floor is rotting out

[hikerjohn7]

Originally Posted by tjwdj

Wow, that looks as bad as mine did. So, I want to make sure that the rubber seal does not get 'folded' into the slide/RV wall, that it remains flush when the slide is out and to check around the Inside carpet flooring area for wetness on a regular basis.?. I have a 2012 Jayco Greyhawk, purchases used. It's very solid. I've owned it for a year and no complaints, well, maybe I'd like a few more bells and whistles, but, I am very pleased with the construction compared to the Brookstone fiver. And I get it...there is a big difference between the two. Wonder if I should use some kind of silicone caulking around the screws or if that might interfere with the slide operation. My roof looks good. I'll get it resealed every 2-years and a good inspection annually. Thanks!

It's probably a good idea to remove each screw and chalk it's threads before reinstalling it. I might end up doing that.

But I resealed all the seams around the slide flanges and it appears the floors are now staying dry.

[Hitechpete]

I have a 2019 CC Champagne 38EFK, this morning following heavy rain, I foun wet carpet at one side of my bedroom slide. I checked the rubber seals, but I’m unsure as to which parts of the facia trims could be leaking. Are you talking about the clear sealant on top of the facia edge and slide front?
Any help would be appreciated.

[hikerjohn7]

Originally Posted by Hitechpete

I have a 2019 CC Champagne 38EFK, this morning following heavy rain, I foun wet carpet at one side of my bedroom slide. I checked the rubber seals, but I’m unsure as to which parts of the facia trims could be leaking. Are you talking about the clear sealant on top of the facia edge and slide front?
Any help would be appreciated.

My leakage in my Jayco Precept Class A occurred in storage while the slides were closed and was leaking in through the seams where the slide outer flanges mate with the outer walls. It seeps in through these joints and works it's way into the slide's plywood floor. The floor over time gets saturated and eventually starts dripping on to the cabin inner floor. A way to determine if this is your problem also is to check the slide's floor from underneath and see if it's wet. You can also unscrew some of the screws fastening the flange to the slide floor underneath and see if they threads are rusty.

If so, I think you probably need to reseal the seams.

Here's a photo...

[tomaziegler]

I had my annual visit to Orvan's this past November and he mentioned that there have been a lot of people having issues with rotting wood on slides. He has a mod for that: At his recommendation, I paid him to spray what is the equivalent (or better) of spray foam under the slide at outer edge. It was his belief that when traveling in wet weather, water is finding a way up the slide wall & floor and doing damage. This should stop it. One of several sensical mods he recommended (and I completed). I trust his judgement and I know that he is not just trying to make a few extra dollars.
I've said it before I'll say it again, I really hope that Cedar Creek realizes what a valuable asset they have in Amish Family RV Service.

[hikerjohn7]

Originally Posted by tomaziegler

I had my annual visit to Orvan's this past November and he mentioned that there have been a lot of people having issues with rotting wood on slides. He has a mod for that: At his recommendation, I paid him to spray what is the equivalent (or better) of spray foam under the slide at outer edge. It was his belief that when traveling in wet weather, water is finding a way up the slide wall & floor and doing damage. This should stop it. One of several sensical mods he recommended (and I completed). I trust his judgement and I know that he is not just trying to make a few extra dollars.
I've said it before I'll say it again, I really hope that Cedar Creek realizes what a valuable asset they have in Amish Family RV Service.

The scenario of water finding its way up into the slide while traveling may have merit since I did find wetness on my Class A floor once when I extended the slides after traveling in rain. However, the water could still have have been coming in around the slide outer flanges while traveling in the rain... the place I suspect the leakage is occurring.

The reason I suspect it coming in through the seams around the flanges is that, when my rig was sitting still and slides were retracted during storage, I saw water coming inside along the outer edges of the floor when I removed some drawers from my cabinet which was mounted to the slide outer wall. I ending up having to replace that slide floor because the outer edges rotted. Now that I have resealed the seams where the slide flanges contact the outer walls, that area is staying dry.

That said, I have not traveled in the rain since the repair and resealing. Next time I do, based on your tip, I will certainly look again in that area of the slide floor for leakage. I will also climb under my rig as soon as I get a chance and see if I can find any possible rout for the water to get under the slide from driving in rain. Since the bottom of the slide, when retracted, has seal that presses against the RV outer walls, I can't see how it could get past the seal while driving. But I will inspect it again and report my findings.

[hdjimmi]

Originally Posted by hikerjohn7

Yes, it's a common problem that the RV manufactures don't warn about and for which many dealers are not aware of the source of the leaks. They only recommend keeping the roof seams sealed.



The leakage comes in through that walls of the slide outs where the decorative flanges mate with the RV walls. Even small voids in these joint seals allows water to seep in and work in around the screws into the plywood flooring. The attached photo shows the flanges that attach to the slide walls.



To check for leakage you need to get access to where the slide floor mates with the slide outer wall on the inside. The problem will appear as discolored or rotted plywood. I had to pay a dealer shop over three thousand dollars to remove my bedroom slide and replace the floor.

Is this where the leak is? Did u seal it?

[hikerjohn7]

Originally Posted by tomaziegler

I had my annual visit to Orvan's this past November and he mentioned that there have been a lot of people having issues with rotting wood on slides. He has a mod for that: At his recommendation, I paid him to spray what is the equivalent (or better) of spray foam under the slide at outer edge. It was his belief that when traveling in wet weather, water is finding a way up the slide wall & floor and doing damage. This should stop it. One of several sensical mods he recommended (and I completed). I trust his judgement and I know that he is not just trying to make a few extra dollars.
I've said it before I'll say it again, I really hope that Cedar Creek realizes what a valuable asset they have in Amish Family RV Service.

Looking at this photo of my Jayco Precept slide floor rot, it appears to me that water from rain while driving probably could not get under the slide past the front and bottom rubber seals that press against the RV's outer walls and make it up to the plywood floor. The parts with the rubber seals are the slide outer flanges (or slide trim frame) . You can see the flanges have their own inner flanges that have screws that attach them to the slide plywood floor at the bottom and to the slide vertical walls.

My hypothesis is that water comes in where these flanges (trim) press against the RV's outer fiberglass walls and are sealed with chalking. Any deterioration of this chalking in those seams allows the water to come in and drain down to edge of the plywood floor. My slide floor was wrapped in plastic before installation so the water probably worked in slowly around the screws. Over time it saturated the plywood and causes the rot you see.

[GS1]

Visited Amish Family Service in November.
Orvan said that there has been a mfg change to the bedroom slide that helps with water drainage (keeping it from coming in the unit). Our CC 34RL2 started down that path but we caught it early - his team will re-seal the slide and add the factory modification. I think the issue is not specific to CC as Orvan had another unit in for repair with the same problem. He now fixes them with a solid PVC board. The youtube video already posted is a good review. Good luck.

[hikerjohn7]

Originally Posted by GS1

Visited Amish Family Service in November.
Orvan said that there has been a mfg change to the bedroom slide that helps with water drainage (keeping it from coming in the unit). Our CC 34RL2 started down that path but we caught it early - his team will re-seal the slide and add the factory modification. I think the issue is not specific to CC as Orvan had another unit in for repair with the same problem. He now fixes them with a solid PVC board. The youtube video already posted is a good review. Good luck.

PVC floors would certainly solve the floor rotting problem. But redesign of the slide-out flanges to eliminate the leaky seams could also help.

Also, I heard that Coachman discontinued the use of laminated outer wall materials. I think they are going to 100% Azdel. This link (https://www.azdelonboard.com/) says that Azdel has been used since 2006 but my 2017 Jayco Precept was built with partial wood lamination in the outer walls so I have to be very careful to keep all possible moisture entry points sealed. For instance, I just detected a jiggling rearview mirror and found that water had gotten past the mount screws that hold its base to the RV's outer wall and the wall was starting to rot and to de-laminate. Fortunately it was in a small area so I was able to reinforce the mount by running stainless steel machine screws all the way through the wall and secure them with nuts and washers on the inside. I also resealed both rearview mirrors around the flanges and over the mount screw heads.

[Hitechpete]

I think that I’ve found the cause of the water ingress into my TV locker. I looks like the locker door frame is fitted into its cut out using only the thinnest slick of Geocel sealant smeared round the outside edge of the frame\slide out wall. This in itself wouldn’t have been too bad if it had been a continuous smear; unfortunately that wasn’t the case, and the “specialist” had missed a 12” line along the top of the frame. So much for Cedar Creek build quality!

[hikerjohn7]

Originally Posted by Hitechpete

I think that I’ve found the cause of the water ingress into my TV locker. I looks like the locker door frame is fitted into its cut out using only the thinnest slick of Geocel sealant smeared round the outside edge of the frame\slide out wall. This in itself wouldn’t have been too bad if it had been a continuous smear; unfortunately that wasn’t the case, and the “specialist” had missed a 12” line along the top of the frame. So much for Cedar Creek build quality!

Might have built your unit on Friday and they were anxious to get to happy hour. I think the same was true with my Jayco Precept which is supposed to be a well built product. I think they missed a few spots with the sealant where the slide flange touches the outer wall. If I had thought check these seems several years ago I could have saved myself a lot of expense (floor replacement) and grief. But nobody in the industry tipped us off. They only remind you about sealing the roofs.

[GS1]

CC has moved to a plastic floor. In addition, they've made a small change to the slide construction on the inside to help keep the water from coming in the slide and dropping to the slide floor. We just had that retrofit added - nothing too scientific - just additional support for that water channel to keep the water from coming in.

[hikerjohn7]

Originally Posted by GS1

CC has moved to a plastic floor. In addition, they've made a small change to the slide construction on the inside to help keep the water from coming in the slide and dropping to the slide floor. We just had that retrofit added - nothing too scientific - just additional support for that water channel to keep the water from coming in.

It's about time the industry applied some good engineering to this issue.

[kcmusa]

I was at Amish repair for a slide floor replacement last month. He adds additional protection to the slides and seals other areas I would not even think of checking. Very much worth a visit for any cedar creek owner.

[Hitechpete]

Originally Posted by GS1

CC has moved to a plastic floor. In addition, they've made a small change to the slide construction on the inside to help keep the water from coming in the slide and dropping to the slide floor. We just had that retrofit added - nothing too scientific - just additional support for that water channel to keep the water from coming in.

Any chance we could have a photo of that modification please?

[troybuz]

I agree, I think a lot of the water intrusion comes from the "Fascia", the decorative molding around the slide.
I had wet and nearly rotten floor on both my slide floors and I have killed myself trouble-shooting the leak.
Mine leaks while parked, so I ruled out the drive element. I found poorly sealed windows and I pressured the cabin and covered the coach with foaming bubbles. It was conclusive on one slides fascia, but not the other.
Bottom line, I cut away all the old sealant to make sure I got the best seal job possible.
I cleaned everything with acetone, and then I masked the areas so I could get a nice clean beautiful seal job.
Once taped and cleaned, I back painted the colored areas so it would look new again once seals (The old seal looked like crap, yellowing, cracking, etc, and it was put over the factory sealant.
Then I used clear RV sealant and with a wetted finger (with mineral spirits), I fingered the sealant and quickly unmasked.
The results make the coach look like new, and most importantly, no more leaking!!!!
Sorry for the pic orientation, I can't crop these so this is how they present ... but you get the idea.

[phillyg]

These leaks occur across brands. Only real solution is to find and stop the leak immediately, which is no small task, then replace the interior wall panel(s) and flooring.

[kevin211]

we had our 2015 cc at Orvan, he puts a poly floor in the bedroom, our door side main slide was also rotten, replaced with wood put has a bottom covering of plastic, also the sides now have a plastic ends, He also spray foams the gap between the frame and main floor, road spray gets in and will rot the main floor.
We gave our camper 20 more years with all the work Orvan and his crew did.

[hikerjohn7]

Originally Posted by troybuz

I agree, I think a lot of the water intrusion comes from the "Fascia", the decorative molding around the slide.
I had wet and nearly rotten floor on both my slide floors and I have killed myself trouble-shooting the leak.
Mine leaks while parked, so I ruled out the drive element. I found poorly sealed windows and I pressured the cabin and covered the coach with foaming bubbles. It was conclusive on one slides fascia, but not the other.
Bottom line, I cut away all the old sealant to make sure I got the best seal job possible.
I cleaned everything with acetone, and then I masked the areas so I could get a nice clean beautiful seal job.
Once taped and cleaned, I back painted the colored areas so it would look new again once seals (The old seal looked like crap, yellowing, cracking, etc, and it was put over the factory sealant.
Then I used clear RV sealant and with a wetted finger (with mineral spirits), I fingered the sealant and quickly unmasked.
The results make the coach look like new, and most importantly, no more leaking!!!!
Sorry for the pic orientation, I can't crop these so this is how they present ... but you get the idea.

Professional looking job. What's the Omni stuff in the cans?

[troybuz]

The Omni Stuff is the Automotive paint (Single Stage). Forest River gave me the paint codes so I went to the local auto paint supply house I bought 1/2 pint of each color. I figured I needed it for touchup, and it worked very nice to back-paint the areas that were damaged when I dug/cut/scraped out the old sealant.