Luan sandwich - not so tasty

[schoolsOut]

So I posted last year about my "Kitchen slide leak" that destroyed the luan sandwich floor in my Outback. I wanted to update things, but did so in a new thread because my old thread title was no longer accurate. My apologies if I am approaching this incorrectly. Here is a link to the original thread:
http://www.keystoneforums.com/forums...ad.php?t=33253
As I continued to dig into the problem and repair flooring, I have discovered that although I first noticed the problem in the kitchen area, I am nearly certain that the leak originated at the outside kitchen hatch. The outside kitchen door frame is held into the wall with screws that are on the weathered side of the weather seal. Any moisture that lays in that door frame wicks down through the screw holes right into the floor then works its way into the camper (the screws go through the frame, right into the luan sandwich). From what I could tell, the screws were not sealed when installed. This area of the camper was by far the most rotted. Here is a close up of a screw after I reinstalled the door and siliconed the screw hole. Another pic that shows how many of these screws there are - you can see them just outside the weather strip.




As I described in the previous thread, I repaired the flooring using 1/4" aluminum. Unfortunately, I just found that I am not finished...I pulled up the flooring to prepare to replace it and found the rear bedroom floor rotted as well. As you can see from the picture, the rot emanates from the outside kitchen area which is on the other side of the entertainment center wall. You can actually see the "radius" of the rot with center at the outside kitchen.


So this "leak" has rendered my otherwise very nice camper worthless. I tried to submit an insurance claim but was denied - this was before I discovered the exact source of the leak, but I'm not sure it would make a difference. Anyway, I hope this information can help someone else track down the source of a water leak, or better yet, possibly do some preventative sealing to prevent a leak.

[Steveo57]

Wow I had the same leakage path in my 2018 Cougar. Shortly after I brought it home I was in it doing some work and found a puddle on the floor. Tracked it down to the screws leaking on the pass through storage access hatches also. Thankfully I found it early and got it all sealed up!

[CampNBrew2]

Just found this on my Premier outdoor kitchen and was going to post as a warning for others. You beat me to it. It seems so simple to just put a drop of sealant on those at the factory! Sorry you had to rebuild yours.

I don't "feel" any rot in there but I'm sure there is some hidden water damage. At least the screws were still tight. I don't understand why the screws would be on the outside of the seal. Or why there is not a drop of sealant in sight on any of them.

[schoolsOut]

Originally Posted by CampNBrew2

Just found this on my Premier outdoor kitchen and was going to post as a warning for others. You beat me to it. It seems so simple to just put a drop of sealant on those at the factory! Sorry you had to rebuild yours.

I don't "feel" any rot in there but I'm sure there is some hidden water damage. At least the screws were still tight. I don't understand why the screws would be on the outside of the seal. Or why there is not a drop of sealant in sight on any of them.

I don't understand the design either...water just lays in those areas. Glad you got to yours before you had problems.

[kjohn]

Bummer! We just had a go around with a 2017 Cougar 21RBS. That's all I'm going to say about that. We ended up with a new 2019.

[Tbos]

I’m going to check all of mine to make sure I don’t have any screws like that. Thanks for giving us this information.