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Old 06-30-2020, 02:17 PM   #21
busterbrown
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As I stated early on that roofs and adjacent seams are highly suspicious of water entry points, especially when rotten floors are involved. There are other causes (poor slam latch door designs, punctured Darco underlayment). But it's good practice to always start at the roof.

Just to clarify what is recommended for sealants:

Horizontal membrane surfaces: Dicor Self-leveling lap sealant
Vertical roof surfaces: Dicor non-sag sealant
Vertical hard surfaces that include hardware penetrations (light fixtures, screws, passthrough door framing, corner trim, awning fixtures): Geo Cell ProFlex RV Sealant.
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Old 06-30-2020, 07:56 PM   #22
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It is pouring out at the moment. Earlier the day I dried out the location where I am tracking the moisture.
At the moment it looks very dry, and that is with enough rain overflowing the gutter. It may be to soon to tell, because if it needs to seep from the top to the bottom, and I want to give it at least 2 hours (and till tomorrow morning to be sure).


Here are the steps I am evaluating at the moment:




Frankly I will be surprised if this works, since I cannot see how it could leak around the screws anyways, seeing that the gutter has some kind of insulation at the back.

Maybe step 2 above is making a difference, however, I did not see anything that really needed to be sealed. The roof material looks fine.


Will update in the morning.
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Old 06-30-2020, 08:08 PM   #23
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About an hour after rain started. It stopped now, so it's not quite 2 hours since it started yet, but it looks dry.
https://www.keystoneforums.com/forum...1&d=1593576444


Carefully optimistic.
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Old 06-30-2020, 08:15 PM   #24
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Good to know you may have found the source. Keep eyes on your roof on a interval routine basis. I usually use 1-2 tubes of sealant in any given year. Cheap insurance.

The wife never challenges me anymore of why I'm regularly on the ladder next to my coach inspecting. I just show her pics of the aftermath of a leak.
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Old 07-01-2020, 05:56 AM   #25
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Yay it's dry. I could have taken another photo showing it's dry but it would have been better to have a higher resolution photo of the situation before the fixes, showing how the water wicked down.


Its crazy that the panel through which it wicks down is not soggy and soft as the floor material became over time.
The bottom material of the foam sandwich making up the floor, looked like some kind of compressed material such as hardboard (which fell apart like cardboard) and the top layer (or on top of) the foam sandwich was some layer wood material such as thin plywood (the layers separated and became soft), and on top of that was the linoleum floor.


The side panel material through which it wicked down, would have stood up much better as flooring material against the water, but its very rigid and not bendable, so it probably cannot be used for flooring material on foam.


Well, thanks to all on this Forum.
You were very responsive and made me fix other potential issues along the way as well.
I'll be keeping an eye on things.
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Old 07-05-2020, 07:52 AM   #26
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Johan View Post
I have a Bullet 308BHS with the same soft spot, discovered today. The area that is soft is about4-5 ft wide and 1 to 1.25 ft deep when I stand looking into the front door.
I am leaving on vacation in 2 days, so I have to fix it myself.
I removed/cut the plastic liner/layer are removed the soggy pretend-wood, the polystyrene and the next layer of fake wood up to the vinyl flooring.
Going to put pressure treated wood in there for better support than the foam.


Fixing is not the problem, however, where did the water come in ??



It looks fine around the front door and front window, but the soft spot is centered around the rightmost side of the door, the side with the hinges.
Any tips on where I can apply extra sealant to not let this happen again ?
Hi,

I’m in the UK and purchased a Bullit from a company in the UK who export them over. I found an area on my one that would have let so much water in if I hadn’t found it. It was the front cap where it meets the roof. You need to check all this front cap especially where the LED lights go into the panel, my one had no sealant around the lights and a massive gap behind the light, if left this would have gone down behind the wardrobe and into the floor.

Thanks,

Mark
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Old 07-05-2020, 08:09 AM   #27
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Wow thanks for this post i sure wish you were in mississippi, i have a 15 outback 4 ft soft spot in middle of living area and a soft spot at each entry door, you almost giving me the courage to fix it myself, i have decided to try to sell it reduce the price take my whipping and never return to keystone. Great post gives people the courage to try to fix it, i was curious when you cut the flooring up did you pull it up in layers to you could see the floor or just cut thru to the bottom?
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Old 07-05-2020, 09:38 AM   #28
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Originally Posted by WHEELPDLR View Post
Wow thanks for this post i sure wish you were in mississippi, i have a 15 outback 4 ft soft spot in middle of living area and a soft spot at each entry door, you almost giving me the courage to fix it myself, i have decided to try to sell it reduce the price take my whipping and never return to keystone. Great post gives people the courage to try to fix it, i was curious when you cut the flooring up did you pull it up in layers to you could see the floor or just cut thru to the bottom?
DON'T JUST CUT THROUGH TO THE BOTTOM !!!!!!!!!

There's a very good chance that if you do, you'll damage the floor joists under the top layer of flooring. The "sandwich floor" is built with the aluminum floor joists INSIDE the structure, topped by 1/4" luan sheeting and 1/8" luan (or maybe composite paper or plastic bottom sheeting.

Cutting through to the bottom will destroy your floor framing.
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Old 07-05-2020, 09:55 AM   #29
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So just peel off the flooring tile then what take a blade and cut into the soft stuff till you can see the braces its attached to ? Look guys i cant put a nail in a piece of wood thanks for the help type it slow so i can get it ha.
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Old 07-05-2020, 10:33 AM   #30
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Originally Posted by WHEELPDLR View Post
So just peel off the flooring tile then what take a blade and cut into the soft stuff till you can see the braces its attached to ? Look guys i cant put a nail in a piece of wood thanks for the help type it slow so i can get it ha.
Some people "just need a bit of on-site help" with projects for which they have a knowledge deficit....

Notice I didn't say "don't do it" or "don't try" I said get some "ON-SITE help"... Find someone, a friend or relative, who is competent in putting a nail in a piece of wood and ask them to help. If you aren't familiar with travel trailer construction, spend LOTS of time studying trailer brochures, paying particular attention to that one diagram toward the middle of every brochure that shows the "peeled back construction" with a lot of numbered circles. Go to every number in the diagram and read how it describes that feature. Blow the figure up so it's large enough to really see how all those things are "stacked together to make a trailer"...

Don't just cut through the top layer, the bottom layer, or even remove the vinyl flooring, until you understand what is under it.

Just cutting through the top layer, might be OK if you're using a razor knife, but using a jig saw or a circular saw with the blade nearly retracted, can be a sure bet to cut the tops off every one of those aluminum tubes that make up the floor joists....

There's no way anyone can "type enough information in a forum post" to teach you how to start from scratch to rebuild a travel trailer floor.....

Take a look at the threads on this forum that you can find with a forum search for topics like "floor repair" or "floor replacement"... Many of them have detailed photos of how a member repaired his floor, most with photos showing what the structure looked like as they "peeled back the layers"....

Spend some time preparing and learning. I really don't think this thread could possibly "teach a novice in a few posts" how to remove, repair and replace a rotted travel trailer floor.

This isn't intended to discourage you, but rather to warn you that, as a novice with a difficulty level capacity of 1 wrench, this type project is a difficulty level of 5 or 6 or, in some really bad situations, a level of 9 or 10 wrenches.... Don't bite off more than you can chew.
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Old 07-05-2020, 10:59 AM   #31
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John your the man i needed to hear off of that, im pretty sure i wont try this at home ha. I figured there was a contractor/builder i could get to help. Thanks again for your words, if your up for a trip to mississippi im sure i could make everyone happy be safe out there
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Old 07-05-2020, 11:23 AM   #32
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Having "escaped the heat and humidity of Louisiana" in 2009, it's a "sure bet" you won't find me traveling to Mississippi (my birth state) in July/August, no matter how noble the reason might be..... You're on your own finding "on site help" on this one
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Old 07-05-2020, 03:21 PM   #33
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Wow! I thought I was in the minority. My 2014 ultralight got a soft floor 2 years into its life with us. It was the roof. Fixed the roof, but the floor isn’t. I cut the plastic sheeting in the belly and check it bi yearly for dampness. I seal it with gorilla tape, not the recommended sealing tape for the belly plastic otherwise I can’t remove it to check. I’m just waiting for the floor to get so bad I can’t take it anymore then I’ll tackle it. I’m always checking the corners on the roof , storage doors, etc. for bad sealant. Basically almost all trailers are built pretty cheap.
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Old 07-05-2020, 03:24 PM   #34
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Exactly my approach, it’s almost always the roof.
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Old 07-06-2020, 09:39 PM   #35
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After reading all the comments I'm glad I don't have any major issues like the ones described here. I only need to replace the plastic cover over the screws along the edges. The current plastic strip has shrunk from the heat so I need to replace it. The fifth wheel trailer (2003 Cougar 276) has been under cover for the past 16 years so it doesn't get exposed to direct rain unless I take it out.
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Old 07-07-2020, 03:26 AM   #36
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To MPM:
Can you post a photo of the exact spot where you sealed up

To WHEELPDLR:
I went from the bottom, but I did not have to cut anything except the thin plastic layer and polystyrene. I cut the plastic in such a way that I could fold it back after, and have another layer of thin plastic seal it up again. Then I pulled of the soggy fake wood, cut with a hand held blade through the polystyrene, pulled of the next fake wood layer just beneath the linoleum flooring.
The wood supports could basically lie down on top of the camper support beam on one side, between the aluminium square tubing that makes up the floor, since I removed the polystyrene in those locations.
This is now the strongest spot in the camper.
It was not hard, but it depends on the area you have to fix. If it was at a different location, I may have had to go through the top.
But yes, do not just cut with a saws all.


And yes, even after several rains now, the camper stays dry
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Old 07-07-2020, 02:20 PM   #37
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Pictures of Sealant Needed Around Lights.

Hi Johan,

Not to sure if I’ve attached the pictures. But if so please see the areas I’ve marked up. My trailer was missing all the sealant around the five lights on the front cap. I spotted it when I first purchased it and sealed them up straight away.

Thanks,

Mark
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Old 07-07-2020, 06:00 PM   #38
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Your leak is coming in at the top of the trim that holds the sheetmetal to the fiberglass.
that is where mine leaked anyway. Water will run down the side of the trailer and find a way in anywhere that the plastic screw covering is weak, it then fills the plastic and follows in a screw. from there it is inside the wall. it will soften the "wood" from the edge inward because the top is covered in vinyl.
The bottom 5 inches of most fiberglass camper walls is open to allow access for lags into the floor system. some are sealed poorly with trim and coil stock aluminum.
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Old 07-07-2020, 06:19 PM   #39
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The top photo shows where two trim pieces meet. Water would come in and pool on top of the floor.
I had to remove all of the trim, there was only a butyl strip that was ineffective. I ran a bead of silicone down the length behind it and another on top and the leaks stopped. Most of the fasteners were rusted. Looks like it might need to be dressed up again. Its been a few years.
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