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Under side of camper rotting

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Category: R-pod Discussion Forums
Forum Name: Warranty, Service and Recall Bulletins
Forum Discription: Have a warranty or service experience to share?
URL: http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=10512
Printed Date: 28 Mar 2024 at 2:50pm
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Topic: Under side of camper rotting
Posted By: EmptyNesters
Subject: Under side of camper rotting
Date Posted: 14 Aug 2017 at 3:25pm
I have a 2014 178 that when first purchased had water issues, if we pulled it during rain the inside of the camper flooring would be soaked, the dealer said the slide out wasn't properly adjusted. We haven't towed it during a heavy rain storm since and assumed the problem was resolved until this weekend. We towed during a four hour rain storm and the inside was wet. I am obviously way beyond any warranty work, but here is the horror of the issue, all of that water has been getting trapped between the black undercoating material and the wood, the underside of my pod is mush. It's not like I don't take care of it either, I re-caulk all the seems every season, and I have kept it covered.
Has anybody else experienced anything like this and most importantly what on earth do I do now, just take a $16,000 gulp. 



Replies:
Posted By: kymooses
Date Posted: 15 Aug 2017 at 8:00am
Did your dealer make a warranty repair on it and then tell you it's been corrected and shouldn't be leaking anymore?

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https://calendar.google.com/calendar?cid=cnBvZC5zcG90dGVyQGdtYWlsLmNvbQ - RPod Rallies
https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=1W1foQXGtrjf8aYly1uh0b-bHPfI&hl=en_US - RPod Owner Map


Posted By: EmptyNesters
Date Posted: 15 Aug 2017 at 8:36am
Yes, but it did leak a bit after that and he said that is normal to have some leakage during heavy rain which we all know is bull, so I found a seam inside the fridge compartment that was open and sealed it and had no more water leaks that were visible. At this point warranty work is no way possible 4yrs out, I just want to know if there is anyway to salvage what I have. I peeled away the membrane under the camper in hopes that the wood will dry, lots of water trapped between membrane and subfloor, the interior flooring is still good, no soft spots. There is no way to remove the membrane under the trailer framing so not sure how that's going to dry, the areas where I did get it off are drying and the wood is not rotted through so there is a little hope yet. 
I am going to remove all the trim from the bottom edge seam 


Posted By: EmptyNesters
Date Posted: 15 Aug 2017 at 5:29pm
I'm thinking its hopeless, the bottom is pretty rotted, its probably been wet for the past 4 years.


Posted By: RobnCari
Date Posted: 07 Oct 2017 at 4:01pm
Replacing a floor in a camper is difficult but not impossible. Learned alot from the last one I did. I don't know how FR does it, but our Chalet the skin was not attached to the frame. It was attached to the floor wich was attached to the frame. We had to replace the floor in sections, after the entire inside was stripped. Your R-pod is not junk either you or someone else can save it.

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2006 Toyota Tacoma 4WD AC
2018 RP 179


Posted By: EmptyNesters
Date Posted: 19 Oct 2017 at 2:40pm
Thanks for your reply, I ended up removing the belly wrap under the camper and removed all the trim from the bottom sides of the camper, the trailer's outer skin on the back of the camper had a jagged edge that was preventing the trim from sealing against the seam and there was no buytl tape behind the trim, I left the trim off for a month so things could dry out before I put everything back together. I used a product called Seal-tite behind the trim, good stuff. The camper floor was fine but the wood under the belly wrap was rotted. 



Posted By: RC Robert
Date Posted: 05 Aug 2019 at 6:21pm
Did you replace the wood on the underside and re-wrap it. How did you fix this. Mine is mush too. See my other post for photos.   https://postimg.cc/gallery/1m75234sa/  http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=12874&KW=&PID=125683&title=underbelly-lining-no-longer-attached#125683">View Post


Posted By: EmptyNesters
Date Posted: 07 Aug 2019 at 6:14pm
Hello,
I removed the metal edge on the bottom right side from the back to the wheel housing as well as the metal edge on the back of the camper. I removed the black belly material from the back to the axel and let every thing dry out. It took weeks and a very large tarp and fans. I got replacement black belly tarp from an online store as well as new seal tape that I put over the seams before replacing the metal strip. I did not have to replace the wood, once it dried it was fine but I have heard of people using corrugated plastic that you can get at any diy store as a replacement.


Posted By: 1nana2many
Date Posted: 08 Aug 2019 at 12:52pm
We used Tyvek house wrap to wrap the new flooring we installed on our Captiva when we had to replace some water damaged flooring. When tearing the Captiva apart, we found we had a lot of water infiltration from where the marker lights went through the skin. Be sure if you’re having to laminate flooring parts you use glue between layers to get that solid floor back. That will get the flex out of the floor. We learned this the hard way.

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The mountains are calling and we must go...O.D., Keith & Jody
2016 RP179= O.D. (Olive Drab)
2008 Coachman Captiva
1993 Jayco 1206 popup
2016 F150 Supercrew


Posted By: RC Robert
Date Posted: 09 Aug 2019 at 12:23pm
Thanks for the advice. Working on it now. Wood has to be replaced. Doing bit by bit. Can’t get under the frame or tanks. Did you drop the tanks?


Posted By: 1nana2many
Date Posted: 09 Aug 2019 at 4:19pm
In our case, we were working on a Coachman Captiva. We took the entire from cap off and replaced flooring for the from third of the camper. Luckily for us, the tanks were all in the back section. We lifted the whole front end off of the frame by removing baggage doors and running beams through supported on the ground. Not usually an option for Rpods. We tore the entire front bedroom out a piece at a time to get to the floor. Every trim piece removed was written on on the back so we knew where to put it back. Screws were put in zip lock baggies and also marked.  It was really depressing to open up the walls and see the scrap wood they used to build the front nose. Some gaps were only held together with staples and no wood. It took us about three weeks and was a royal pain, but it is built better than it was when it left the factory. We also replaced our slide floor. I would guess you will have to drop the tanks on an Rpod. You definitely don’t want to leave any rotted wood in place. We used Sikaflex urethane caulk found in the cement department of Home Depot to recaulk our entire RV. We replaced all Butyl with new, then covered any edges that showed with the caulk on the advice of a professional RV serviceman. He says Butyl rubber cracks faster when exposed to sun. It’s been two years and the caulk is still looking great. People: don’t forget to caulk over the top and sides of every light or fixture that penetrates the skin of your RV!

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The mountains are calling and we must go...O.D., Keith & Jody
2016 RP179= O.D. (Olive Drab)
2008 Coachman Captiva
1993 Jayco 1206 popup
2016 F150 Supercrew


Posted By: EmptyNesters
Date Posted: 09 Aug 2019 at 5:15pm
No and I don’t think it’s necessary, the wood is there to protect the foam from rocks and other road debris so as long as something else is in the way I say don’t worry about it.


Posted By: Cocared
Date Posted: 29 Jun 2020 at 3:38pm
I know this is old, but we are having the same problem. What did you ultimately figure out? Thank you In advance!

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2015 Rpod 178


Posted By: 1nana2many
Date Posted: 30 Jun 2020 at 10:16am
One of the things we noticed when rebuilding our Captiva is that where the skin meets the floor at the front, there is not much barrier to keep moisture from running down the wall and finding its way into the floor edge if there’s the slightest crack in the caulking there. Since we had the skin off to replace the flooring, we took a piece of aluminum roof flashing the width of our camper, bent down the middle length-wise and inserted it under the wall skin and below the flooring, much like the drip edge on a house roof. With this in place, any water cannot be absorbed into the leading edge of the flooring where it acts as a wick into the rest of the wood. This may not be the answer to your question, but it is one of the things we have done to help prevent future water penetration after major repair.

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The mountains are calling and we must go...O.D., Keith & Jody
2016 RP179= O.D. (Olive Drab)
2008 Coachman Captiva
1993 Jayco 1206 popup
2016 F150 Supercrew



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