Water Intrusion In Bedroom Slide!

[zach477]

I have a 08 Fleetwood Fiesta bunkhouse, and I have been finding a wet spot underneath the mattress of the lower bunk. It's in the back corner of the floor. In the really terrible diagram below (top down view), the front of the RV is to the left, and the * marks the wet spot. The fridge and water heater are just to the left of the star, but they aren't part of the slide so I can't see how a leak or condensation from them could be causing this.

_______|*-----------|

_______________|



I first noticed it a few days ago when I was cleaning/organizing for a trip. I had been parked with the slides our for a few weeks. I used towels and a space heater to completely dry it up before hitting the road for a few days. We drove a bout 1200 miles round trip and kept the slides in the when we parked. We also hit very little rain. If it rained at all, it was just a light misting for a few minutes.

Now that I'm back home, I checked again, and the area is moist again. This seems weird since we didn't really have any rain. My suspicion is that the window isn't sealed properly and water worked its way down inside the wall and then to the floor, and after I dried the floor there was still enough moisture in the wall to work its way down and make the floor wet again.

Any other thoughts? The slide and slide topper appear to be in great shape from the outside. I'm kind of freaking out about it being that there could already be expensive water damage. 😞

Zach

[zach477]

Ductape wrote:
Make sure the weep holes in your windows are open, if your window design uses them.

I did that! I also re-sealed the top of the window. I also re-sealed around the locking arm for the slide out. The only thing I haven't had a chance to do yet is re-seal the roof of the slide out.

I've been parked with the slide out since my last post, but it hasn't rained. Today we drove from Tennesee to up state New York. We drove through some rain on the way there. Tonight I checked under the bunk mattress. No moisture, but it's very cool. The kind of cold that ALMOST feels damp just because it's cold.

I'm wondering if the moisture wasn't due to condensation caused from bathroom steam condensing on the cold outer corner of the slide.

[Ductape]

Make sure the weep holes in your windows are open, if your window design uses them.

[wa8yxm]

I had a serious moisture issue here in the Kitchen living room area

Turned out to be plumbing under the sink.. A few minor changes (new drain, and a new pressure fitting) and .. Dry as a desert. Still working on the mess though.

[zach477]

doxiemom11 wrote:
Water heater left of our bedroom slide - not in the slide. Water ran along outside wall past toilet area and then was wicked up by the carpet alongside the bed. It only leaked when the hot water was turned on. Took some time before it accumulated enough water for it to reach the carpeted area for us to notice. We then found the drip, drip, drip. Check even if it's not in the slide. Water goes in strange places.

The water heater is also below the slide out. Water would have to be doing some really weird things, haha.

[doxiemom11]

Water heater left of our bedroom slide - not in the slide. Water ran along outside wall past toilet area and then was wicked up by the carpet alongside the bed. It only leaked when the hot water was turned on. Took some time before it accumulated enough water for it to reach the carpeted area for us to notice. We then found the drip, drip, drip. Check even if it's not in the slide. Water goes in strange places.

[-Gramps-]

I had a couple water problems similar to yours. One, was a slide out topper had some water seepage thru a seam. The water ran off the top of slide, down inside the sweep and onto the carpet right next to the side of the bed. I sealed the topper seam, so the water would run off instead of thru it.

Second water problem next to the bathroom sink, other side of the wall actually in the bedroom. Floor would get wet at weird times, one was after I washed the coach. I thought this too might be a slideout sweep problem but it turned out there was a two inch round access hole drilled into the floor which was covered with carpet. This hole was inside a rear wheel well. When I washed the coach wheels, I sprayed water up this hole which soaked the carpet padding and the sub floor. I had to rip up the carpet, dry out the rotted wood, patch it, then patch the carpet. I filled the hole with foam crack filler. This bad section was between a slideout and a wall, and the repair is not noticeable at all. Point is, leaks can come from some unexpected places.

[10forty2]

We found out we had an on-going leak in the bedroom closet AFTER it had wicked its way through the carpet till it reached under the bed. (Got caught last year in the South Carolina rains that caused all the flooding) After a LOT of searching and finally using a thermal imaging camera, I found that the rear cap/roof joint seal as well as the trim seal was cracked open and the water was leaking between the wall down to the floor. The drying process entailed pulling and disposing of ALL the carpet from the rig from to rear to the front to check for further leaks, (found two more places) turning on the furnace and running fans towards the source of the leaks for a month...alternately spraying a clorox/water mix on the sub-flooring to kill any mold that might decide to grow. In the meantime, I re-sealed all the roof joints and side trim with Dicor. So far, so good, and it's been a wet summer around here!

[wa8yxm]

Only way I now to hasten drying is movement of air and heat.. A space heater or a fan. I recommend the fan.

Another source of leaks on many RV slide outs is the top wiper seal.. on my RV I found out the wiper was not wiping, nor was it contacting the top of the slide.

I finally got some foam tape and layed down 3 strips, this was like 1.5 or 2" wide, I layed two strips side by side and a 3rd strip on top of the one closest to the "inside" now as the slide extends the foam strips contact the wiper (the seal) and water is re-directed OUTSIDE the RV instead if inside.

[zach477]

Tyler0215 wrote:
If you have had a leak for some time the insulation in the walls will hold a lot of water and will still be seeping into the carpet. You have to find the source of the leak first and then dry out the inside.
Check the roof and the slideout seals.

The seal around the top of the window in that area seems to have broken. I re-sealed it today. The roof of the slide seems to be ok. I'll maybe re-seal some of the seems there just to be safe.

Moving forward, is there anything I can do to help dry things out? Or do I just have to wait?

[Tyler0215]

If you have had a leak for some time the insulation in the walls will hold a lot of water and will still be seeping into the carpet. You have to find the source of the leak first and then dry out the inside.
Check the roof and the slideout seals.

[zach477]

MountainAir05 wrote:
any water line, ice maker, hot water tank. Water moves to the low spot. You you have a sink in the slide. Check the drain line also if you have one in slide.

We have a kitchen slide so water and drain. Both have leaked.

There aren't any water lines in the slide. The fridge, sink, and water heater are all to to the left of the slide. The bathroom is across the "hallway". The slide only consists of the bunk beds, and the actual bed.

[MountainAir05]

any water line, ice maker, hot water tank. Water moves to the low spot. You you have a sink in the slide. Check the drain line also if you have one in slide.

We have a kitchen slide so water and drain. Both have leaked.