2007 Tango rotten floor source discovered; please read !

[Island_Traveler]

Did some detective work this past week for a sister with a near-new condition Tango tandem axle tow behind with half the floors falling apart from dry rot. I peeled up the lino, peeled up the potato chip sized OSB pieces which fell apart in my hands, and discovered the yellow insulation soaked and helping feed the white fungus which looked very healthy indeed. With that ripped out from sink to bed, I tracked the water marks to the driver side wheel well. Water system has never been used yet, but found all fittings on water pump loose, and not a spot of water under the sink. You could poke your finger through the lino under the sink and then I spotted black and rotten 2x3s holding up the plastic wheel well tub for the two wheels. It seems, after pulling off the outer plastic wheel opening molding and pulling some stubborn and expletive-worthy staples, that a from- factory sag in the middle of the tub looked like Cistern Ditchwater! This water in turn, found its way through staple holes in the vapor barrier and saturated 2/3 of the insulation and of course dissolved 2/3 of the OSB into chips and rubble, and rendered 2/3 of the 2x3s into fire starter. Talk about an on-board water supply! Free! Unpotable, though and feeds the fungus. Once water is in the floor void it says there wandering hither and yon depending what angles you might obtain on your trips. Bottom line is, the wheel tub edges were acting like a gutter on the outside and filling up the saggy section, then overflowing into the undersink floor void and beyond. Someone at the factory on a Friday?... didn't give a , and poked a good-sized hole to enable all this to occur over the past ten years. The trailer is otherwise in new condition. Check for a crack at middle screw on the crappy plastic staple-hider over the wheels, driver's side. Start there and just follow the damage. Check other side too, just in case it "waterfalls" as well! Caulking by the way, must not have been a priority. My boogers are bigger...! Hope that this explains other's water woes somewhat, and we camp, instead of repair! Happy Trails, P.T.

[Grumpa]

It's like peeling an onion, where do you stop! I had a way earlier RV with "minor" repair, onion time. Good luck and good day to you

[Island_Traveler]

While I'm here, may all be safe, and stay safe on your safaris to our great outdoors, Happy camping, all! -Island Traveller-

[Island_Traveler]

Do we want the good news or the bad first?!! All went well with the replaced lino., and plywood flooring in the following camping years for Sis. This past month I got to look for soggy ceiling. On the rubber roof all was well. Front left end of transition strip though, and front right screws were now "air screws" with no bite! Undid the whole row and lo and behold, water trails. What a pain unscrewing the rest. The socket heads had to have all that grey "plasticene" dug out to get any bite for my screw bit...Anyhoo, a whole strip of that gray **** pulled off easily. It had never helped anything under strip. All the screws were rusted to half-size. 20 some-odd water leaks. The end screws had ripped three nice holes in rubber when strip was first attached. Be warned here, any screw through material will grab and spiral a fast hole for you. I used some Dicor sealant to stick rubber back to the crappy osb underneath, then I ran a whole bead on both edges of transition strip and screwed down both ends, plus three more spaced evenly in between. I shall grab some hex-headed gasketed and longer galvanized screws for replacements. (Steel roofing type) More than 5 screws will add to more holes, so I will plug empties with Dikor. Bad news is front right osb is sawdust under the rubber in a triangle shape from corner. Same goes for rear left where trans. strip end was air screws and osb triangle mushy. Just knock with your knuckle. Solid equals sound osb., while dull thud is sawdust! As well when I redid the floor, their tub always had water from above in it. That was due to the skylight outer edge doing a wavy up & down-ways from simple hot/cold warpage. I had made a 1/4"X 1&1/4 perimeter ring out of a dually plastic mudflap (!), and after cleaning and resealing each layer and using a minimum of longer screws for hold-down, no leaks since floor job. That is the good news. Where I'm not going is underneath the front plastic skin. It will be rot city. Strange bulgings are obvious from swelling osb over the years of leakings.
That will be addressed when time allows and campings are done for!!

[westend]

I dunno'. The 5/8" interior grade plywood in my 45 yr old trailer was all good except in two areas that were rotted from continued water from above, in the wall. And, in the plywood under the water heater where the water heater was allowed to drain on the flooring. The Starcraft has a continuous aluminum clad under belly.

[stevemorris]

some of the stuff they do in trailers really sucks.
manufacturers approach it all the wrong way, moisture will get into a trailer no matter what, what it needs is a way to dry out between damp sessions. covering both sides of plywood with waterproof material is a huge mistake. moisture barrier on one side and linoleum on the other side is a fatal flaw in the flooring system on all rvs
houses are designed to shed water rather than hold it in the walls and floors, framing can dry out, subfloors and wall materials can dry.

[Island_Traveler]

Click For Full-Size Image.

[Island_Traveler]

way too small... will fix.

[BobsYourUncle]

Before ya do that can you peel off one of those cool looking Tango decals and send it to me?
:B

[Island_Traveler]

Only problem is, the tires on it are like new... it would be a shame to burn them while on the trailer! I'll just "spill' some gas, have a smoke and forget where I put the cigarette and run like hell, Darn arsonists anyways! Now TT is dry as well as bye, No more rot either... oops my tools were in there... aw sh (darn.)

[myredracer]

Way back when, I did land clearing on a lot on the Island and used a tire or two (or three?) to get the big pile o' wet stumps and branches going. Tires sure make good fire starters and get super hot! Try it, you'll like it. 🙂 I think the regs have changed a lot since tho.

[Island_Traveler]

Only problem would have been as soon as the plastic melted, it would have released all the water and doused my fire by default! Plus you need a stinkin' hot fire to burn wet wood and the EPA would be on my case about a toxic cloud of black, acrid smoke from all that plastic and styro burning headed south on the "free trade" winds towards Washington State!!!

[colliehauler]

Island traveler it's good you can keep your sense of hummor. Looks like I should of said a properly installed wheel well liner.

By this time I probably would have parked it over the campfire to dry it out.:B

[Island_Traveler]

Use your browser zoom-in to reach your desired size... some of my text got cut off in MS Paint. This was my second ever try at pictures with text; the first is the previous post so bear with me... one picture went AWOL on me as well the text. IMGUR is my test, and I almost had it, hence try no. two! It showed rot 'til half main bed on outer 2x3 heading frontwards. One support cross-2x3 for bed support succeeded in being the dam to stop the water there... I hope! The wood still sounds knock-knock instead of dull-thud, dull-thud and my awl don't poke through in dat dere cross member that is trailer- wide holding up the bed. Can't have beds dropping from travel trailers on the freeway you know! Have a good weekend, y'all ! Drive & camp safe... PT.

[Island_Traveler]

There was a wheel-tub liner, bolted on outer bottom corners (can you spot the rusty bolt that was hanging with just rot holding it up?) It had a curve downwards in its 3/16 or 1/4 inch thick plastic right dead center between the tandems. I had named it Lake Ditchwater... (on-board cistern)... Pity there were no trout swimmin' around in there! That became the catchment pond, so to speak, for the ideal mycelium habitat to start. The thing should have been lapped UNDER the outer skin like a roof shingle, not a gutter with minimal caulking to catch all water running down side of trailer. This was all hiding behind the crappy (I mean pretty) wheel flare decor screwed and cracked at every screw. A poster in another RV forum noticed every Tango, or copy of, at any campground she stayed at had a crack at middle screw, almost across the board. This piece is totally inadequate. A lousy lawn chair would do a better job but would look odd mounted there! Chair PVC is thicker, but how do I cut it up to match a tandem wheel opening?!! Any tips? Seriously, anything near the wheels should be skookum as well as leak-proof. "Water always runs downhill"... said that Newton dude, except when it wicks, of course. This liner must have gotten its shape from being at the bottom of the stack on a hot CA day, stapled and bolted in, then hidden with the pretty molded fascia. Read: sin-hiding house decor... I mean trailer decor... Also, fore and aft of wheels you will find the vapour barrier doubling as mudguard slash rock deflector. No chloroplast in the most vulnerable puncture areas. In actuality, holes here would have let the water drain. I think I will get busy with my awl, all over the bottom every foot or so, letting it breath in there with no chance of showers. It is bone-dry and warm between the frame rails where the corrugated PVC protects the underside. Should just start sleeping there, maybe. Hmmmm... From Soggy Stories, have a good one, PT reporting!