Water damage on bottom trim inside door

[rexmitchell]

Hey all, got in our rig for the first time in a month or so and noticed that the trim on either side of the entry door has water damage about 2-6 inches from the floor. The floor feels fine, as do either wall on both sides and the seals looks spectacular on the door. I'm a little confused how the water got in other than rain coming up from underneath the trailer which is unlikely. Can someone give me some pointers on what to look for as our source? It hasn't been particularly wet out here and seeing as there is no other damage (above like a roof leak or leak from the top of the door) I don't know where to begin troubleshooting. Here are a couple pics, I'll take some of the door and outside tomorrow. Thanks in advance-Rex

[rexmitchell]

Ok, got to ride out a rain storm in the rig this weekend and yes the water is leaking from the window on the door. Took it off but I couldn't figure out what part I could replace. Here are some attached pics but I can't figure out where to put the butyl tape. Can someone help me out? How am I supposed to get the old rotting seal out and a new one in?

[deltabravo]

wvcampers wrote:
Check the bottom corners of the door frame. When the door is open you can see where the door frame sides meet the threshold. It is put together there and if not sealed water will run in at the corners. Just caulk the corners.

That mostly cured the problem on my truck camper.

[wvcampers]

Check the bottom corners of the door frame. When the door is open you can see where the door frame sides meet the threshold. It is put together there and if not sealed water will run in at the corners. Just caulk the corners.

[rexmitchell]

Ok, got to thinking more about this. As I stated I could see dirt underneath the inside of the window so at a minimum that will need to be addressed. Anyone have a how to on doing this or can explain it? Also, can someone explain how the doors are constructed? Are they a solid piece? Do they have insulation? If the lock/door handle is leaking does it need to be sealed around the outside? Thanks in advance.

[rexmitchell]

mike-s wrote:
Is that a water stain coming down from the fire extinguisher mount?

No, that is a seam of the wall paper. I looked at the bottom of the window on the inside and saw war looked like a dirty water stain so I'm thinking the window seal is bad. I'll try and post pics later.

[mike-s]

Is that a water stain coming down from the fire extinguisher mount?

[budwich]

get a hose and hit the door and see what happens. As others have suggested, the seal around the door is likely an issue. It is probably not good at the top and "very good" at the bottom... thus it is acting like a "bowl" letting water in at the top and holding it in so to speak at the bottom where it is running out into the trailer.... 😞

The damage that your picture shows doesn't appear to be a "one time" event. It appears to have happening for a while and you just now noticed it.

[daystrom]

Mine did this. The problem is either the seal around the door has failed or water is getting into the latch and running down the inside of the frame.

That trim, at least on mine, appears to literally be vinyl covered cardboard. It will soak up the smallest amount of moisture.

I ended up resealing my door all the way around and replaced the trim with something similar I found at Lowes.

[MFL]

Two common places for door leaks, are the window being poorly sealed, letting the water run down inside the door, coming out the lower corners. The other is the lower metal edge on the outside of door, where the metal goes against the door material.

I have used butyl tape to reseal the window, and clear proflex to seal along lower metal door strip.

Jerry

[rexmitchell]

deltabravo wrote:
While driving in the rain, my truck camper will get water inside the door and soak the floor. The door seal isn't 100 percent weather tight, and somewhere water will get past the weather stripping, run down the door frame and in to the camper at each corner of the door, just like appears to have happened in your pics.

Makes sense and my first thought was we had a really hard rain and it came in, but in regards to your scenario we haven't moved the rig in 3 months so it couldn't have been from travel.

[deltabravo]

While driving in the rain, my truck camper will get water inside the door and soak the floor. The door seal isn't 100 percent weather tight, and somewhere water will get past the weather stripping, run down the door frame and in to the camper at each corner of the door, just like appears to have happened in your pics.