SurfSide Leak

[Dee823]

Today I had a chance to begin cleaning the interior of the Surfside.

I discovered a leak. It is at the back (at least that is where I found the standing water), on the door side, which is the lowest area of the trailer the way it is sitting at the moment.

There was quite a bit of water, not stinky at all, clear. I soaked it all up with rags, and could see that it trickled down from the back side of the trailer, rather than the side wall. Then I noticed that the wood on the bench, where it meets the wall, was wet. Then I pulled up the flooring along the back wall under the table, and sure enough it was wet and mouldy, almost to the foot of the other bench, but not quite. There was black mould all the way across to the other bench, under the flooring and at the bottom on ensolite.







We had a look at the back light, it had a bit of black mould in it, but the hole for the electrical wires was dry as a bone, so maybe the leak isn't there.

The rear window is my next guess as the source of the leak.

Any feedback on this would be welcome!

We are thinking of taking the window out and resealing it, but since we haven't done anything like this before, it is a bit intimidating. I found links here for replacing a window in a trillium, but the link seems dead. http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/in...howtopic=33014

[toderash]

Leak around the rear window is by far most likely.

On the outside of the window, you'll find the screws under a plastic strip around the window - mine was black, but that may not be universal. slide the strip out to get at the screws and remove them. Mine had 2 rivets mixed in with the screws, but I didn't have to remove those. This should hopefully give you enough access to inspect and remove the old sealing material and replace new. Don't be surprised to find screws that are rusted out and may break or be stripped in removing them - expect to replace those with new ones. The screws pass through the holes in the aluminum window frame and matching ones in the fibreglass wall and are secured into the wood frame around the window on the inside. With the screws removed, the wooden frame will be free - remove that and inspect - if there's been water coming in for a while via that point, the wood frame may be rotted and need replacement as well. If you find no evidence of water damage on backside of the wood frame, I'd be surprised - in that case you may want to check other possible entry points.

[Dee823]

Thanks Brent! That is just the information we needed to get started. I was trying to figure out how to take apart the interior wood frame, but hadn't gotten very far with that, which, as it turns out, was a good thing. I will be looking for a local source of butyl tape and stainless steel screws today, so that the first mild clear day off work that we have we can get going on it!

[Dee823]

Progress Report: We have been getting ready to reseal the back window, but our plans were interrupted by rain. It was a good thing.

I checked the trailer after a few hours of rain and discovered a trail of water from the front edge of the dinette floor to the back of the trailer, it disappeared under the bench to the exact area where we found the water in the corner.

I stood looking at it and several large drops of water landed on my head, from the edge of the roof vent. I got pail and put it under the area, then undid the corner screw, and water came pouring out of the screw hole.

So the first leak has been located, and we hope it is the only leak.

I am sourcing a new roof vent this morning. I already have butyl tape intended to reseal the window.

How do people handle roof work, when the roof will not bear weight?

[Bob in Mb]

You should be able to access the roof vent on the driver side of the trailer without putting any weight on the vulnerable area of the roof . Finding a vent that is the same size will be a bigger problem - is it possible to save the existing vent and properly re-installing it ??

[Dee823]

Bob, I really appreciate your comments. I phoned RV parts departments and they assured me that their 14 inch x 14 inch roof vents would install on the SurfSide. However, your feedback is much more reliable than their assurances of a good fit! Is it the thin roof that presents the the new 14x14 roof vents from fitting properly?

I am hoping we can remove and reseal the existing roof vent, but it is very old and I am afraid we will break it in the process. If we do break it we will need to replace it.

Also, thanks for the tip on accessing the roof from the driver's side.

[Dee823]

Another concern is niggling at the back of my mind. I don't really know what it looks like under the floor, but worry that there may be pockets of water under there from the leak in the roof vent. I have looked around for a picture of the floor construction, so far haven't found anything to show me what is under the floor surface. How likely is it that there are areas under the floor that are holding water? Anyone know of a picture of what is beneath the floor boards?

[Bob in Mb]

The original vent on my Surf-Side [1977] is only about 10 inches square.

[Dee823]

Thanks Bob, yours must be the original, and the vent on ours must be an "update". The opening is definitely 14x14, so maybe one of the new roof vents will actually work.

I started to take the roof vent apart from the inside, and found that is is cracked in several places. But I don't think the cracks are where the water comes in. I am pretty sure the water is coming in from the screw that comes down from the outside of the roof, that is where all the green slime is, and that is where most of the dripping water comes down. We have the tarp over it for now, and will be waiting for a run of spare time and fair weather to tackle the project. I think we will try to replace it since the plastic is cracked in several places around the perimeter of the vent.

[Alex latch]

It's your lucky day, I just happen to have a clear view of the floor on our project (1977 surfside)... Don't mind the yellow it is leftover paint I used to seal the floor... Basically the center portion is raised with a kind of gutter all around... A couple of drain holes on the lower parts would not be a bad idea. We had a 14x14 roof vent instaled on ours and the switch to a new standard one was pretty staight forward it was riveted.
Hope this helps

Front looking from the door

Middle section

back left section

Back right section



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[Dee823]

Thank you Alex! The pictures are worth a thousand words. The floor surface seems pretty solid in our SurfSide, so I am hoping that it is in good shape.

That is good news that there is a gutter around the centre portion, this leads me to think that maybe we did capture all the water , as the trailer is not yet on jacks and is tilted at an angle towards the back of the trailer, so the water would drain that way, where we found it.

Also very glad to hear that the 14x14 roof vent installs easily. We bought one yesterday, and now await good weather and free time to make the attempt. I think the one presently installed is screwed down through the fibreglass The new one has a series of holes, but I haven't had all the pieces out of the box yet to see what the manufacturer is suggesting. We don't have a riveter or any experience with rivets.

[Alex latch]

Here is the new roof vent. Installed with rivets. A good rivet gun is pretty handy to have specially with this kind of trailer... You will probably find yourself replacing a few rivets on the fridge vents. Make sure when you install that the butyl is pressed all around. If you have the option go with the smooth butyl tape and not the wrinkly kind.

In any way, you can do it! Good luck


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