Water Seepage on Floor

[New to campers]

Hello, we bought a used 4 Wheel 2000 Hawk camper. We have had rain the last few days. We are finding water seeping in where the cabinets meet the plywood on the floor. Mostly under the door and cabinets on one side. It doesn’t appear to be coming in through the door. We have not had the camper popped up. Has anyone run into this problem before?

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

It’s very possible that it’s the rubber seal between the door and door frame. If that’s the case, there is a hollow rubber seal that is a good replacement, unfortunately I don’t recall the product name. I can ask the person who recommended it to me.

I would also check the sealant all around the outside of the door frame, and any of the joints along the bottom of the frame.

Other possibilities include the heater bezel, and refrigerator vents.

In general, it’s a good idea to check the condition of all external sealants on a regular basis.

Get the wood dried out as soon as possible. If you use heat, have the camper well ventilated so water vapor doesn’t get into the headliner and other cloth, as it could cause mold/mildew.

 

[Beach]

I have had the same problem in the past. Corrective actions were; remove door and install new rope chalk all around(old chalk had shrunk due to age). Installed a strip 1 1/4" wide of aluminum to act as a drip edge to keep water(driving rain) from breaching to top seal on the door. Resealed the frame around the window unit a/c(removed original rear window). Sit inside and get someone to hose down the back door area, look around the door frame for drips. If your camper hangs off the truck bed a bit, water can be forced under the rear trim while driving and will wick into and up through the plywood floor. unfortunately FWC does not does not use sealant when installing trim pieces. I just replaced a 3" wide strip across the full width of the rear of the floor. used a full length spline joint with thickened West System epoxy, good as new now, maybe better since its completely sealed. I believe it started to rot from wicking moisture from the wood plinth(riser) the camper sits on as it gets wet during rain. If you find there is minor rot you can use a product called Git Rot, It works well, it will harden and stabilize the wood. If you have bad rot and replace any wood, I recommend that you seal all edges with a minimum of 1 coat marine grade epoxy.

 

[New to campers]

Thanks so much for all of your help/replies. When we opened up the panel for the heater on the outside of the camper there was a pool of water in the bottom. We will definitely reseal this area and check further into the door seal.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

The water under the heater could be coming from the door, it tends to spread across the back of the floor pack. Check other enclosed areas as well.

 

[cjudson]

I had a rainwater leak that I thought was a problem with the door. It turned out to be one end of the aluminum door threshold. The fix was easy, replace the caulk, but it took a while to discover it since I was just sure it was door-related.

 

[takesiteasy]

x2 on the rubber door seal. Was the fix for us.

 

[kmcintyre]

The door seal rubber is hard to find. If yours is worn, let me know and I'll try to find the source. It took a few of us a long time to find the replacement and a few purchases from sources until we found the right stuff. BTW, this was on a 2001 Eagle so we're in the same era. You might also be able to find it if you search this forum. It was probably 4-5 years ago.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

I just found the part number of the door seal I used.

Frost King
SS20BR
UPC 7757803575 8

Thermwell Prod Inc

It is wedge shaped. As I recall, the wedge side faces inward.