Water Under Floor Tile

Frank M · August 06, 2020, 07:39 AM

Odd situation. Recently we had flood type rain and afterwards I noticed water weeping up between the floor tiles of my 1973 Brave. No leaks from above. My Brave is a D20 with the bathroom located basically across from the entrance door. The seeping water seemed to be in front of the bathroom door area. Anybody have any suggestions on where I could look to see where this water may be getting in under the floor tile? Roof is sealed well. Brand new roof vents. Brand new vent pipe caps. Could it be coming in at the exterior seam on the side where the chrome/black trim is? Anybody ever had a similar problem? Thanks

Froggy1936 · August 06, 2020, 04:37 PM

Hi, How about from the A/C unit ?Frank

Oz · August 06, 2020, 09:39 PM

Strange how water can travel. Yes, a leak at the side seam could travel down the wall and then pool up at the floor. Could be from.a window, or the base of the entrance door as well. Hard to tell since the water will travel until it gets to the lowest point.

Sorry to hear, this could be a bit rough to track down.

Preese · August 06, 2020, 11:34 PM

What kind of floor tiles do you have? Can they be lifted with out too much trouble? Also is your RV perfectly level? If not, what side/corner is the highest? I do not have any specific experience with water coming up from below but I thought my roof was way watertight but got a leak from the vent above where your water problem is. Tried Flex Seal and it actually worked, so far.

TerryH · August 07, 2020, 02:35 AM

Over the years I have had considerable experience locating water ingress points. If you wish I can offer advice, but have a few questions first.
Could you actually see the water seeping, or was it standing water when you noticed it?
How soon after the rain did you see it?
Did you check the floor inside of all adjacent cupboards, especially at the wall to floor connection?
Were you connected to city water or was your pump turned on or was your system pressurized (dependent on your system)? If yes, did you check all of your plumbing connections - particularly your water heater inlet and outlet?
If you don't mind answering the above I MAY be able to help.
First advice is do not start 'throwing' caulking at suspect areas. Especially silicone. A water ingress situation is very serious. You have to determine the point of ingress and then deal that. Trial and error will likely compound your problem.

Frank M · August 07, 2020, 10:40 AM

Terry, First I just put the tiles down a week ago.

Could you actually see the water seeping, or was it standing water when you noticed it?
When stepping on a tile the water would come up between the tiles. No standing water on the floor or on the top of the tiles

How soon after the rain did you see it?
The next day. At first I thought it was from my shoes being wet.

Did you check the floor inside of all adjacent cupboards, especially at the wall to floor connection?
Yes but it seems to be appearing in front of the bathroom. No way to check under the shower pan which is the entire bathroom floor.

Were you connected to city water or was your pump turned on or was your system pressurized (dependent on your system)? If yes, did you check all of your plumbing connections - particularly your water heater inlet and outlet?
City water was not hooked up nor was the pump turned on. All is dry under the kitchen sink and around the water heater.

The motor home is equipped with an Thetford Electra Magic toilet that is a recirculating toilet. I just added 3 gallons of fresh water to it a few days prior to the rain. There is no visible leaks coming from it. Even if the holding tank valve on the toilet leaked it would run down in to the black tank so I do not think that is it.

Oz · August 07, 2020, 11:39 AM

Does that look a little better, Frank?

TerryH · August 07, 2020, 02:13 PM

Thanks Frank and Mark.
Given no standing water and recent tile laying it would suggest a wall or roof leak. When you layed the tile did you also put in baseboard/moldings? If so, can you remove them from both sides of the entry door and same for the bathroom door as well as a flooring transition if used and check the back and bottoms of each for water signs? This 'may' help to determine which side is likely problematic.
As well, you are going to have to perform a water test. It may require a fair amount of time depending on how high you have to test. It will require a second person and a lot of patience.
If you could post photos of both left and right exterior sides from the skirt bottom to the roof line I can give you the test steps. If not done correctly you may get a false positive.

Frank M · August 07, 2020, 03:36 PM

Thanks Oz for fixing my post! I did not put base board down. Just butted the tiles to the original rubber molding that Winnebago put between cabinets and flooring. Two weeks ago I spent 2 days going over the entire roof with sealer. Replaced all both ceiling vents and both air pipe vent covers. I do not suspect a roof leak. The problem seems isolated to one section of the floor. This weekend I will thoroughly investigate the exterior on the drivers side. The bathroom is located right behind the drivers seat. I will really examine the drivers side window and the bunk window above it. And also the seams that go down the exterior. Thunder storming at this exact moment so maybe I will see something when I get home???

Oz · August 08, 2020, 04:23 AM

Hope you finnd the source soon!

Frank M · August 10, 2020, 10:47 AM

I may have found the leak! Little kitchen window was leaking. Pulled the window out cleaned it and put it back in with butyl tape and caulked around the exterior trim. Time will tell if the problem has been solved. Anybody know where to get the felt slides and rubber trim for windows?

Oz · August 10, 2020, 12:24 PM

Try here:

https://www.steelerubber.com/camper-rv

Read through this thread as well, particularly page 2.

http://www.classicwinnebagos.com/forum/index.php?topic=14566.msg89677#msg89677

Ericb760 · August 10, 2020, 11:17 PM

Have you considered an internal pipe leak and that the timing of the rainstorm was just a coincidence? Last year I had wet carpet in front of my sink. I spent quite a while looking under just the sink. Turns out it was a bad shower control faucet, which was five feet further back. The water was leaking out of the cold water side and running down the hose until it reached the floor which was right behind the sink. Just a thought...

Frank M · August 11, 2020, 10:36 AM

Thanks OZ for the link. Great info.
Ericb760 Good thoughts. I actually replaced all of the plumbing under the counter with Pex. All is dry. I am hoping that the window and trim were the culprit. Calling for rain in a day or two so I will have to just sit in there after work and watch the floor with a bag of peanuts and a few beers.

Frank M · August 13, 2020, 10:10 AM

After drenching thunderstorms the floor was dry!

Oz · August 13, 2020, 07:03 PM

Well, that's certainly good news, but....
Hm?