Water, Water Everywhere, Nor Any Drop To Drink

[Pxr177]

I am having a water infiltration problem near my shower. The unit is a 30-foot Fourwinds Chateau.

The shower is beside the bedroom, and the wall they share hold the tap and head.

Right where the corridor meets the bedroom, outside the shower, there is a lip about 2-inch-high, carpeted. This makes the bedroom floor 2 inches above the rest of the unit floor. It has been wet for weeks. Not all, of it, but in the middle. Like most showers in RVs, there is a molded floor with a lip on it, and a vinyl wall. This lips forms a little tub as the base of the shower. There are small gaps in the join between the sides of the shower and the bed of the shower. I assume there must be an overlap so water should not penetrate the wall. Maybe this has shifted. Other culprits may be the shower head or tap, or the drain. Does the drain cross under the bedroom floor to get to the water tank?

I was thinking of caulking the edge where the wall meets the floor, using a viscous silicone caulk. Any ideas out there?

Thanks.

P.S. We had a great time at the Perry convention. Thanks to all we met.

[wolfe10]

Welcome to the FMCA Forum.

Best advice is to call Fourwinds for their advice on how/where to caulk.

As far as possible faucet or plumbing leak, can you remove the escutcheon around the faucet/shower control and use a light and mirror to check for water there?

Brett

[hermanmullins]

Ditto to what Brett said, welcome to the Forum.

On the wall in your bedroom look to see if there is a panel that can be removed. Most (but not always) mfgr. will put an access panel where there is plumbing in a wall. If there is remove the panel and see if you may have a seeping water leak. Also you might turn off your pump, drain off the pressure and wait several days and check if the damp spot drys. If so it is a water pressure leak. If not then it may be a drainage problem. But as Brett said check with your mfgr. they can direct you to access to water and drain areas.

[dalltop]

Had a similar issue but the leak would appear outside. Ended up removing the access panel for the shower controls in the bedroom and saw the moisture. The way the shower faucet was installed, the hose is mounted on top of the controls, and when you turned off the shower, the water would drain out of the hose through the anti-siphoning hole and fill up the space behind the controls until it would overflow and run down the wall.

I drilled a weep hole to allow the water to evacuate and sealed the pipes entering the wall. I wonder if the faucet was installed upside down. I did think about changing the mounting so the hose would leave the bottom of the faucet controls, but I was afraid that the hose would be to short to allow the brackets to hold the shower nozzle without having to move them. That would be a pain since they are screwed in.

Man did I hunt for that leak. I was so happy it was that and not the drain. What a major pain that would have been. Of course the shower controls were the last thing I checked because it only happened when the shower was used, not when it was under pressure but not used.

Good luck.

[Pxr177]

Update:

Thanks for all the help. I located the panel on the bedroom wall. How many times have I looked at that wall and not noticed.

When I removed it, everything was bone dry and no sign of moisture, so its not the taps.

We have used the camp ground showers for a few days, and the rug is drying, but slowly because its a very wet April north of Toronto.

It looks like the gap is the problem, so I plan to caulk it with a robust silicone caulk.

I also wrote the manufacturer and won't act until I hear from them.

Thanks again

Paul

[hermanmullins]

Update:

Thanks for all the help. I located the panel on the bedroom wall. How many times have I looked at that wall and not noticed.

When I removed it, everything was bone dry and no sign of moisture, so its not the taps.

We have used the camp ground showers for a few days, and the rug is drying, but slowly because its a very wet April north of Toronto.

It looks like the gap is the problem, so I plan to caulk it with a robust silicone caulk.

I also wrote the manufacturer and won't act until I hear from them.

Thanks again

Paul

Glad you found the panel. I reread my post. My bad, if you turned off your pump and drained the water like I said your carpet would dry out anyway. Because even if it was a drain problem without water running you would not have been able to detect a leak. That being said, look around the base of your shower. Mine has a small panel that you can see under the pan. You might find signs of a leak there. If you don't find any sign of a drain leak it may just be a need to caulk as you said. Glad you found that it was not a pressure leak in the line.

Good Luck

[jrwitt]

You mentioned "wet April." Any chance that this water leak is rain coming in on the roof around the black-water vent pipe? If so, it could be running down the wall or down the vent pipe and leaking under the bath wall to the carpet. Wouldn't have thought of that if you hadn't mentioned the wet weather. Might be worth inspecting the roof to see if any seals are broken around the vent pipes or wherever. Good luck. Water intrusion can be so frustrating!

Jack

[dalltop]

I would also purchase a small shop wet/dry vacuum from Lowes or Home Depot type store and vacuum that as much of that moisture out. A small 2-3 gal should work and stll be small enough to carry until you resolve the issue. They usually do not cost much.