Rotted wood stairwell

[Tdccmc]

On my 2008 Monaco Diplomat 40’ PDQ, the tiled shelf on right side of stairwell has sunken down. Further investigation revealed rotted wood under the tiles. Has anyone had this problem? If so, where are the likely sources of water penetration? Also, how did you replace the plywood under the tile?



Thanks for you help.
Tony

[windsorbill]

Tony,

I'd look at the windshield for the leak.

It's best if you tear out the tile and replace all the wet and rotten wood. It's never going to fix itself. It's unlikely you'll find matching tile. Maybe new carpeting over new plywood as an alternative? Lots of choices for flooring, depending on how far you want to take that project.

[TMyers17]

Driving at highway speed with wet roads is creating a vortex of water under the coach. My bet is it started underneath.

[HR2004]

We have carpet in the same spot. it gets wet when the dash AC is running.. but not here in AZ where the humidity is really low. I read some post on here somewhere that Monaco and HR are prone to having the duct work sweat under the dash.. I am in AZ now and parked for another week but will be headed back to Missouri.. I replaced all my vents as the corners were broken and wrapped all the ducts with insulation.. I hope this helps me out.. Also the windshields were replaced in Dec when we got here.. The sealant around them was probably original and was hard and brittle.

[Amosmoses]

Yep, been there..initially suspected the windshield; which did in fact have a leak due to prior owner having installed windshield with an incorrect gasket or windshield fitment..however it was overall minimal in contrast to the primary source of water penetration.
The over door awning was the culprit. I would for sure check this area..the awning is on a track which is riveted through the exterior fiberglass sidewall.. overtime it can become loosened due to neglecting to retract in high winds and it eventually will pull away, and wear out the rivets and widen the holes in the sidewall allowing water to infiltrate, ride down the door frame and ultimately rott the subflooring in that area..all in all we dug out the rot as much as possible apply anti mildew paint to new wood and covered with new flooring..Good luck.

[astrnmrtom]

Crawl under the steps and inspect the area. Had to rebuild the steps in my Safari because of rotten wood. I thought the water damage possibly came from the bottom step getting wet from the door being open in the rain. My the wood on my steps was screwed to a heavy sheet metal box, and when I crawled underneath to inspect the condition of the sheet metal I discovered where the wiring for the step light went through the sheet metal, it was poorly caulked. This spot is right in front of the passenger front tire. Perfectly placed for water flung off the tire in motion to get forced through the hole. Also found some poor caulking around the salesman switch on the other side. Then after cleaning up the sheet metal noticed the weld along the front bottom of the bottom step wasn't continuous. This left a thin crack facing forward not far from the road surface. Traveling down the road in the rain could force water into the crack and under the bottom step. My original theory went out the window when the cause became obvious. Fortunately while a lot of the plywood was rotten, the sheet metal just had surface rust. The plywood in the bottom step was the consistency of potato chips. I wire brushed it the sheet metal, caulked the cracks and holes, treated it with rust top and then painted it with a rubberized paint. Installed treated plywood as a base and found some vinyl plank flooring that went with the carpet. Caulked around all the edges. Found a rubber backed carpet mat at Home, and cut it into stair treads and stuck for the middle of the steps. Stuck down with doublestick tape. Good as new - better in fact.

First picture is after I pulled up the vinyl glued to the wood and brushed out the crumbled plywood. Second is after the rebuild.

Finding exact replacement tile could be tough so you may be forced to change the finish to something that goes with your decore. At first I was frustrated trying to match 20 year old colors but decided I go with something close. After installing it and having it for a while, I doubt anyone would notice that it isn't a perfect match. The tread bullnose was the hardest as anodized brass color isn't in style anymore and the closest I could find was too gold, but I had no choice.

Good luck with your repair.

[Tdccmc]

Removed rotted wood today. Have 3/4 plywood covered with Luan with tile on top. . Previous owners must have identified a problem and attempted a fix with Hugh amounts of caulk.

[Tdccmc]

Have found the leak which caused the problem, just not sure that’s the source.
. This area is where the right hand handrail is attached. When I removed the screws, water just poured out the screw holes. That’s definitely part of the problem. Will wait until heavy rain to attempt to identify source.

[astrnmrtom]

Great detective work! Good luck tracking down the source of that water.

[Tdccmc]

Water appears to be coming in from various places around door. I’m thinking the flat seals around the entry door need to be replaced. Most of screws are rusted. So how difficult is it to remove the door and replace all door seals? It appears to be at least three different seals.

First interior entry step was completely rotten under black rubber tread cover. Thinking about replacing the plywood in all three steps. Any suggestions for tread and riser materials?

[TRH299]

I recently removed my door and partially removed the frame on my 04 Camelot... Many of the screws in the door hinge area snapped off. Probably not a big deal so long as you are not also trying to remove the door frame also. Be warned, the door is fricking heavy!

[TRH299]

Just re-read this. Any chance your AC box on the front of the firewall has a plugged drain tube? If so, water could pool when running AC and leak out down the back side of your firewall onto the floor in that area.

[Timaz]

Originally Posted by Tdccmc

Water appears to be coming in from various places around door. I’m thinking the flat seals around the entry door need to be replaced. Most of screws are rusted. So how difficult is it to remove the door and replace all door seals? It appears to be at least three different seals.

First interior entry step was completely rotten under black rubber tread cover. Thinking about replacing the plywood in all three steps. Any suggestions for tread and riser materials?

You should be able to replace all of the door seals without removing the door.