Thank you so much for the kind words. We learned a lot through this process and really appreciate all the encouragement from viewers like you. Safe travels and happy holidays.
Thank you so much for following along with us. We learned a lot and we’re glad to share our experience (and laugh along the way). Happy holidays and safe travels.
Hi Guys, If anyone needs mentoring it is us. We have learned so much from you and Cindy over the years on RUclips and happy to call you friends. Safe travels and happy holidays.
Great job, Rick & Lisa! And happy birthday, Lisa! I hope you are planning to do a video about your Airstream Airport. I am in the process of doing the same.
Thank you. This has been a great learning experience and I our hope is that others will feel that they too can repair their AS if needed. As for the Airport, we hope to post a video next week as we break ground.
Thanks. As we look back on the past several weeks we weren’t always sure what we were doing or if we would fix the leak. But the AS community really provided us with great tips and recommendations that helped along the way.
@@thewrightlife You showed us that you do know what you are doing by being able to dive in and find the problem and then repair it. You know what they say about vehicles assembled on Fridays and Mondays ! It seems like who ever was on the line caulking and sealing your rig was in a hurry, lol
Repairs are looking great! Thanks for documenting all your steps from discovery, to troubleshooting, to repair, and resolution. Excellent work. Good music finds, too!
Fantastic video ya'll. So detailed and thorough, thank you. I noticed you also cleaned and repainted the sub floor frame work, all new black paint - looks great. You left no stone unturned !! I look forward to your future travels/videos. Take care !
Thanks for the great videos detailing out the diagnosing process. I have a 2017 international 30ft. I will include the sealing of the trims also as part of the spring maintenance work. Thanks again!
Great video and congratulations! It was an added bonus to hear the call from John! Keep up the good work. Perhaps when all this is settled you could share some mountain bike tips? See ya down the road.
Hi Mike, Thanks for watching and yes John was a BIG help in advising me during the repairs. He is a wealth of knowledge. Safe travels and happy holidays.
Congratulations! On conquering the leak. Great video, I learned a lot. I had replaced my beltline chrome trim two years ago and did address the exposed rivets and screws. I wish now that I had been a little more aggressive in the sealing of them. I'm getting ready to replace the skylights with the Maxim brand. Anyway, I have a '05 30' Classic with a slideout. It took me two days to replace both beltlines, the hardest part was the old glue-tape removal. Thanks for the great videos and I'll see you down the road. Stan
Hi Stan Thanks for watching and sharing your experience. We still have more work to do, but think the worst is behind us. Safe travels and happy holidays.
Hey Rick. I’ve been watching these videos and gotta say - you guys got after it. I think Airstream owes you a debt of gratitude for tackling this as you have. 👍 I hope the design flaw is noted at their highest levels and perhaps their engineers can review the situation and make it better for future designs. All my best my friend - Tim Tryon
Airstream includes a water test room that looks like a monsoon for every rig before any furniture or walls are installed. How could that process not catch this kind of problem in individual units of not in the design itself? When you get a breather I would do the entire rest of the trim to avoid any similar problems where you can’t necessarily detect it. I learned so much from this series of videos and about your tenacity. Way to go!
Hi, I just want to thank you *so much* for this series of videos about repairing your leaks. After 7 years, I've experienced both mice and a leak this spring/summer for the first time. I am not someone with a lot of tools or experience with handy(wo)man stuff and our local Airstream shop hasn't taken on repairs for years. So I get nervous/bummed/despondent when something crops up. But your comment about just getting on with it, and your doing that on video when faced with setbacks, has been inspiring for me. Plus actually seeing the work you're doing is also so helpful. I can see that one can actually take these things apart and put them back together again. It can be done. I have a couple of questions: I'm not clear on what sealant to use where. You use diflor on the roof, Sika somewhere else, parbond?. Could you talk about what places on the trailer need what kind of sealant/caulking sometime? Also, on the bumper rail, could you have just run Sika or parbond or diflor along the top edge of the channel where it meets the side of the airstream rather than taking the whole thing apart? Take care and thanks again! Kim
Hi Kim, thank you for your comments and kind words. We are happy to hear our videos have been helpful. As for your questions, I used Dicor lap sealant on the roof around the vents and skylights. It is self leveling so the surface needs to be flat. I used the Sikaflex sealant along the seams behind the lower belt line to stop the water leak that damaged our floor. The para bond was a clear sealant that I used along the top of the lower beltline (bumper rail) as a way to prevent water from getting behind the bumper trim. With any of these sealants or other brands, the most important step in their use is to properly clear and prepare the surface. If you don’t clean the surface well or leave some of the old sealant you risk the new sealant not sticking well and/or coming up. I hope this answers your questions. Safe travels and happy camping.
Great job. Excellent video series. Thanks for keeping us updated on this journey. Looking forward to seeing the flooring repair and the other belt line repairs!
Been watching your progress on this and rooting for you! How are going to get the new flooring to have a clean edge against the furniture since that’s not being installed on top of it?
Well we are still thinking thru that next step 🤣. We plan to use LVP flooring and are looking at using InstaTrim along the edges. More to follow. Thanks for watching and happy holidays.
Well done Rick! I would still be interested in seeing the list of tools / materials you used for this repair / install along with the part number for the belt-line trim you purchased from Woodland RV. I know y’all are ready to get back to camping - see you down the road!
Thanks for the continued support and encouragement. As for the tools and materials list I may need to do a separate video on that in the future. Perhaps after the New Year.
@@thewrightlife - Rick, that would be great. I’ve added several items (moisture meter, heater switch, etc.) from watching your various DIY videos. Keep up the great work.
I did not. I don’t think the glue would hold a bond between the two and the floor and frame will flex when traveling. I just used screws to secure the floor to the steel frame. Hope this helps to answer your question. Thanks for watching and safe travels.
Unfortunately, you are probably right. That said, we have removed all the OEM flooring and I have begun checking all of the subfloor for excessive moisture readings. We also plan to reseal the remaining beltline around the rig in the coming weeks just to be safe. Happy holidays and safe travels.
Hi Rick, I really enjoyed watching this series and you did a great job tracking down the leak. Now, whenever I get a leak I know a little bit more. There is one thing I noticed in your repair, when you finished it looks like you didn't put down black paint along the edge. It's supposed to help. Thank you.
Thanks for the comment. If I understand your question correctly, I think you are referring to the “black paint” along the outside edge of the subfloor. It that is correct, I used Titebond III (waterproof wood glue) to seal the new subfloor patches that I installed. It was recommended by a very experienced AS who is also a master carpenter as an alternative method to seal the subfloor and prevent any future water damage. I hope this explanation helps. Safe travels and happy holidays.
Floor covering first would have been my choice. Fitting it back into heater intake, etc. doesn’t seem easy. Just my thoughts. Hoping it goes well for you!
Hi, Since we don’t plan to reinstall the vinyl flooring and plan to install LVP flooring we weren’t going to be able to put the flooring in first. That’s a project for another day 🙂. Thanks for watching and happy holidays.
Great series of videos on this issue, learned a lot. Are you going to add any type of sealant to the top of the lower belt line for additional water proofing? I believe you mentioned this in a previous video that you may look into this. If so, what are you going to use?
We did apply a sealant (Par Bond) to the top of the lower belt line. It was recommended to me by a fellow AS and because it has a small metal tip (unlike the caulk tubes) it was much easier to apply. Hope this helps.
Thanks for these videos. So much work!! Such poor workmanship in the first place from Airstream. Unfortunately there is a lot of horrifying bad jobs like that all around. How did you notice it was leaking from the underbelly in the first place? The very beginning, if you mentionnés already I forgot, sorry :-0). Good find, great work !! Mega super patience !!!
Thanks for the comment and questions. We first noticed a soft spot need the door. After that we noticed some staining on the vinyl flooring. As for locating the leak it was really a process of trial and error and a process of elimination. Thanks again for watching and happy holidays.
Great job on the repair! Really loved the knowledge and humor you shared. I know from experience the kind of misery you went through. I really hope you will be attending the Airstream International Rally in Sedalia, Mo. I would like to meet you both and buy you a beer! Thank you for all the videos you produce; they are excellent! V/R Frank (AS 9224)
Frank…thank you for your kind words of support and encouragement. We are happy to know the videos were helpful and some what entertaining 🙂. We plan to attend the AS Rally In Missouri and would love to meet you as well. Happy holidays and safe travels.
We are curious if there was ever an “odor” coming from the subfloor rot or the water? Secondly, why did you opt to attach the belt line with screws and not rivets? Thank you!
Hi…We started to notice a musty smell in the Airstream, but originally thought it was because it had been closed up. It was the soft spot and the staining on the floor that really got our attention. As for the belt line, we reattached it with both rivets and screws (the way Airstream had installed it). Not sure if one method is better than the other. Hope this helps. Thanks for watching and safe travels.
Your Repair Looks Great ! I honestly think that Beltline completely 360 around the Airstream is Suspect to Leaking??!! In my opinion Very Poor Design! When I inspected brand new Airstreams and could see evidence of water intrusion that really tells you something ! If I were you I would Inspect everywhere possible for water intrusion? Good Luck to you and Family !
Thank you. Once we get thru the holidays we plan to inspect and reseal the remaining beltline just to be safe. We are also in the process of building a shelter to park the AS under which will help reduce exposure to the sun and rain.
Some people see Problems, others see Opportunities to learn, grow and succeed. Job well done by you and Lisa! Safe travels
Thank you so much for the kind words. We learned a lot through this process and really appreciate all the encouragement from viewers like you. Safe travels and happy holidays.
@@thewrightlife Happy Holidays to y’all as well. We will be trying out a new COE Campground in Alabama over the holidays! Safe travels
Another great video, I am very happy that you found the leak. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for watching and the continued support. Words of encouragement go along way to achieving success. Safe travels and happy holidays.
Thx for sharing this experience!!!!
Thank you for watching and joining us along the way.
Thank you for sharing, I love your videos. Your a wealth of information.
Thanks for watching and words of encouragement. Happy holidays and safe travels.
Wonderful news. So happy for you
Thank you. Your support and encouragement is much appreciated. Happy holidays and safe travels.
Nice work Wright Family! Such a great feeling. Thanks for sharing this experience!
Thank you so much for following along with us. We learned a lot and we’re glad to share our experience (and laugh along the way). Happy holidays and safe travels.
Great job in finding the leak and making the repair! When the day comes that I need to do some floor repair, you can be my "mentoring" person.
Hi Guys,
If anyone needs mentoring it is us. We have learned so much from you and Cindy over the years on RUclips and happy to call you friends. Safe travels and happy holidays.
Nice fix, it’s always satisfying to correctly resolve an issue!
Really appreciate it. Thanks for watching and safe travels.
Great job, Rick & Lisa! And happy birthday, Lisa! I hope you are planning to do a video about your Airstream Airport. I am in the process of doing the same.
Thank you. This has been a great learning experience and I our hope is that others will feel that they too can repair their AS if needed. As for the Airport, we hope to post a video next week as we break ground.
Rick, I am really enjoying your RUclips videos. You and Lisa are truly enjoying a retirement life well lived. . . and deserved. Chris Spillman
Hi Chris,
Lisa and I are living our best life. Retirement life has been great and hope our paths cross again in the future. Happy holidays.
Congrats! I just vowed not to complain while building my daughter’s playhouse. Thanks for the inspiration.
🤣🤣. Well I’ve found that it never really helps to complain. Good luck on the playhouse and happy holidays.
Job well done, Thanks for the content.
Thank you for watching and commenting. Safe travels.
Great job solving the leak, what a team. I hope airstream took notes !
Thanks. As we look back on the past several weeks we weren’t always sure what we were doing or if we would fix the leak. But the AS community really provided us with great tips and recommendations that helped along the way.
@@thewrightlife
You showed us that you do know what you are doing by being able to dive in and find the problem and then repair it. You know what they say about vehicles assembled on Fridays and Mondays ! It seems like who ever was on the line caulking and sealing your rig was in a hurry, lol
Woohoo!! Success! So happy you both got this sorted! It was so nice seeing you both again! Until next time.... safe travels!
Safe travels and happy holidays to you as well.
Repairs are looking great! Thanks for documenting all your steps from discovery, to troubleshooting, to repair, and resolution. Excellent work. Good music finds, too!
Thanks so much! Safe travels and happy holidays.
Fantastic video ya'll. So detailed and thorough, thank you. I noticed you also cleaned and repainted the sub floor frame work, all new black paint - looks great. You left no stone unturned !! I look forward to your future travels/videos. Take care !
Thank you so much. Safe travels
Congrats on a job well done. The way you installed the reflectix with the tape was ingenious. Looking forward to seeing the new flooring install.
Ingenious is perhaps an overstatement, but it seemed to work. 🤣 Thanks for watching and happy holidays.
Thanks for the great videos detailing out the diagnosing process. I have a 2017 international 30ft. I will include the sealing of the trims also as part of the spring maintenance work. Thanks again!
Glad to help
Whoop whoop 🙌
Glad you appear to have reached the finale of this project. I bet you are looking forward to getting back on the road..
We are excited to travel again but we have a few more projects to complete first. 🙂
I’m glad you got it all figured out. My airstream is on order and have never owned an RV before. I found this series kind of fascinating.
Thanks for watching. Best of luck with your Airstream and safe travels.
Nice job! I am glad you finally figured it out.
Thanks. Safe travels and happy holidays.
@@thewrightlife Same to you!
Great video and congratulations! It was an added bonus to hear the call from John! Keep up the good work. Perhaps when all this is settled you could share some mountain bike tips? See ya down the road.
Hi Mike,
Thanks for watching and yes John was a BIG help in advising me during the repairs. He is a wealth of knowledge. Safe travels and happy holidays.
Congratulations! On conquering the leak. Great video, I learned a lot. I had replaced my beltline chrome trim two years ago and did address the exposed rivets and screws. I wish now that I had been a little more aggressive in the sealing of them. I'm getting ready to replace the skylights with the Maxim brand. Anyway, I have a '05 30' Classic with a slideout. It took me two days to replace both beltlines, the hardest part was the old glue-tape removal. Thanks for the great videos and I'll see you down the road. Stan
Hi Stan
Thanks for watching and sharing your experience. We still have more work to do, but think the worst is behind us. Safe travels and happy holidays.
Hey Rick. I’ve been watching these videos and gotta say - you guys got after it. I think Airstream owes you a debt of gratitude for tackling this as you have. 👍 I hope the design flaw is noted at their highest levels and perhaps their engineers can review the situation and make it better for future designs. All my best my friend - Tim Tryon
Hey Tim
Great hearing from you…it’s been too long. Hope all is well. Happy Holidays!
Airstream includes a water test room that looks like a monsoon for every rig before any furniture or walls are installed. How could that process not catch this kind of problem in individual units of not in the design itself? When you get a breather I would do the entire rest of the trim to avoid any similar problems where you can’t necessarily detect it. I learned so much from this series of videos and about your tenacity. Way to go!
Thanks for the comments and kind words. We plan to reseal the remaining beltline (most likely after the New Year) just to be safe. Happy Holidays.
You both need to give yourself a pat on the back. I really enjoyed watching your videos on this repair and learned a lot. Hope to see out there.
Hi, I just want to thank you *so much* for this series of videos about repairing your leaks. After 7 years, I've experienced both mice and a leak this spring/summer for the first time. I am not someone with a lot of tools or experience with handy(wo)man stuff and our local Airstream shop hasn't taken on repairs for years. So I get nervous/bummed/despondent when something crops up. But your comment about just getting on with it, and your doing that on video when faced with setbacks, has been inspiring for me. Plus actually seeing the work you're doing is also so helpful. I can see that one can actually take these things apart and put them back together again. It can be done. I have a couple of questions: I'm not clear on what sealant to use where. You use diflor on the roof, Sika somewhere else, parbond?. Could you talk about what places on the trailer need what kind of sealant/caulking sometime? Also, on the bumper rail, could you have just run Sika or parbond or diflor along the top edge of the channel where it meets the side of the airstream rather than taking the whole thing apart? Take care and thanks again! Kim
Hi Kim, thank you for your comments and kind words. We are happy to hear our videos have been helpful. As for your questions, I used Dicor lap sealant on the roof around the vents and skylights. It is self leveling so the surface needs to be flat. I used the Sikaflex sealant along the seams behind the lower belt line to stop the water leak that damaged our floor. The para bond was a clear sealant that I used along the top of the lower beltline (bumper rail) as a way to prevent water from getting behind the bumper trim. With any of these sealants or other brands, the most important step in their use is to properly clear and prepare the surface. If you don’t clean the surface well or leave some of the old sealant you risk the new sealant not sticking well and/or coming up. I hope this answers your questions. Safe travels and happy camping.
@@thewrightlife Thanks so much! That is really helpful!
Great job. Excellent video series. Thanks for keeping us updated on this journey. Looking forward to seeing the flooring repair and the other belt line repairs!
Thanks for watching. Happy holidays and safe travels
Somebody say too Easy!!!
Been watching your progress on this and rooting for you! How are going to get the new flooring to have a clean edge against the furniture since that’s not being installed on top of it?
Well we are still thinking thru that next step 🤣. We plan to use LVP flooring and are looking at using InstaTrim along the edges. More to follow. Thanks for watching and happy holidays.
Well done Rick! I would still be interested in seeing the list of tools / materials you used for this repair / install along with the part number for the belt-line trim you purchased from Woodland RV. I know y’all are ready to get back to camping - see you down the road!
Thanks for the continued support and encouragement. As for the tools and materials list I may need to do a separate video on that in the future. Perhaps after the New Year.
@@thewrightlife - Rick, that would be great. I’ve added several items (moisture meter, heater switch, etc.) from watching your various DIY videos. Keep up the great work.
One question, did you fill the seam with wood glue between your old wood flooring and the new wood flooring?
I did not. I don’t think the glue would hold a bond between the two and the floor and frame will flex when traveling. I just used screws to secure the floor to the steel frame. Hope this helps to answer your question. Thanks for watching and safe travels.
Sad thing about all this is your lower belt line is probably leaking in more locations where you don't have access to the rotted out subfloor
Unfortunately, you are probably right. That said, we have removed all the OEM flooring and I have begun checking all of the subfloor for excessive moisture readings. We also plan to reseal the remaining beltline around the rig in the coming weeks just to be safe. Happy holidays and safe travels.
Hi Rick, I really enjoyed watching this series and you did a great job tracking down the leak. Now, whenever I get a leak I know a little bit more. There is one thing I noticed in your repair, when you finished it looks like you didn't put down black paint along the edge. It's supposed to help. Thank you.
Thanks for the comment. If I understand your question correctly, I think you are referring to the “black paint” along the outside edge of the subfloor. It that is correct, I used Titebond III (waterproof wood glue) to seal the new subfloor patches that I installed. It was recommended by a very experienced AS who is also a master carpenter as an alternative method to seal the subfloor and prevent any future water damage. I hope this explanation helps. Safe travels and happy holidays.
Thank you, now I'm learning even more! Sounds like a great idea.
Floor covering first would have been my choice. Fitting it back into heater intake, etc. doesn’t seem easy. Just my thoughts. Hoping it goes well for you!
Hi,
Since we don’t plan to reinstall the vinyl flooring and plan to install LVP flooring we weren’t going to be able to put the flooring in first. That’s a project for another day 🙂. Thanks for watching and happy holidays.
@@thewrightlife Got it!
Great series of videos on this issue, learned a lot. Are you going to add any type of sealant to the top of the lower belt line for additional water proofing? I believe you mentioned this in a previous video that you may look into this. If so, what are you going to use?
We did apply a sealant (Par Bond) to the top of the lower belt line. It was recommended to me by a fellow AS and because it has a small metal tip (unlike the caulk tubes) it was much easier to apply. Hope this helps.
Thanks for these videos. So much work!! Such poor workmanship in the first place from Airstream. Unfortunately there is a lot of horrifying bad jobs like that all around. How did you notice it was leaking from the underbelly in the first place? The very beginning, if you mentionnés already I forgot, sorry :-0). Good find, great work !! Mega super patience !!!
Thanks for the comment and questions. We first noticed a soft spot need the door. After that we noticed some staining on the vinyl flooring. As for locating the leak it was really a process of trial and error and a process of elimination. Thanks again for watching and happy holidays.
@@thewrightlife Thank You ! ok Yes, I remember now. ☺. Happy Hollidays too !
Great job on the repair! Really loved the knowledge and humor you shared. I know from experience the kind of misery you went through. I really hope you will be attending the Airstream International Rally in Sedalia, Mo. I would like to meet you both and buy you a beer! Thank you for all the videos you produce; they are excellent! V/R Frank (AS 9224)
Frank…thank you for your kind words of support and encouragement. We are happy to know the videos were helpful and some what entertaining 🙂. We plan to attend the AS Rally In Missouri and would love to meet you as well. Happy holidays and safe travels.
We are curious if there was ever an “odor” coming from the subfloor rot or the water? Secondly, why did you opt to attach the belt line with screws and not rivets? Thank you!
Hi…We started to notice a musty smell in the Airstream, but originally thought it was because it had been closed up. It was the soft spot and the staining on the floor that really got our attention. As for the belt line, we reattached it with both rivets and screws (the way Airstream had installed it). Not sure if one method is better than the other. Hope this helps. Thanks for watching and safe travels.
I'm not sure if you mentioned this yet, where are you buying linoleum replacement that will match the rest of the floor?
Sorry for the late reply. We are replacing the flooring with LVP.
Your Repair Looks Great ! I honestly think that Beltline completely 360 around the Airstream is Suspect to Leaking??!! In my opinion Very Poor Design! When I inspected brand new Airstreams and could see evidence of water intrusion that really tells you something ! If I were you I would Inspect everywhere possible for water intrusion? Good Luck to you and Family !
Thank you. Once we get thru the holidays we plan to inspect and reseal the remaining beltline just to be safe. We are also in the process of building a shelter to park the AS under which will help reduce exposure to the sun and rain.