Soggy Subflooring in Bathroom

[AVian]

I don’t know what section this post should go under but interior restoration felt most appropriate. The Problem: Wetness in bathroom UNDER the vinyl flooring the previous owners installed. Here’s what I know. The roof fan vent thing in the bathroom leaks/ pours depending on how bad it’s raining I’ve only seen it pour once and it was during the hurricane we had at the beginning of September. I had a bucket catching the water then so it wasn’t much of an issue. We’ve had pretty bad storms just about every week since then but I have no idea how bad the leak was because I wasn’t home when they happened. So right now my theory is that water came in from the fan vent and seeped in between the pieces of vinyl to whatever is under that. BUT, I also know my Grey water tank will leak pretty badly when it’s overfilled and that leaks back by the dump valves (not sure of exact location) because that hasn’t happened in quite a while. I shrugged it off as not a big issue when I saw it because I filled the tank on purpose to weigh the trailer down before the hurricane. I figured the excess would just drain out and there wouldn’t be an issue (I’m not going to do that again). Today noticed a drip coming from above the rear axle also near dump valves but in a different spot than where the gray water tank leak was. Checked monitor panel and grey tank is reading empty like it should with the drainage T open. When I cut off the city water off the leak stopped. Also I noticed in my shower that there is water in the drain despite not being used in the past week or more. I need some opinions because I haven’t found anyone else that’s experienced this. Ive been observing it for the past week and it doesn’t appear to be getting worse, meaning I don’t think there’s more water under the floor. But it does seem like walking across it makes it spread out. What is everyone’s opinion? Anybody gone through a similar experience? Any theories/ thoughts/ speculations. Has anybody gone through something similar. Right now I’m disconnected from the city water and all tanks are empty there’s nothing leaking underneath. There’s a fan blowing on the floor to hopefully help. I’m going to leave it this way for a while and monitor the floor’s moisture content. I’ll attach a Diagram with possible sources

[Razorback]

Is the vent cover intact? This is the original vent/fan?? (The one made by Hammond, with the rounded corners?) Assuming the water is coming from above, how is the water getting in? On the roof, is the sealant intact around that vent? (This is a fantastic area to use Eternabond sealant tape.)
If the water is not coming from above, there must be a water line leaking somewhere in that area. I would check the shower faucet lines (I am not personally familiar with the 34X's specifics, but am curious if there is some king of access directly behind the shower faucet valve where you can inspect the water lines feeding it?), the bathroom sink water lines (under the counter, and the water line at the toilet. Any of the fittings or lines can be leaking under pressure. If you still have the original grey-colored water lines, those are known to deteriorate, split, crack, etc. Mine are original and still OK, but I really want to replace all of it with PEX tubing.

[AVian]

Sorry for my late reply I had to strategize how to track the leak down and step 1 was to get the floor as dry as possible. So I put a fan on High in the bathroom for a few days and adjusted the direction it as pointing every couple of days and I turned the city water off. To my relief I dried up but now I’ve been trying to trace the leak. I’ve come up with 2 places now that I think could be the culprits #1 is the temp/on/off knob in the shower and the other possibility is the shower drain. Whether these are symptoms of a larger problem, I don’t know. I do have the original water lines and there is no visible leaks when I use the sinks or toilet. The area of flooring in the photo seems to be where the water is the worst.

[Razorback]

Good job! That faucet is easy to fix. They make repair kits for those that include little springs and rubber seals for the hot and cold sides of that valve. There's also some pieces to fix the lever/ball that the handle moves to mix the water. It'll look something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Danco-86971-Repa ... B000VZOMKS

To inspect the tub drain, that panel on the front of the tub can come off, then you can see underneath.

[AVian]

Ok I’ll look into one of those repair kits. Fingers crossed they’re not as expensive as the Bargman lock repair kits. I found a great YouTube video of someone replacing their drain and it looks like a serious headache. Would really appreciate hearing your thoughts/opinions/ /suggestions on the video. https://youtu.be/3xONh3qfDD4?si=v1YCcsgSHeLgZ-jv

[AVian]

Good job! That faucet is easy to fix. They make repair kits for those that include little springs and rubber seals for the hot and cold sides of that valve. There's also some pieces to fix the lever/ball that the handle moves to mix the water. It'll look something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Danco-86971-Repa ... B000VZOMKSm

To inspect the tub drain, that panel on the front of the tub can come off, then you can see underneath.

Do you have any sources that show how to remove the panel you’re talking about? I really need to watch someone else do it before I attempt it.

[Razorback]

Sorry, I do not, but I think there are screws under the wallpaper that covers that panel??

I know that others here have had that panel removed. Hopefully someone will chime in......

[AVian]

Ok the only screws I’ve seen are inside the shower connecting the tub to the walls and they’re sealed so I’m hesitant to unscrew them all just to see what they do.

[AVian]

FINALLY! I got off work at 3:30am and the first thing I did when I got home was try to fix my faucet with the repair kit Razorback recommended. Unfortunately my faucet was too old for the replacement parts to fit. So now I’m just gonna bite the bullet and buy a whole new faucet tomorrow (or today I guess I should say) I figured out how to access behind the shower (there’s a hole in my closet I just never noticed before Now that I’ve been able to see all the pieces of the puzzle it seems to me that the water was most likely coming from the faucet because the drain isn’t in a position to cause a leak like I’ve been experiencing For anybody having issues with their shower/tub faucet in a ‘87 34X there should be an access panel in the closet directly next to the faucet. If there isn’t one already you can safely cut one as long as it’s towards the back 1/3 of the closet. I also found that the flip down storage area below the same closet has 3 screws 2 in front and 1 in the back remove those screws and pry the panel up and wedge it up with something so it doesn’t keep falling back to its position. You will be able to see the tub drain behind the black pipe. It would be pretty impossible to work on the drain from this position but it’s all you would need to do to see the drain at least. I’m going to make a separate post for the faucet installation. Wish me luck

[Razorback]

Aw, crud! I hate that you bought that exact kit...... the kit you'd need would look "like" the kit I showed you..... anyway....... I will try to find the exact kit needed for our faucets.

Good luck with the search.