Seanwinder22 Posted June 17, 2022 Share Posted June 17, 2022 Hi everyone I’m looking for a little info on this beading or seal on my side skirts no sign of any sealant on the skirts just this beading or trim Is this how the motorhome comes as stock from the dealer does anyone know or was it put on ? It’s a 59 plate fiat ducato bessacar e660 Reason I ask is the under splash and rain water issues folk get Today while under the van I noticed behind rear wheel arch the ply wood under the floor as a tiny bit of damp about 2 inch x 4inch not to the point I can put my finger threw put the top scraped off and peeled away I’ve seen some threads on Google guys using wood Rot hardener and filler or re ply in areas Mine just needs a little filler then done thank god But still how to seal the area it’s getting in So this year van on the swift had a recall with the damp because under the van floor had a black coating apparently so road splash and the sides skirt was absorbing threw the timber but couldn’t dry out with this black vinyl or what ever it was Mines been taken off but I can see it was on Soooo how should I go about this beading ? So I take it out and use sealant? Or run a thin bead of sealant on it Thanks (Edited to display photo - Please use .jpg for photos and not .jpeg - Keithl) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjsbc Posted June 25, 2022 Share Posted June 25, 2022 I have a kontiki same problem only worse,the skirts are screwed to the sides of the van.Looking at your pic the small section that comes out from the wall is part of the full skirt the next piece is an extrusion that covers the fastenings that hold the skirt on, from memory it slides into place when the end plastc mouldings are off.Sealing the gap wall to skirt is not really effective as the gap is to small and the sealant will crack and allow water access. My van was a disaster( Swifts shoddy work),the wall ended just above the sandwich floor ply,any water that ran between the skirt and wall ( sealant failed) ended up on the ply end and was absorbed causing rot,if the wall exterior section was below the ply level it would have dripped off and the ply would have remained dry.Another area of concerne was that water thrown up while driving in the wet would also end here but would not be as bad. The rot had really taken hold,the the end of the sandwich floor has a timber batten glued in place this is screwed into to hold the skirt as well as everything together mine in places were rotten as well as the ply. The timber was replaced plastic sheet removed rotten ply removed new ply glued to styrene another ply panel was glued and screwed over the first going well past the join where the first ply ended I had a flashing made to run between the outer skin and timber batten this covered the end of the new ply (treated against rot) and then every thing had a good coat of flexible underseal. Swift could have avoided this by specifying treated timber on the bottom sheet and treated batten wall to floor interface. Hope this is some help I would advise to check everywhere for more rot and anyone with a similar vehicle should do the same, I looked at a swift a couple of years ago when I was last in the UK the build quality left much to be desired the cabinetry fit of the cupboard doors was awfull and this was on a demonstration vehicle. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vindiboy Posted June 25, 2022 Share Posted June 25, 2022 The side skirts are just for show, my van is the same, sealing them as you want to do will be next to impossible due to flexing etc in travel. imagine the van without the skirts, the sides just go down to the bottom and water would just run off to ground, the problem is really water etc coming up from the road and off the wheels when in motion, so the underside will get wet , so it is best to make sure the underside in the area of concern is well undersealed and painted. as I see things ?? I have done just that on my van . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjsbc Posted June 25, 2022 Share Posted June 25, 2022 Sealing from below can trap the water between wall and skirt it then migrates trough the outer skin via the penetrations where the screws holding the skirts are soaking the batten and lower floor ply the rot then begins.All the componants I replaced were treated it is not perfect though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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