More!
The bulge, as reported above by Bill Jourdain, in its incarnation in my Beaver, was right where the wall panelling transitions to carpeting, below the wall lamp that is between the dinette and the chair. Mine was not protruding far enough to knock the trim to the floor, as Bill reported, and my trim was screwed in, so could take a lot more deflection. In depth, mine was no more than 1/4 inch. So imagine my surprise, when I cut into this, to find that behind the impervious vinyl covering, was a space between the aluminum frame (aft side of the space) and the white styrofoam filler (forward side) of about 3 1/2 inches, going from just above the floor, to the bottom of the upper cabinets. In this space was a piece of finger jointed 2x2 that didn't appear to be attached to anything, but stood the full height, beside which was a piece of 3/4 plywood, edges towards me. Btween these bits of wood that didn't quite fill the space, nothing else. Both these bits of wood were completely rotted, top to bottom, as was the skin plywood on both the inside and outside of the aluminum frame. At the bottom it was so wet that I got splashed as I hacked away at the rot with a wide chisel. The inside skin is only doorskin, or equivalent, about 1/8" thick. The outside skin seems thicker, maybe 1/4". I scraped the rotten wood away, all the way to the inside of the fibreglass outer skin of the Coach.
Since the rot goes all the way up to the bottom of the cabinets,and all the way to the floor, there must have been water in this cavity for years. Big unanswered question, where is it leaking? I have had all of the windows out to fix wriggly seals, and have noted that around the window openings is in "as-new" condition, so I know that is not the source.
I pulled the forward half of the upper cabinets down and attacked the wall behind, only to find the back of the Girard awning, also in "as-new" condition. So if it isn't coming down behind the awning, or from the windows, where can it be coming from?
Our first trip, in March 2011, we lost a cover from the forward A/C, and got very wet in rains over the next two days, heading home. This water came down through the A/C and dripped on the carpet in the middle of the room. Is it also likely that water from the middle of the roof could get to the lower ie, past the awning, part of the wall?
I have kept a cover on the Coach since we got home, so no new water has been allowed in, and I had already sealed everything I could see needing it. I am now wondering if I should be removing the solar panels and the A/Cs and re-sealing them, as those are the only through the roof attachments that I can't see. All the ones I can see are good.
I still need to pull the vinyl strip out of the gutter and check the screws, but the pristine condition of the back of the awning suggests that all is well there.
?
I had to return to Coquitlam for a few days, but will be on a priority to get this issue resolved as soon as I return to Saltspring.