Shower Skylight

Topic: Shower Skylight (Read 1780 times) previous topic - next topic

Shower Skylight

April 01, 2016, 01:13:11 pm

Anyone know which model year Foretravels have the ugly brown residential skylight over the shower? I am in the process of replacing mine, and I will post about that when I am finished. It's taking longer than expected as water is in a small section of the roof on the high side and has caused a small delamination. Usually dry Austin is now experiencing a few days of just enough rain to slow up the drying out process.

Re: Shower Skylight

Reply #1 – April 01, 2016, 04:51:31 pm

Our 1986 has it. Also had a failure here, and it took forever to find a replacement. Eventually the correct size and color showed up at Lowes.

Re: Shower Skylight

Reply #2 – April 01, 2016, 05:34:07 pm

Quote from: bofzwell – April 01, 2016, 04:51:31 pm

Our 1986 has it. Also had a failure here, and it took forever to find a replacement. Eventually the correct size and color showed up at Lowes.

Thanks. Surprised they started using them that long ago. I was hoping others would say my ---- has it, but only one reply so far. Guess FT was trying to save a few bucks on the price.

Re: Shower Skylight

Reply #3 – April 01, 2016, 06:55:28 pm

Lowes part number--227698. Good luck.

Re: Shower Skylight

Reply #4 – April 01, 2016, 06:59:23 pm

My 1981 has it also, no problems with it. Are they all hinged so you can open it up?

Re: Shower Skylight

Reply #5 – April 02, 2016, 12:09:41 am

I should have posted this picture on the initial post so everyone would know what it looks like. It is not hinged and does not open up. I am making a replacement skylight that should look better and not be as large as the original is several inches larger than the opening in the roof. I'm guessing that FT may have used it up until they started building the Nimbus and the other taller coaches. So if you could say, "I have or don't have that skylight on my (year of coach). Just curious as that is one of the few mistakes in my opinion that Foretravel made.

Re: Shower Skylight

Reply #6 – April 02, 2016, 01:30:42 am

Our 95 has the same one. Removed it and re sealed it last summer. The housing is not curved like the roof so we had to use extra seal tape to make up the difference. Good luck with your project.

Re: Shower Skylight

Reply #7 – April 02, 2016, 01:57:33 am

Looks like the one we have on our 99' U270... I would call the color bronze and it never bothered me. Maybe it should

Why do you call it a mistake? Ours has never leaked, knock on wood...
Don

Quote from: Jerry Whiteaker – April 02, 2016, 12:09:41 am

I should have posted this picture on the initial post so everyone would know what it looks like. It is not hinged and does not open up. I am making a replacement skylight that should look better and not be as large as the original is several inches larger than the opening in the roof. I'm guessing that FT may have used it up until they started building the Nimbus and the other taller coaches. So if you could say, "I have or don't have that skylight on my (year of coach). Just curious as that is one of the few mistakes in my opinion that Foretravel made.

Re: Shower Skylight

Reply #8 – April 02, 2016, 08:19:09 am

Time and elements will take their toll on a piece of plastic. We noticed no issue with our skylight until we had our coach washed in Quartzite. We started noticing sloshing between the inside shower layer and the skylight. So, we are guessing pressure that the employee applied was the culprit. Pulling a pinched water hose over the skylight, foot pressure, or maybe too much brush pressure, might have cracked the skylight just enough to allow for water seepage. A 27 year old piece of plastic is going to get brittle.

Could be that we just hadn't noticed it before, too. Our coach is in an enclosed storage area (barn), when not in use. Maybe it came to us that way, though.

Re: Shower Skylight

Reply #9 – April 02, 2016, 08:49:04 am

During the winter when we're in Florida I always see mobile RV cleaning crews come into the
park and clean people's rigs with pressure washers, starting on the roof. They seem to get up real close and
personal with the end of that high pressure wand to remove every last trace of mildew, mold and dirt, and I have
to believe that doing that can cause leaks.

I personally am not a fan of using a pressure washer anywhere on any RV, unless it's just to rinse off the outside
using low pressure from a distance, like Xtreme did when my work there was completed.

Speaking of mildew, did you know that it's the state flower of Tennessee?

Re: Shower Skylight

Reply #10 – April 02, 2016, 10:01:19 am

Jerry, our 2003 U320 has the same skylight and so far no issues.

Re: Shower Skylight

Reply #11 – April 02, 2016, 10:03:14 am

I also am against using pressure washers on Coaches! To many places that REALLY don't need water blasting.

There is a guy I Livingston who comes to the Escapees park, does a hand wash for $100, top to bottom. Then I try to do 303 on all the plastic & rubber bits, including the skylight.

Re: Shower Skylight

Reply #12 – April 02, 2016, 10:09:43 am

Quote from: toyman – April 02, 2016, 10:03:14 am

I also am against using pressure washers on Coaches! To many places that REALLY don't need water blasting.

There is a guy I Livingston who comes to the Escapees park, does a hand wash for $100, top to bottom. Then I try to do 303 on all the plastic & rubber bits, including the skylight.

I agree, we are going to stay at a new park up in Payson, AZ for the summer & I'd sure like to find someone to do a hand wash (under my direct supervision, of course!) I like the 303 wipes a lot.

Re: Shower Skylight

Reply #13 – April 02, 2016, 10:12:58 am

We have a skylight over the shower in our 1997 U295. There is an outer plastic contoured cover and an inner flat panel. The outside dome is relatively clear and smoke grey in color. The inner layer is white. It allows light to pass, but one cannot see through it.

The outer layer was broken by hail a few years ago. I got a replacement from Skylight Depot. It came with two pieces of plastic to replace the two pieces in the OEM skylight. I only used the outside part. Replacement was easy. I removed eight (?) screws from the aluminum frame at the top of the assembly. The top dome came out and I put the new dome in and replaced the frame and screws. I used some sealant around the edges. I don't recall whether I used tape or caulk. I may have used both.

I've seen no evidence of leaks from the skylight. It raises the ceiling above the shower and allows light into the shower during the day.

Re: Shower Skylight

Reply #14 – April 02, 2016, 12:05:18 pm

I have the same one on mine no problems yet. At least is not like SOB's that just screw a piece of plastic over the shower.

Re: Shower Skylight

Reply #15 – April 02, 2016, 02:44:05 pm

We have the same on ours.

Re: Shower Skylight

Reply #16 – April 02, 2016, 06:47:40 pm

Same one on ours, no problems with it.

Re: Shower Skylight

Reply #17 – April 02, 2016, 06:57:23 pm

we have the same on our 2001. No problems.

Re: Shower Skylight

Reply #18 – April 02, 2016, 07:11:04 pm

JD, that aluminum frame you refer to had, on our coach, aluminum weld beads protruding down in the corner welds. These little beads broke the corners off our skylight. Once I filed these beads off the skylight fit better.

Re: Shower Skylight

Reply #19 – April 02, 2016, 07:33:38 pm

Quote from: Don & Tys (AKA acousticart) – April 02, 2016, 01:57:33 am

Looks like the one we have on our 99' U270... I would call the color bronze and it never bothered me. Maybe it should Why do you call it a mistake? Ours has never leaked, knock on wood...
Don

Don,
I think it is a mistake because: it doesn't look good, made for a house, doesn't fit the curve of the roof, it's larger than the opening in the roof by 3 or 4 inches. I suppose it's there for a bit more headroom in the shower for a tall person. FT could have modified the roof mold for that or made a separate mold for a fiberglass skylight. The metal one was no doubt cheaper and less work.

I found a bit of water in the shower this winter when in storage. Not sure if the leak was from the plastic dome or under the frame. Anyway I resealed both. When I tightened the screws there were a few on the high side that didn't have any grip. After a few weeks I decided to remove it and make a frame for a new sky light. That is when I found a delaminated area where the screws didn't have any grip. There is water in the delamination and I am working on drying it out so that I can reseal the delamination with West System G-Flex epoxy. I have feathered the holes and fiberglassed the ones where the plywood wood was dry; the sides and the lower edge. I still have to gelcoat the holes. The wood under the fiberglass along the whole row of screws on the upper side is wet. I will post a photo of the screw holes and a photo of my drying scheme, mainly black duct tape to heat the roof and vents of allow the moisture to escape. Sunny days needed to heat the area.

Re: Shower Skylight

Reply #20 – April 03, 2016, 01:50:18 am

So far it's on a 1981 and a 2001, twenty years, that's a lot of coaches and skylights. Do we have a higher or lower bidder?

By the way the old bubble is clear bronze 1/16" plastic and the flat sheet under the bubble is 1/8" white translucent plastic. Both are 23 3/4 x 23 3/4". The opening in the ceiling on my coach is 21 x 21". The metal frame has 1/2" of Styrofoam in the sides of an upside down U shape so aluminum being a good conductor moves heat or cold across the flat top part, below the plastic sheets, between the inside and outside. 1/2" of styrofoam isn't much insulation either.

I have built an epoxy coated laminated wood frame with lap joints at the corners to fit the opening. There are 2 sheets of translucent plastic with a 1/2" spacer between them that sit on the top of the frame and are held in place with 48 # 8 2" SS screws, one every 44 mm (slightly less than 2"). Bottom sheet is 1/8" (salvaged from the old skylight) and the top is 1/4".

Molding the skylight as part of the roof would not work as I said before, as the shower is in different places according to the floor plan.

Re: Shower Skylight

Reply #21 – April 03, 2016, 09:51:52 am

Jerry,

Same roof dome size on mine that was built in September 2001.

Jim

2002 320
build #5957

Re: Shower Skylight

Reply #22 – April 03, 2016, 10:02:23 am

For those contemplating doing a flat topped skylight I would recommend using clear Lexan instead of Plexiglas. Lexan does not shatter or break like Plexiglas. Lexan is used for machine guards to protect the operator in the event of a tool shattering.
Try beating a piece of each mat'l with a hammer and you will sell yourself on Lexan. But, be darn sure you are wearing safety glasses when you strike the Plexiglas!!
Lexan will not succumb to a hail storm, or even an intruder with malicious intentions re you or your coach.
Lexan can usually--usually--be found wherever Plexiglas is sold. At places like Home Depot, or possibly Fastenal or McMaster-Carr or Grainger. Firms that supply tooling for mfg companies.

Re: Shower Skylight

Reply #23 – April 03, 2016, 10:36:29 am

On my '81 the skylight is hinged., probably because the tub-shower enclosure goes all the way to the ceiling. Without it the hot moisture would maybe loosen the tiles. I always liked it and propped it open with a shampoo bottle when showering.

Re: Shower Skylight

Reply #24 – April 03, 2016, 10:51:51 am

Quote from: craneman – April 03, 2016, 10:36:29 am

On my '81 the skylight is hinged., probably because the tub-shower enclosure goes all the way to the ceiling. Without it the hot moisture would maybe loosen the tiles. I always liked it and propped it open with a shampoo bottle when showering.

You have a different type of skylight. Seems better than the later type. I'm impressed with the tiles, especially since the ceiling is tiled too. Are they ceramic tiles?

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