Floor replacement

[alabama]

Hey guys, i have a 2006 flagstaff 27bhss with a single slide. i have several spots where the floor is soft. has anybody ever put a new floor over the already soft floor. if not does anyone have a floor drawing of how this floor is made. just getting into camping and not liking a soft floor. have not found any leaks

[LadyWindrider]

Sorry, can't help much, but will offer this. You can't just put some plywood down since you have a slide. If you raise the main floor, by putting a new floor over the old one, the slide won't come in. Just something to think about.

[TURBS]

Originally Posted by alabama

Hey guys, i have a 2006 flagstaff 27bhss with a single slide. i have several spots where the floor is soft. has anybody ever put a new floor over the already soft floor. if not does anyone have a floor drawing of how this floor is made. just getting into camping and not liking a soft floor. have not found any leaks

Welcome to the forum!
You'll get good advice on your problem!
Have fun!

[kingranch]

From doing mobile home repairs I found the best but PITA way is to remove the decay and replace.
Go at least 12 beyond around area and remove that

[DonG]

Your floor is probably not rotting, but simply poor construction.
If it is like the new Flagstaffs, the floor is made up of a sandwich of two very thin pieces of plywood, and I use the term loosely, with the floor framing and styrofoam in between. The three layers are glued and then squeezed together until dry. This makes a very light, but very pathetic, floor.
The "plywood" they use is actually just luan, the same cheap crap they use under the fibreglass skin of the outside walls. It is very poor quality, an much weaker than regular plywood. FR uses it because it is cheap.
Unfortunately, over time, the thin plywood will flex as you walk over it, and the styrofoam underneath will begin to crush. That just gets worse and worse, resulting in a 'soft' floor. It is worse if you have heavy-footing people, or kids, stomping around in the camper. We don't even wear shoes in ours!

The only solution I can think of is to skim the low spots with the kind of mud they use to finish under vinyl flooring for your house, then lay down some laminate flooring, with the planks going across the floor joists. You should have enough space under the slide to lay down 3/8 laminate, and the slide can always be adjusted a bit if not.

Good luck!

[Syester]

I have a 2008 27bhss and the floor next to the bed on the door side felt like it was soft. After looking into it further it is rotten all along the outside of the wall. I called Forest River today and talked to Mike at 574-389-4600 ext 124. I told him about it and he said it only had a two year warranty on the floor. He told me that he couldn't help me, but to go back to my dealer and have them take pictures of it and they could plead my case to Forest River and maybe the would possible be able to help then. The only problem is my dealer went out of business. He told me to call another dealer in town and they could do it. Mike already told me that Forest River wouldn't fix it. I'm glad I payed $18000 for a product that has no company backing.

[DonG]

Originally Posted by Syester

I'm glad I payed $18000 for a product that has no company backing.

Your camper is 5 years old, do you really expect FR to warranty their products forever?
If the floor is rotten by the door, there must have been water getting in there, and it should have been noticed by the owner.
As owners, we are responsible for looking after our campers. We all know how bad any kind of water infiltration is, so need to be always diligent is checking caulking and seals.
After all, it is our money on the line.

[OldCoot]

Just a suggestion to DonG & Syester, why don't you just rip the entire floor up down to the joists and install composite decking. Problem solved.

[Syester]

The rotten floor was caused by the water heater having a slow drip on the backside of the water heater and the water slowly caused the floor to soak it up over time. The floor was never wet inside of the camper or even noticable in the storage compartment. The underside of the trailer has a black plastic membrane so you can't see if there are problems starting. The floor is the main "foundation" of the trailer. So yes, since the trailer is only four years old I would hope FR would at least try to help resolve the issue instead of telling me they won't fix it after talking with me four about two minutes. As for you dunnnc that is the kind of stupid answer I have learned to expect for engineers. Alabama I hope someone can send you some cut sheets or pictures of the floor/ framing so you can understand what you are going to have to do before you start your project. Best of luck.

[DonG]

Originally Posted by Syester

As for you dunnnc that is the kind of stupid answer I have learned to expect for engineers.

Yes, that was rather rude and unhelpful.

Syester, I can understand your frustration, but it is questionable whether your leak was there from the beginning, or caused by the hammering that all campers take going down the road.
I guess it just serves as a lesson to all of us to be constantly alert to anything that might come loose or break. The campers do take a beating, and they aren't built all that well.
Stay well.

[OldCoot]

[QUOTE=DonG;206590]Yes, that was rather rude and unhelpful.[QUOTE]

Would it not solve the problem for your soft floors and his?
No more soft floors or worry about water damaging it.
Also, it was said as a joke!

[DonG]

Would it not solve the problem for your soft floors and his?
No more soft floors or worry about water damaging it.
Also, it was said as a joke!

If it was said as a joke, then it was not intended to be helpful.
And making fun of someone's misfortune is probably not the best use of this forum.
As has been suggested many times, taking a moment to read what one has written before posting, is always a good thing to do.
This is a great site, lets keep it that way!

[OldCoot]

[QUOTE=DonG;206628]And making fun of someone's misfortune is probably not the best use of this forum.[QUOTE]

No one was making fun of anyone's misfortune, never have, never will!