slider floor rotten HELP!

[Fulltimer2020]

Hi,
I had to re-register after several years on non use. However, I am still not famous.

I own a 2016 EVO and the slider is 12 ft 10 inch and change. The couch was removed years ago and Im trying to figure out how to remove the dinette base drawers. Im finding its attached to the wall from the other side (maybe)?

The construction of the sliders were not the best, to be kind. They used black can spray paint to seal the plywood under the slider. I found it was getting wet a couple years ago and I thought I solved the issue, but the sideways rain. (damn climate change) here in Washington State, has found its way into my floor again. Now its gone beyond drilling deep holes and injecting GITROT into the wood and then painting the edge with epoxy
and painting over that with deck paint.

So now, since I have the dinette down to the drawers, Im finding there must be hidden screws put in during MFG.

This EVO model has since been renamed or duplicated into the Sonora?

Any help would be most appreciated. If I get black mold, its probably going to the land fill and im homeless.

Also interested in knowing, should I send this to the shop, what are the most current flooring materials.

 

[5picker]

Hi,
I had to re-register after several years on non use. However, I am still not famous.

I own a 2016 EVO and the slider is 12 ft 10 inch and change. The couch was removed years ago and Im trying to figure out how to remove the dinette base drawers. Im finding its attached to the wall from the other side (maybe)?

The construction of the sliders were not the best, to be kind. They used black can spray paint to seal the plywood under the slider. I found it was getting wet a couple years ago and I thought I solved the issue, but the sideways rain. (damn climate change) here in Washington State, has found its way into my floor again. Now its gone beyond drilling deep holes and injecting GITROT into the wood and then painting the edge with epoxy
and painting over that with deck paint.

So now, since I have the dinette down to the drawers, Im finding there must be hidden screws put in during MFG.

This EVO model has since been renamed or duplicated into the Sonora?

Any help would be most appreciated. If I get black mold, its probably going to the land fill and im homeless.

Also interested in knowing, should I send this to the shop, what are the most current flooring materials.

Sorry for your issues. Forest River has had slide floor issues for some years.

So much so, since they could never seal the slide side wall/floor area enough with the pathetic process you mentioned, they've switched to a poly floor material that won't rot when wet.

It will still leak, it just won't rot!

They have issued a TSB on my Cedar Creek for slide skis that do nothing for sealing but instead, cover the exposed plywood edges so you can't see the rot until it is too late.

 

[Aussieguy]

are you trying to save the drawers?
if No.... rent reciprocating saw from home depot...

you'll be able to cut close to wall / floor and then see the screws that are holding the remainder..
a good wood chisel will help remove the remainder
(don't try cutting the screws with the chisel)


Yes... save the drawer
use a osculating multi tool to cut at floor level
use stiff plastic sheet to protect floor


or use a small piece of plywood or stiff plastic 1/8 thick
to raise the multi tool blade off the floor
cabinet can be cut fairly straight.... cut slowly don't force the multi tool.

cabinet will be a tiny bit lower/shorter

use quarter round molding to hide the cut line when re-installing cabinet/drawer



good luck.

 

[Fulltimer2020]

Thanks for the replies.

I found another screw and the first drawer frame came loose. The screws were rusty from the floor. Water was beginning to travel up the panel.

I'm screwed.

 

[bikendan]

"This EVO model has since been renamed or duplicated into the Sonora?"
There is no Sonora brand, in the Forest River family.
The Evo line is only manufactured in the Northwest/Southwest factories and only available at dealerships west of the Mississippi.

 

[jimmoore13]

For what it's worth...perhaps not much.
In my experience, MOST cabinets in RVs are fairly crude. They are attached to the floor from above through "cleats" or framing onto which the cabinet panels are attached (often with just glue and staples). The installers drive screws through the framing and down into the flooring to hold the cabinet in place. Your dinette bench bases are "cabinets."

If you can't get at, find, or otherwise remove all the fasteners holding your cabinets to the floor AND walls of your rig, this is an ideal tool for the job. An oscillating saw with a metal blade. This is a scalpel where other tools, like recip saws, are sledge hammers.

Get a handfull of metal cutting blades and one or several different thin pry bars made for removing trim and use these to find and cut your fasteners. This should leave both your cabinet and interior walls reasonably intact. Work from inside the cabinet when possible to minimize visible damage. Don't cheap out on the blades. Get plenty, because you'll go through a bunch. Buy them from somewhere you can return the surplus.

I have an inexpensive corded oscillating tool, but, if you already have a decent cordless drill and several batteries, you can buy a "bare tool" cordless oscillting tool that will use the same batteries. Focus on tool length (including blade) to ensure your tool will fit in the space. The best tool in the world is useless if it can't fit inside the cabinet from all the angles you'll be forced to approach a fastener.

As for replacing the floor, if you are unable to get a composite material, or the composite in a 10' length isn't strong enough, consider MARINE GRADE plywood. The prices on marine plywood will scare you, but it's designed for total immersion in water and/or ground contact. ABOVE ALL, BEFORE you install the new floor materials, PRE-FINISH IT with several coats of marine grade primer and paint. This includes all drilled holes, edges, and so on. Done right, your floor will outlast the rest of the rig. When you re-attach the cabinets, dinette table bases, sofa, and so on, pre-drill holes in the cabinet framing (to prevent cracking in this now old wood). Also pre-drill into the new floor and use a utility syringe to add a drop of paint in the screw hole...with the goal of protecting your new floor from rot. A bonus is that the paint will dry on the fastener and act as a kind of LocTite.

Links are illustrations, not recommendations.

I hope some of this was helpful.

 

[jimmoore13]

are you trying to save the drawers?
if No.... rent reciprocating saw from home depot...

you'll be able to cut close to wall / floor and then see the screws that are holding the remainder..
a good wood chisel will help remove the remainder
(don't try cutting the screws with the chisel)


Yes... save the drawer
use a osculating multi tool to cut at floor level
use stiff plastic sheet to protect floor


or use a small piece of plywood or stiff plastic 1/8 thick
to raise the multi tool blade off the floor
cabinet can be cut fairly straight.... cut slowly don't force the multi tool.

cabinet will be a tiny bit lower/shorter

use quarter round molding to hide the cut line when re-installing cabinet/drawer



good luck.

X2 I echoed many of your ideas.

 

[HappiCampr]

Not a Sonora. It's a SONOMA. We have one, and we love it (Expedition Series.) We've had it 6 years in Washington State, and haven't "yet" had any floor rot that we know of. Sure hope we don't. We did have a leak at the front panel and didn't know it. A tree branch fell on it so we had to have it replaced. That's when they found that it had been leaking. We got lucky, since insurance paid for the panels because of the branch. All is well. I hope it will be for you soon, too. So sorry for this challenging issue.

 

[bikendan]

Not a Sonora. It's a SONOMA. We have one, and we love it (Expedition Series.)

The Sonoma line was discontinued after the 2021 model year. It wasn't around for very long.
I'm pretty sure the Evo line and Sonoma line are not the same.
Evo is an entry level stick and tin trailer, while the Sonoma was a aluminum frame/filon sided trailer.

 

[HappiCampr]

Sonoma vs Evo

Probably true about the Sonoma differences. However, it's the closest model to the Evo that they made in 2017. They were sold side-by-side when we bought ours. We rejected the Evo because it seemed more cheaply made. However, we call them "sisters" because most of the inside materials and floor plans are the same, and this is the only forum that talks about the Sonoma even occasionally. Does anyone know why they discontinued the Sonoma? And we apologize to the originator of this thread because we're off topic.