Our 2000 Georgie Boy had bathroom floor problems before we bought it. The dealer told us that he had replaced the linoleum. It looked fine and I didn't think about it any more.
Fast forward 5 years and we started to see a soft spot in front of the sink. It grew gradually worse until the depression is deep enough that the linoleum has ripped.
This week, I'd like to tackle the project of fixing it but would like a hint or two about what I'm getting into.
Questions:
1. how might the floor have been constructed in the the first place? My concern is that I don't want to have to rip out the cabinet under the sink because I cannot span the structural material that I'm expecting to have to replace underneath. The path from the living area to the bedroom takes a jog to the left and past the shower. Tearing the shower floor out is definitely not in my plan.
2. what options might there be to change the materials? As I look at it, I don't have a lot of room for a thicker floor like a ceramic tile and I don't know if it is a good idea to add that much more weight to that area. I'm not a fan of wood in bathrooms and definitely not carpet. Ideas?
What I'm expecting is that the linoleum was laid over OSB or, worse yet, MDF and that there is some sort of water leak some place that I'm going to have to fix, too.
I'd appreciate any tips from someone who had gone through something like this before.
GeorgieBoy was bought out by Coachmen RV in mid 2005 I believe who continued making them till mid-2009. Coachmen bought all the rights to the name GB, blueprints and build sheets as well, and they would be a good place to start to find out what the flooring was composed of, because GeorgieBoy tried several different materials over the years. Coachmen is now owned by Forest River.
Maybe a hole saw bit could get you a "core sample" of the sub-flooring?
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1) most likely chip board(strand board)
2) what do u mean by"cannot span the structural material?
3)tile is the perfect answer and the amount of wieight in this small area is miniscule
4)why dont you have room for a thicker floor?
I had a similar problem in my old gulfstream.I removed the toilit
used a cut off blade in my grinder,cut out the rotton OSB(strand) board.Installed new plywood and laid tile
I can send u pictures via email if u like?
as far as thicker floor goes that should not be a problem. I have also done that in my last two DP motorhomes
* This post was
edited 05/22/11 10:15pm by ticat900 *
Good idea from ford.........that said, expect the worse....complete tear out....or find out who covered up the mess with new lino.....I bet they replaced the upper portion of the floor without correcting the underlayment which is now failing. The mfg will be of little use, IMHO, as the floor has been modified from it's original state......good luck...keep us posted....Dennis
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Executive wrote: Good idea from ford.........that said, expect the worse....complete tear out....or find out who covered up the mess with new lino.....I bet they replaced the upper portion of the floor without correcting the underlayment which is now failing. The mfg will be of little use, IMHO, as the floor has been modified from it's original state......good luck...keep us posted....Dennis
what good would it do to try and find out who covered up the mess FIVE years Later??How do U know the floor was modified??The OP says someone replace the lino.No one knows whats under there and thats what he is asking.
any sort of fibre composition floor will disintegrate where it gets a lot of pounding in one spot, especially if that spot happens to be in the middle of a span so your problem may not be due to a water leak.
Nothing is going to happen until you check what is happening but if you want to do the least damage in the meantime, just use a sharp knife to cut three sides of a square well out from the sunken part. Then you can peel it back, assess your options and just lay the lino back again and keep using the coach until you feel like fixing it. Bit of tap will help keep the edges down flush.
You may be able to cut out the damage and screw double joists and cross noggins to the existing ones and then cut a new piece of floor to fit exactly. Remember to fill and sand the slightest crack or raised section, otherwise the lino will soon show the flaws.
BTW - my least favourite bathroom floor is ceramic tiles. Cold, hard and slippery. I'll take quality carpet tiles anytime. Warm, soft and safe to walk on - and can be removed and hosed off outside if necessary. Great for kitchens too.
tony lee wrote: any sort of fibre composition floor will disintegrate where it gets a lot of pounding in one spot, especially if that spot happens to be in the middle of a span so your problem may not be due to a water leak.
Nothing is going to happen until you check what is happening but if you want to do the least damage in the meantime, just use a sharp knife to cut three sides of a square well out from the sunken part. Then you can peel it back, assess your options and just lay the lino back again and keep using the coach until you feel like fixing it. Bit of tap will help keep the edges down flush.
You may be able to cut out the damage and screw double joists and cross noggins to the existing ones and then cut a new piece of floor to fit exactly. Remember to fill and sand the slightest crack or raised section, otherwise the lino will soon show the flaws.
BTW - my least favourite bathroom floor is ceramic tiles. Cold, hard and slippery. I'll take quality carpet tiles anytime. Warm, soft and safe to walk on - and can be removed and hosed off outside if necessary. Great for kitchens too.
There are a ton of tiles available that are not slippery that is why u see tile in bathrooms.Carpet in a bathroom breeds germs and hard to clean.Tile is not cold unless its like 40 degrees out and you dont have heat on.Lino tiles are a option as they look like real tiles but I have never seen a lino floor that was any warmer or colder than tile itself.to each is own but all new decent motor home,s all have tile in the bathroom these days.I know I have and would not have it any other way.My last one had it also and I changed my previous from that one to tile myself
An easy fix i Found IF it is the floor is rotten, is to cut out the rotten part, If theres no trusss nder it, Cut a 2X2 a few inches longer than the hole for each side and the middle of the hole. Screw boards to good floor. Place new floor board on top and screw down. cover floor with new flooring of choice. Hope this crude Picture helps describe it better.
Great ideas, guys. I appreciate all of the input so far. I'm going to try to do the 3 corner tear back tomorrow since I already have one cut.
I've already dealt with Forest River over a compartment door hinge. It is useless. I did find part of the old Coachman group and they were able to get me what I needed.
1. This problem appears to be left over from a "half baked" repair that the dealer did before we bought the RV - before we even looked at it the first time. He told us that he had replaced the linoleum. What he did not tell us is that he partially patched the sub-floor beneath it. Once the OSB was sufficiently damaged by water, it simply decayed over time, I believe.
1. The source of water is under a full height cabinet (drawers and cabinets) in the toilet. It is unclear whether the original water source was pipes that are visible there or under the wardrobe closet in the bedroom under the back wall of that cabinet (even worse) where the water pump is mounted. Tomorrow, I'll explore the condition of the floor there.
2. Proper repair is going to mean cutting out all of the rotted OSB and trying to get material that will match with it, height wise. The dealer simply slapped a new piece of OSB over the worst the damaged original, creating a height differential. To do this correctly, all of this should be removed. It appears that the last good part is about a foot from the outer wall.
3. The damage runs under the wall to the toilet section. Depending on the size of the pieces that I can use, I may be able to shove a new piece under that wall without harming anything.
So now come more questions.
1. What, if anything, is likely to be under the OSB? I assume that there is some sort of a barrier between the bottom of the OSB and the water that would splash up from underneath the chassis but what? Is there a metal plate of some sort spanning the chassis?
2. How is the OSB fastened to anything? I saw a diagram of creating 2x2 structure in case there isn't any support below but what I'm really asking is if the OSB is somehow just glued into place or if there are metal fasteners holding and down and, if so, to what? I've found no evidence of a fastener yet and I've exposed about 8 square feet of floor area.
3. Fastening the OSB becomes a critical matter in the repair. I can potentially slide piece of OSB under the bathroom wall but I cannot do that with a piece that is large enough to patch the whole damaged area. If I end up with seams, is the best solution to use a construction adhesive to hold them together or to I have to get more creative and figure a way to bind the pieces together? My problem is that I've never seen an RV constructed from the chassis up.
My next step will be to pull the toilet and covering for the pipes that runs by it. From there, I can start cutting the damaged OSB but if there is something below that which would be better to preserve, I want to be careful about how I take out the OSB.
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....that said, expect the worse....complete tear out....or find out who covered up the mess with new lino.....I bet they replaced the upper portion of the floor without correcting the underlayment which is now failing. The mfg will be of little use, IMHO, as the floor has been modified from it's original state......good luck...keep us posted....Dennis
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