Staying after our ole floor! But a 2007?
Posted 04-24-2012 at 02:22 AM by LawChick
I'm terribly sorry to hear about bad floor, even a little spot, in a 2007 trailer! (Another thread on the portal today). I guess I may as well just keep my 92 if one has to treat rot in the newer models. Why in the world would they use crummy wood? Again? I thought all the newer 'streams have good, plywood floors. Someone tell me they didn't repeat the OSB fiasco again!
We had rotten OSB floor to replace in the back of our Excella, and if we find anything remotely resembling a soft, uneven or moist place in the floor we do what some of the pros here on the forum teach. We dry it out, use a tiny little hand drill, and fill it with as much epoxy (Git Rot, Rot Doctor, etc.) as can be fed into it. OSB that has ever been wet and started to separate will absorb it, and then absorb it some more, (even without a hole drilled). So after the first treatment we come back a couple of days later and get a little more epoxy in it.
I fixed the small soft spot (it was about the size of my thumb) beside the door with this method. It's harder than wood now...more like rock. I wouldn't have noticed this spot if I hadn't early on read in the forums about it being a common spot. Common rot spot. Almost poetic, but nah, rot just sucks.
I did the areas just inside the back storage doors (between bed frame and wall) just to prevent any future problem there from "bumper rain" or leaking storage door gaskets. I also (especially around plumbing) use epoxy to coat and even though the wood is still good and hard, it will absorb it a little. Prevention is easier than repair we've learned - after replacing that back floor when we first got the trailer!
We also completely resealed every exterior seam, light, etc., when we got our trailer and paid a technician to reseal everything on the roof. I'm grateful for the Forums and the things we've learned, like to keep resealing Ezzie's seams, vents, etc. Just like the floor, one must stay after it. We don't spend as much time on our rig as lots of people do. We're too busy camping in it. But two things the Forum pros and a little bit of experience have taught us - watch the floors and the seals.
A full floor replacement on a 1992 Excella 29' costs about $7,000 at Jackson Center, so we'll patch any future problems and administer shots of epoxy where I think there could be a future problem.
All things in perspective, and by the time anything happens to render our AS unable to travel, I'll probably be unable, too. (After obsessively crawling around looking for likely spots and working epoxy into them, or from falling off a ladder trying to polish or seal or some such foolishness).
Actually, we're pretty fortunate. For the most part we've found dry solid floor under the carpets we stripped away.
What I don't understand is why can't something as protective and impervious as Rot Dr., or another epoxy brand be applied to the floors of the new Airstreams before they build stuff on top of it? Or maybe they're doing that now? I think I heard something about some type of coating around the edges, under the walls, when we took the factory tour at Alumapalooza.
Whew...for what they charge for a new unit, I think I might expect the whole floor to be coated with waterproofing.
Surely the rot on the 2007 mentioned in that thread is just a fluke? Maybe the PO turned over a keg of beer or a five gallon bucket and didn't find it for 6 months - or ever.
For us, with our small investment in our trailer, the floor rot wasn't so bad and we've learned to preserve, prevent, and patch if necessary. But if I had a 2007 I would expect it to have good floors. I'm following that thread to see if it's really rot they have in there! And I hope it is not.
Isn't doing the same thing more than once and expecting a different result said to be insanity? Tell me Airstream didn't put in OSB in any newer models.
We had rotten OSB floor to replace in the back of our Excella, and if we find anything remotely resembling a soft, uneven or moist place in the floor we do what some of the pros here on the forum teach. We dry it out, use a tiny little hand drill, and fill it with as much epoxy (Git Rot, Rot Doctor, etc.) as can be fed into it. OSB that has ever been wet and started to separate will absorb it, and then absorb it some more, (even without a hole drilled). So after the first treatment we come back a couple of days later and get a little more epoxy in it.
I fixed the small soft spot (it was about the size of my thumb) beside the door with this method. It's harder than wood now...more like rock. I wouldn't have noticed this spot if I hadn't early on read in the forums about it being a common spot. Common rot spot. Almost poetic, but nah, rot just sucks.
I did the areas just inside the back storage doors (between bed frame and wall) just to prevent any future problem there from "bumper rain" or leaking storage door gaskets. I also (especially around plumbing) use epoxy to coat and even though the wood is still good and hard, it will absorb it a little. Prevention is easier than repair we've learned - after replacing that back floor when we first got the trailer!
We also completely resealed every exterior seam, light, etc., when we got our trailer and paid a technician to reseal everything on the roof. I'm grateful for the Forums and the things we've learned, like to keep resealing Ezzie's seams, vents, etc. Just like the floor, one must stay after it. We don't spend as much time on our rig as lots of people do. We're too busy camping in it. But two things the Forum pros and a little bit of experience have taught us - watch the floors and the seals.
A full floor replacement on a 1992 Excella 29' costs about $7,000 at Jackson Center, so we'll patch any future problems and administer shots of epoxy where I think there could be a future problem.
All things in perspective, and by the time anything happens to render our AS unable to travel, I'll probably be unable, too. (After obsessively crawling around looking for likely spots and working epoxy into them, or from falling off a ladder trying to polish or seal or some such foolishness).
Actually, we're pretty fortunate. For the most part we've found dry solid floor under the carpets we stripped away.
What I don't understand is why can't something as protective and impervious as Rot Dr., or another epoxy brand be applied to the floors of the new Airstreams before they build stuff on top of it? Or maybe they're doing that now? I think I heard something about some type of coating around the edges, under the walls, when we took the factory tour at Alumapalooza.
Whew...for what they charge for a new unit, I think I might expect the whole floor to be coated with waterproofing.
Surely the rot on the 2007 mentioned in that thread is just a fluke? Maybe the PO turned over a keg of beer or a five gallon bucket and didn't find it for 6 months - or ever.
For us, with our small investment in our trailer, the floor rot wasn't so bad and we've learned to preserve, prevent, and patch if necessary. But if I had a 2007 I would expect it to have good floors. I'm following that thread to see if it's really rot they have in there! And I hope it is not.
Isn't doing the same thing more than once and expecting a different result said to be insanity? Tell me Airstream didn't put in OSB in any newer models.
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