When did AS use OSB flooring (Oriented strand board)?

[ROBERT CROSS]

Marine grade, the same?...yes but not quite.

A boat is built to get WET and last, an AS is built to last, the floor gets wet and doesn't.

If you can't make them so they don't leak.....at least make 'em so they don't rot away right away.

Bob

[Friday]

Originally Posted by ROBERT CROSS

Marine grade, the same?...yes but not quite.

A boat is built to get WET and last, an AS is built to last, the floor gets wet and doesn't.

If you can't make them so they don't leak.....at least make 'em so they don't rot away right away.

Bob

That really is a good point... no wood, unsealed floor is designed for continuous water exposure. But, if Airstreams are more prone to leaks than others, going to a composite floor would solve lots of problems... go with 1/4 less wood, and laminate the whole thing in fibreglass. Or, go super-cool and do some carbon over foam-core.

[Friday]

Oh, and I can confirm the floor of my 06 22' is OSB.

[w7ts]

Originally Posted by david686

I replied to AS's email for some OSB information and just got this reply.


"We have not used any osb flooring since 2007 model year and that was only on 2 models.


Thank you,

Airstream Customer Support Team



From: "David Beatty" <dbeatty686@gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, August 30, 2011 5:18 PM
To: customersupport@airstream.com
Subject: Re: Fwd: Floors (contact us from airstream.com)


I might not have made my email as clear as I could have. What I should have asked is; "Why doesn't AS use only pressure treated plywood for the floors and not OSB in some cases? It appears that some trailers have OSB as flooring."

Does the above AS statement appear to be true?
Has anyone found OSB in 2008 and up?

Ken

My 2010 Classic has plywood.

[perryg114]

There are also design flaws that have not changed in 30-40 yrs that would help reduce leaks and therefore rot. The bumper plate area seems to leak on all models. The gaps in the C-Channel that let any water come into direct contact with the flooring. The curved sections have flooring relatively exposed compared to the straight sides. The sides are protected by the C-channel at the base of the floor and another channel that covers the ends of the plywood. If this bottom channel was continued all the way around, many leaks or at least the negative effects of the leaks would be eliminated. Then you have to ask where is the profit in making a product that last decades. Maybe the 5-10 yrs lifetime for SOB trailers is more profitable and it also fits the American Dream of everything is disposable and renewable. How can we have growth if stuff lasts forever. What is the profit in that.

Perry

[Aage]

I'd like to mention that I did not mean this thread as a way to criticize Airstream, rather, I simply wanted to find out which years that OSB was used.

I've got to admit that the information that you all have kindly given me is, to me at least, surprising. But again, I only wanted to know how widespread the use of that material is, and no more.

Therefore, I ask that we do not stray from the title question. There are plenty of other threads that can be used if you want to discuss problems with your TT.

Thanks very much for your co-operation.

[Ridgerunner3]

We just bought a 2002 Safari 25. It has plywood flooring.

[Del Gurney]

My '05 25' (delivered '06) fortunately has ply.
My 2cents: Having worked on boats my whole life; Marine Grade ply
a) uses high quality tight grained wood with out knots
b) uses a finish veneer for attractive varnished appearance
c) uses water resistant adhesive.
d) employes 5-7 individual layers of wood veneer (as opposed to 3-5 for reg. ply) This is for a higher glue to wood ratio for strength.
e) will rot faster in a marine situation as salt deposits never dry out lest washed.

f) it weighs more ......maybe it was a weight issue with AS? Or too rigid for a flexing trailer. Density/strength vs. weight as usual.
STILL, be nice if they had sealed it with maybe marine grade West System epoxy.

[crestonrv]

weight ? thats funny osb is 12.00 a sheet at our lowes (5/8,3/4 is 14.50 ) i use furniture grade and waterproofing about 40.00 a sheet.
i see so many osb disasters that it hurts to think about it. most sobs are using osb,recently had a class c in , an 08 the slideout seals were installed wrong though it made it through the warranty period th floor rotted out for 6' and slideout had to be removed to repair , cost of osb in this situation went to 11,000.00 . did a floor repair last fall on an 05 22' ccd also frame repair , water got in at rear wall as usual. had to strip interior to door from rear wall to replace rotted osb. repair sagged outriggers and rear of frame. jackson centers est. 9800.00 i felt sorry for cust with 1rst a/s (bought used)did job for less than 5000.00 but don't really want to do another.
i'll stick with the antiques