Patch the flooring or replace it all?

[HiJoeSilver]

I'd see what the folks at JC have to say, they should be able to replace just that section of the flooring if the rest is good. If they replace all the flooring they will have to remove all the interior cabinets, bathroom etc. Lots more labor.
They need to find the leak and get that sealed first and foremost. They will be able to get a good idea on the rest of the floor without taking the rest of the interior out. No need to remove and replace what doesn't need to be.
If you're planning on covering the floor with another covering you can tell them not to worry about replacing the vinyl, and just leave you with a nice clean plywood floor.

[cwf]

There was one area like that near the shell edge on our 1999. I carefully dried, drilled then filled with the 'git rot'... not original, but it is really working for us. Should it ever act up again, I will go deeper and pull out the damaged wood. If you can get underneath then, seal the bottom then pour in a new floor. Radical... yup..

[Rich W]

Originally Posted by HiJoeSilver

I'd see what the folks at JC have to say, they should be able to replace just that section of the flooring if the rest is good.

Agreed, we're going to take it up there to them. Our appointment is June 10.
I'm wanting to get the leak(s) and floor fixed. We can decide on the floor covering replacement then or later.

[Rich W]

Originally Posted by switz

The Marmoleum is a glue down floor. Auto correct on iPhone is still a challenge for me

That makes sense . Auto correct has given me some interesting posts of Facebook when I use the Android

[J. Morgan]

I found autocorrect way too annoying, I turned it off,,, I deal with my mis-spellings manually via the red squiggly line....


1/2 Ton 4WD Truck, 72 Sovereign Hensley Arrow

[KJRitchie]

Originally Posted by switz

The Marmoleum is a glue down floor. Auto correct on iPhone is still a challenge for me

Did the floor get glued down on just the edges or the whole floor glued. How does this brand of flooring take extreme cold, e.g. 0F?

Kelvin

[twolanehwy]

Yeah, I'm sectioning some rot areas along the rear of my 59' Glodester. You can cut and remove under the shell. I wouldn't do a shell off unless you had a great deal along the perimeter which is what the shell rests and bolts onto.
There may come a day I do a shell off but in the meantime this will work.

[Rich W]

Originally Posted by twolanehwy

Yeah, I'm sectioning some rot areas along the rear of my 59' Glodester. You can cut and remove under the shell. I wouldn't do a shell off unless you had a great deal along the perimeter which is what the shell rests and bolts onto.
There may come a day I do a shell off but in the meantime this will work.

Thanks for the info, but I'm gong to let Jackson Center take a look at it and repair. I want them to find and fix the leaks then they can take out the front piece of wood (forward of the door) and replace it. It may need more, which is why I'm taking it to them. I just don't have the work area at home.

[eheffa]

Originally Posted by richw46

Thanks for the info, but I'm gong to let Jackson Center take a look at it and repair. I want them to find and fix the leaks then they can take out the front piece of wood (forward of the door) and replace it. It may need more, which is why I'm taking it to them. I just don't have the work area at home.

If that's an option for you, (taking it to JC), I would think that makes the most sense. I pulled out most of the interior to do mine, & it's a big messy job.

Unfortunately, I understand that they have seen a lot of this sort of problem and have lots of experience with jobs like this.

-evan

[twolanehwy]

Originally Posted by richw46

Thanks for the info, but I'm gong to let Jackson Center take a look at it and repair. I want them to find and fix the leaks then they can take out the front piece of wood (forward of the door) and replace it. It may need more, which is why I'm taking it to them. I just don't have the work area at home.

Yeah, you're no too far away from them.
I grew up in Ohio but now I'm way out west.
Hopefully you can get back out there before next winter comes.
cheers

[Rich W]

So the wife and I are here in Jackson Center with our AS. I had them do the pressure test, where they pressurize the inside while the outside is covered in a soap water solution. Blow a bubble and it's found a leak. Good news, there were only minimal bubbles, pin holes really. They will give me the final report at check out so I can see where to repair. Only one area was more than a pin hole, in the left front window at the top seal.

They put it in the bay where they put all the new trailers to test for leaks, using a strong, fine water spray. Again, more good news. They found no leaks at all. That water comes from all sides; top, front, left and right.

They feel that the PO repaired the leak but failed to dry out the floor. With that insulation under the floor they say it just sits there like a sponge and eventually rots the floor. That's their guess as to what happened

They are able to salvage the edges on that front section. The cross members are where they cut the old board out and removed those large phillips screws. They will insert a new piece of plywood on the cross members, screw it down and reseal. (That black paint around the edges was started around the year 2000 and is a water proofing paint. We saw it on the floors of the new ones when we went for the tour.)

I asked about replacing the vinyl flooring by just cutting at the edges of the installed cabinets. They said they will only install new vinyl by removing everything from the interior. The only exception would be the shower, IF, there was no evidence of soft soft sub-floor in front of the shower. They were talking in terms of days / weeks to do this, at $125/hour. We opted to let them use a bleaching agent on the vinyl and it looked pretty good when they finished. (I can opt to remove everything or most everything myself and have them do the rest, in order to save money.)

Finally, although there were no leaks found in the roof, it needed to be resealed. They recommend it be done every 3-5 years. So, in for a penny, in for a pound.

This going to cost A LOT of money but we should be in pretty good shape for several years. We're feeling better about our purchase now that we know there aren't any serious leaks anywhere. We'll get this behind us and really enjoy the next trip.

Trivia question: Do you know what there is to do in Jackson Center after you've taken the Airstream factory tour?
Answer: Drive over to Columbus, takes about an hour.

The folks at the customer service center were very nice and just walking around and looking at the old and new AS was a real treat. But we're looking forward to picking up our AS and heading home.

[switz]

The Air Force Museum is in the Dayton area. There is a B-29 in there.

[Rich W]

Originally Posted by switz

The Air Force Museum is in the Dayton area. There is a B-29 in there.

Agreed, but that's not in Jackson Center Anyhow, I was being facetious. We spent the better part of a day in Sidney, about 12 miles away. We stopped at the courthouse, which was undergoing renovation. The security guard gave us some information about not only the courthouse but also the bank building and the municipal/memorial building and their histories. We ate at "The Spot", a diner that has been operating since 1907. We also me a lot of very nice people who are very proud of their town. We stayed there at the Comfort Inn and had an excellent room and met some nice people at the Perkins restaurant, about 100 yards away.

The drive to Columbus was interesting, passing through Marysville, where the Honda plant is. I assume they have tours there. Indian Lake is about 12 miles from Jackson Center in the same direction. Close by, in Greenville, is the KitchenAid factory, which also has tours.

So there are things to do around Jackson Center, but not in Jackson Center, except for the Airstream factory tour, which is very nice too.

[m.hony]

We were at Jackson Center 3 days.
Day 1 we did a tour of The American Bicycle Museum at New Bremen, OH in the morning and the Airstream Factory tour in the afternoon.
Day 2 we toured the Air Force Museum in Dayton.
Day 3 we hung around the service center waiting for the trailer.
We stayed in the trailer in the Terraport.
We ate lots of inexpensive, but unhealthy fried food-


Sent from my iPhone using Airstream Forums

[twolanehwy]

Originally Posted by m.hony

We were at Jackson Center 3 days.
Day 1 we did a tour of The American Bicycle Museum at New Bremen, OH in the morning and the Airstream Factory tour in the afternoon.
Day 2 we toured the Air Force Museum in Dayton.
Day 3 we hung around the service center waiting for the trailer.
We stayed in the trailer in the Terraport.
We ate lots of inexpensive, but unhealthy fried food-


Sent from my iPhone using Airstream Forums

I grew up in Dayton and never have been to the Air Force Museum. Did you like it?

Also how was the AS factory tour? Did you need to schedule the tour?

[m.hony]

The Air Force Museum is excellent. I have toured it twice. Wear good walking shoes. It is huge.
The factory tour is also great. Show up and sign up at 1 PM Monday-Friday. That's the extent of scheduling.
Next trip to Jackson Center we'll take a different route through Indiana and tour the Auburn/Cord/Duesenberg Museum, the Studebaker Museum, and the RV/Motorhome Hall of Fame.
In Ohio, I would like to go to the Tock 'N' Roll Hall of Fame.


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[Rich W]

The wall covering "rabbit fur" behind the front storage area had some mold. When the tech finished with it, it was almost like new. I asked today what he used and the reply was bleach. They didn't say how much, but that was the cleaning agent.

Other areas, the visible ones, weren't so dirty but since we had everything out of the front, that made it easier to clean the fur. I have a Bissell Spot Lifter I got at a bargain price. I mixed the cleaner and oxygen booster with with water according to directions. It did a pretty good job and now the AS smells better and looks better.

Just thought I'd pass that along.

[JCWDCW]

If you find the mold comes back on the fabric, the next time you clean it add some trisodium phosphate to the cleaner. TSP will stop mold from growing on the traces of dirt left behind in the fabric and hopefully the mold spores were killed by the bleach. Some spores may still be present s they are pretty much everywhere.... The mold may not be due to a leak the next time, just humidity making the conditions right for mold to grow.
We had a spot on our carpet that kept coming back. Originally a pet stain. Treated with 1 tablespoon of TSP in 2 quarts of water and it has never come back.

You can do a carpet style steam cleaning with your shop vac; just soak the fabric and then immediately vacuum it dry.
JCW

[Rich W]

Originally Posted by JCWDCW

If you find the mold comes back on the fabric, the next time you clean it add some trisodium phosphate to the cleaner. TSP will stop mold from growing on the traces of dirt left behind in the fabric and hopefully the mold spores were killed by the bleach. Some spores may still be present s they are pretty much everywhere.... The mold may not be due to a leak the next time, just humidity making the conditions right for mold to grow.
We had a spot on our carpet that kept coming back. Originally a pet stain. Treated with 1 tablespoon of TSP in 2 quarts of water and it has never come back.

You can do a carpet style steam cleaning with your shop vac; just soak the fabric and then immediately vacuum it dry.
JCW

Good information, thanks. The area that had the mold was behind the front storage unit which is behind the L-couch. I'd have to remove the storage unit to see the wall covering and the L-couch to clean it. Now that the floor is repaired we'll continue our vigilant effort to open all the cabinets when in storage and open it up to air it out every couple of weeks. Hopefully, no repeat of water in the floor. I have a moisture sensor tool that I'll be using regularly.

[jverduzco]

Hi Rich - thanks for post on soft floor issues. I am living your issue from 2015 in 2016. We have 2 or 3 soft spots and they are in very different areas of the AS. One near front door in front of L couch and one near rear bedroom. I am heading over today to get full assessment of soft spot. We are also considering a JC trip, but not convinced we want to spend the $. Can I contact you directly to see what kinda price tag to expect?

John & Denise
2007 International CCD
Naples, FL