Dining/Living Upgrade

[NSHBP]

Oh my! Thanks so much for sharing this with us. We have a 2016 27K Windsport, and I am very unhappy with the seating arrangement. If we could get this one area fixed, I would be thrilled with it.
With you having an upholstery shop, is there any advice I should know before taking ours to a local shop?
I love the fabric as well! Great job!

[TheHomeOfReligion]

Best advise is to specify the type of seat firmness you want. I used a very firm 3 POUND / 45ILD foam for firmness and longer lasting. When you buy an RV, it always seems to sit just fine when you are shopping. When you actually use the seating for any length of time, it seems to bottom out, quickly. the foam I use is designed to be very long lasting but will be harder to sit on. If you want a bit softer, I would used the 45ILD core of 2 or 3 inches and a top foam of 36-38ILD 2 or 3 inches. The pounds will dictate the quality and the ILD will dictate the firmness. In general, the heavier the foam and the higher the ILD, the longer the foam will last but the more firm it will be. Hope this helps.

[NSHBP]

Thanks again. I am assuming you didn't extend the seating area on the left (curved area)? Just the back area by window, right?

[berniejack]

Many thanks for your posts about changing out the dinette sleeper for deeper and more comfortable cushions Garry and Tara!!! I'm so excited that we've now begun your mod!! So looking forward to having a more comfortable place to eat and relax while watching tv. So far we've removed the sleeper bed and moved the frame away from the wall 4". Starting to learn about foam options now... a lot to learn!

[berniejack]

[dcbenny]

doing similar but instead of installing the large table back we used the smaller table from between the front seats

[berniejack]

funny, dcbenny.... we're going to do similar to what you are doing as well! We're leaving the small table between driver and passenger seats but making a new small table top for corner as you did. Husband is going to try and remove the other, now unused, floor base and attach to the underside of the new table so we don't have to buy any table hardware. Then use one of those collapsible storage units as a foot rest(where the unused floor base was) for both the person in the drivers seat and the person sitting at the end of the couch when we want to put our feet up and relax. So grateful we have options for this area!

[dcbenny]

It works great for us with only the small table also removed the leg support off the floor and filled in the holes in the vinyl and touched up you cant even notice there was something there, also where the leg support was between the two front seats also removed leg support from the carpet it was just sliced and folded in to the hole so I was able to put a thin piece of aluminum over it and seem carpet, again cant even notice something was there

[tmtube]

We have a challenger with Theater seating and wife would prefer a couch, any suggestions

[berniejack]

dcbenny, glad to hear those holes in the floor can be filled. The large table is too much for us too so thats why we're going with a smaller one. But we didn't want to leave the extra floor base there.. I'm sure one of us would have tripped on it eventually! Your rug looks amazing... I never would have known the base was there before!

[dcbenny]

Thanks I knew I would have lost a toe or two I also update the dinette light found it in Camping World over Christmas for $23.00 put one over bed also

[gmc]

Originally Posted by tmtube

We have a challenger with Theater seating and wife would prefer a couch, any suggestions

Several have done mods to replace couch with theater seating - you certainly could do the reverse.
Probably find more that a few that would trade... lol
(I'd expect you could sell those theater seats to others.)

[Hudsoner]

I did a dual purpose approach with covering the entrance steps. My unit has the couch on one side of the steps, and the fridge on the other side. Thor put a nice wooden handrail on the fridge side to help in getting up and down the steps. On the couch side was nothing, just the fabric covered end board of the couch. That made getting in a little harder when I carried stuff in my left hand. Because of this I made the step cover such that it created a pretty solid wall section once up. At an RV junk yard, I found the identical handrail to the one on the left side, and attached this handrail to the step cover/short wall I made. The short wall is kept solidly in it's upright position by the door type hinges at the bottom and a barrel bolt that engages with the metal frame around the door.

[berniejack]

Originally Posted by berniejack

Many thanks for your posts about changing out the dinette sleeper for deeper and more comfortable cushions Garry and Tara!!! I'm so excited that we've now begun your mod!! So looking forward to having a more comfortable place to eat and relax while watching tv. So far we've removed the sleeper bed and moved the frame away from the wall 4". Starting to learn about foam options now... a lot to learn!

Finally.... a comfy place to hang out!!! New larger cushion for the wall bench, various size table legs(these were a challenge to find), a few homemade table tops, and a new footstool! Makes our seating area very flexible by mixing and matching leg lengths and table top sizes.... based on what we're currently doing. We usually don't change it too often, but when we do everything is easy to move and store. Love this group.... so many great ideas!!

[RhondaMyers.com]

This is beautiful.

[John & Diane]

Hi Bernie & Jack'

Great job! I know this area is so much better than original. We made similar changes to our 27K two years ago. Due to some back issues, recliners became a necessity, so we have recently made another change. Normally it's just the two of us so we will just use the table between the front chairs. The first pic below is when we finished installing the recliners. The second pic is when all the changes are complete. The hardest part of the job was relocating the converter from under the table to face into the walkway where it is much more accessible.

[Hikes in Rain]

Wow, many thanks to everyone who's contributed to this thread! DW has been vehemently emphatic about how uncomfortable the dinette "couches" are, and after seeing these modifications, is now equally emphatic we can do them, as well, especially having noticed we have the same coach (ACE 27.1).

After moving the seat frame forward 4", did anyone add an extension to the back to "brace up" the gap? I didn't think it would be needed; she thinks it would.

@berniejack: She fell in love with your setup! Especially the footrest between the seats. You mentioned the various table leg lengths were a challenge to find. I agree! In fact, I'm striking out on finding them. Since they have tapers on each end to fit the sockets, I assume I just can't cut them to size. My internet searching skills must be lacking; where did you find yours?

[thutchis]

Originally Posted by Hikes in Rain

You mentioned the various table leg lengths were a challenge to find. I agree! In fact, I'm striking out on finding them. Since they have tapers on each end to fit the sockets, I assume I just can't cut them to size. My internet searching skills must be lacking; where did you find yours?

You could take the existing table legs to a machine shop and have them cut in two, shortened and tig welded back together. Probably cost less than $100.

Tom

[berniejack]

Hikes in Rain - Thank you! That whole area is so much more flexible with the wider cushion, the various height table legs and the homemade table tops/foot stool. Don't feel bad about your search abilities.. I finally called Springfield because I couldn't find any either! They could not have been any nicer... even emailed a few weeks later to see if I found the legs I was looking for! They recommended Cascade Depot - cascadedepot.com

I bought two different lengths, a 12" for a lower footstool and a 15" for a footstool that is pretty much the height of the driver/passenger seats. Here is the 12" part number you can use to start your search on their page-
3660040-P

That will bring up a listing of various posts that you can select from... and, they are pretty inexpensive!

We did add material to the 'gap' area and then finished it off with hinges to make it easier to store stuff under the cushion.

I love what John and Diane did in creating that end table... perfect mod to finish off this area!

[Hikes in Rain]

This is perfect, berniejack, thank you so much! Exactly what I needed and more. You, sir, are a gentleman and a scholar.