Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 

Go Back   Thor Forums > Thor Tech Forums > Maintenance and Repair
Click Here to Login
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 07-18-2022, 04:42 AM   #1
Member
 
tgsmith4845's Avatar
 
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: ACE 30.4
State: California
Posts: 45
THOR #12011
Soft floor

2018 ACE 30.4 owned since new, about 4 years. Never had any water damage or intrusion. Stored indoors, and we live in very arid northern California.

While out camping this weekend I noticed a soft section of flooring just inside the entryway, inboard of the steps. Not too bad, but enough you could feel it in bare feet. Fearing the dreaded water damage I began investigating.

Knocking on the area with my knuckles it feels firm, but hollow. Kind of like when you’re looking for a wall stud. Not the dull thud of water-soaked plywood, so that’s good.

I jacked up the MH, installed jackstands and crawled underneath. This area is in the transmission alley just inboard of the steps. Looks like there’s material with a thin layer of seal coat sprayed on the underside. I’m assuming this is osb? Doesn’t look like there’s any foam in this section at all. Pushing up on the material I can feel it flex much like it did from the top. No sign of water anywhere.

Going back inside I removed the plastic edge molding from around the stairs and pulled the carpeting on the stair riser back to get a look at the flooring material. I pulled the vinyl flooring up (it’s not even glued down) and the osb is nice and dry, clean with no water stains anywhere. That’s a relief.

Underneath I noticed that there’s about 5-6’ between the steel frames, a fairly long run for the osb to handle, so now I’m wondering if the osb is just wearing out and flexing a bit? Anybody ever seen this?

To fix the flexing, I’m planning to install a section of subfloor underneath the section with no foam and support it with floor joists hung from the steel frames? Anybody see any problems with this?

Thanks,
Tim

__________________
Tim Smith
former USN Aviator
tgsmith4845 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-18-2022, 11:18 AM   #2
Senior Member
 
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Freedom Traveller A27
State: North Carolina
Posts: 2,407
THOR #17765
Sounds like a good fix to me!
__________________
Jimbo56 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-18-2022, 04:25 PM   #3
Junior Member
 
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Challenger 37LX
State: Virginia
Posts: 29
THOR #26801
Well it's great that you didn't find any water damage as that probably would have made the repairs much harder.

Your summery of the problem seems right to me. OSD is okay for certain jobs but doesn't hold up as well over time. I agree that the span there was not providing enough support to the OSB and adding supports now before it gets worse is probably a good idea.
__________________
Rob
Virginia Beach, Va
2015 THOR Challenger LX
sidekick41 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-18-2022, 05:01 PM   #4
Member
 
tgsmith4845's Avatar
 
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: ACE 30.4
State: California
Posts: 45
THOR #12011
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jimbo56 View Post
Sounds like a good fix to me!
Thanks, Jimbo
__________________
Tim Smith
former USN Aviator
tgsmith4845 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-18-2022, 05:03 PM   #5
Member
 
tgsmith4845's Avatar
 
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: ACE 30.4
State: California
Posts: 45
THOR #12011
Quote:
Originally Posted by sidekick41 View Post
Well it's great that you didn't find any water damage as that probably would have made the repairs much harder.

Your summery of the problem seems right to me. OSD is okay for certain jobs but doesn't hold up as well over time. I agree that the span there was not providing enough support to the OSB and adding supports now before it gets worse is probably a good idea.
Thanks, Rob. Yes, very relieved that there’s no water damage, especially after reading some of the horror stories in this forum about total floor replacements.
__________________
Tim Smith
former USN Aviator
tgsmith4845 is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Thor Industries or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.




All times are GMT. The time now is 03:26 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Content Relevant URLs by vBSEO 3.6.0 PL2