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jolandua

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About jolandua

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  • My Toyota Motorhome
    1994 Winnebego Micro Warrior
  • Location
    Wauna WA

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  1. The installation outlined earlier is complete now, except for final flooring (will it be vinyl or "hardwood" or carpet? Only my boss knows, and she hasn't told me yet . . .) The floor in the modified area is very stiff. Now I can tell how spongy the rest of it, forward of the repairs, remains. Here's a photo of the completed set up, just before gluing down the 1/2" AB Marine (the lighter colored stuff). Used this convenient epoxy dispenser and spread the epoxy on the plywood using one of my small drywall knives. The plywood pieces just before I laid them in place. And here's what the bolted in channels look like from beneath.
  2. I've been using pieces of the same Home Depot underlayment ripped into 3" strips to stir, apply, and clean up thinset mortar through the summer. No delamination there either. Who knew I was testing materials for Toyers? Great stuff. ;-)
  3. Today, explored this problem again and now have a repair plan. I drilled a hole through the "delaminated" plywood, and found it's not (delaminated plywood, that is). jdemaris, correct as is usual! Some photos included with this response. The ~1/4" plywood is sound, but separated from the foam and bowed. When I bought this, the previous owner had never removed the plastic cover stapled over the carpet (which I did . . .). Because this bowing occurred only in places that were covered with plastic (no bowing directly under reefer, though "water marks" are on edges of the bowed flooring just next to the reefer - last 2 pics), I now wonder if somehow that caused the plywood-to-foam bond to fail, and the subsequent bowing. I decided to move on in a different direction than trying to re-laminate the plywood and foam using epoxy. This, because it does not seem to me that I can get a good enough "squeeze" during the epoxy set without screwing or bolting through the laminations anyway. Also, I want to stiffen the floor. So, I elected mechanical strengthening beyond gluing. I plan to install back-to-back AL channels (1/2"x2", 0.125" th), one in the cabin, one beneath, bolting through the existing floor plies. Then, I will install 1/2" and 3/8" marine AB plywood on top of the existing floor, gluing and screwing the 1/2" to the existing plywood, and filling the floor-top channels in with the 3/8" to keep the floor flat and hide the bolt-heads. I think this will stiffen along the cabin axis and strengthen side-to-side too. I'll send more pics when there is further progress.
  4. Thanks to everyone for your replies. I kept looking for 14" tires, settled on the Continental Vanco 2. Interesting that I had already gone through websites of some of the manufacturers suggested in the responses to my original posting, including Continental, but no website presented a usable tire until I had the trade name, i.e. "Vanco 2". I was able to get the Continentals for only ~ $10 more than the American Omnis when shipping, etc. was included. Found the deal through Discount Tires, which is more or less a nation-wide outfit, so very glad to have information that helped me loop through again to get the correct rubber.
  5. I am looking into a new set of tires for my recently acquired '93 Micro-Mini Winnebago (One-ton chassis, 3-L V6, 14" 6-7.25 dually wheels). I only found 2 offerings in full compliance with all specifications regarding load and internal pressure. One, made in China and sold in US as "American Omni" Thunderer R101 offered by Les Schwab (local northwest tire outfit - good reputation) and a second, Yokohama Y356, available (probably from several sources but) from tirerack.com. I am leery of buying chinese-manufactured tires, and the Yokohama's do not get great user ratings, apparently wearing very quickly. Obviously, there's not a big market for these tires in the US. So . . . I am just beginning to research replacing the wheels/tires with 15" wheels and a properly spec'd tire with the correct diameter (~25" overall dia.), if the combination is feasible, hoping to make a wider variety of tires, with higher load ratings, usable over the long term. Has anyone attempted this or accomplished it to their own satisfaction? If so, please share the details. Or is this just a really bad idea?
  6. Good discussion moving along here. jdemaris: Jatoba ("brazilian cherry") is dense, very strong, and extremely rot-resistant. I used (am still using) stakes made from scraps after installing flooring 11 years ago for gardening - not a spot of rot anywhere after staking plants for those years. Might work for your structural support. Another idea: an Al tee extrusion, or two Al angles welded along the top, with plywood fastened on either side. I was surprised not to see more angle bracing used beneath the floor of my "new" Toy. jdfrost - thanks very much for your offer re playwood. I'm taking Derek's distaff advice (from somebody in GB) and I'll have a beer and think about what's next. Meanwhile, I'll camp with a "squishy" floor. Nice summer in the works hereabouts. I would love to see photos of your current work for good ideas. Meanwhile, folks, I will get some photos of my little jewel together so's we can share ideas and expertise with visual aids (thanks for your photos jdemaris!)
  7. Great information on using epoxy and some specific products to kick off the rest of the research. jdemaris - thanks for the specific experiences regarding your typical findings when checking "squishy" floors. There is evidence of water infiltration or water system leakage in the form of dark discoloration all around the edges of the "delaminated" area - mostly beneath reefer, cabinets, lounge, etc. Also, I can't see it well (no components removed inside yet except carpet), but at the base of the exterior wall there seems to be "a little green". The color of the squishy area in question, between the sink and reefer, is that of a sound top layer of plywood veneer (except it's sort of bubbled up), which is why I tentatively concluded it was simply delaminated rather than rotting. So, I'm thinking I need to accept that pretty much the entire floor needs to be replaced (or at least all cabinets, appliances, etc. removed to get a good fix on the floor ?) . . . yikes! Talk about project scope creep! I'll finish up the father-in-law bathroom project before I tear into this one ;-). It will be informative to cut down into the plywood and have a look. I'll make that the next step. Meanwhile, she is under the RV canopy and at least not directly exposed to our PacNW rains . . . Cheers! Thanks for responding.
  8. Thanks to all for your thoughts. Derek, sorry, I have no link - did not bookmark it - but my search key words included "motorhome", "delaminated plywood". Google presented me with the UK-based forums in the response, along with this one. WME - closing the bolt-holes with epoxy-impregnated/coated dowels (etc.) is a great idea! I was thinking of leaving the bolts in place, having liberally applied sealastic beneath fender-washers. And just putting up with the tripping hazard as there are plenty of places to grab hold of in the camper ;-). Onward . . .
  9. Hi, jdemaris. Thanks for the reply. I have continued researching this, and tentatively conclude the best solution is injecting epoxy resin between the laminations and clamping the assembly while the resin sets. There were several posts on a UK-based Caravaning Forum about this method. I looked on Winnebago's site for some advice/information but found nothing (no surprise . . .), and the parts list I have is not specific as to the floor material construction. I can see an Al sheet on the underside and plywood on top. the roof lamination seemed to be Al, then a polystyrene sheet; I saw no plywood (viewed at the reefer chase vent). Guess I need to disassemble a bit more (toilet?) and look for other components in the floor assembly. I have to wonder about the potential effect of injecting the resin on top of a plastic layer in the assembly. RE clamping the assembly during setting, I had thought I would drill holes through the floor and through-bolt to a plate of some sort on the bottom, which I would remove when done. Then I have to seal the bolt-holes. Any thoughts?
  10. We are new to your community - just bought a 1994 Winnebego Warrior with 44k miles. I'm looking for advice on repairing de-laminated floor plywood sections. We will certainly find and correct any water leaks first - really looking for materials and process to correct the delaminations. Could I maybe replace the plywood with a dense polystyrene (etc.) extrusion? Anyone with experience along these lines? John O.
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