2008 Holiday Rambler . Bought back in march from a dealer here in Fort Worth. The floor was a little soft between the shower and toilet. Salesman said it wasn't bad and the leak had been fixed. I had planned to fix it this winter after camper season. Fast forward to August and the floor has gotten worse and i located the REAL leak under the shower. I started taking it out last night and discovered its all under the shower, infront of shower, and down wall next to bed. After pulling ply board out last night I discovered it has 1 1/4 inch of styrofoam under the ply board. Then under that has 1/8 inch or so ply board. The aluminum joist are about 32 inches apart. What all should I replace? Do I replace the styrofoam? How about the ply board under the styrofoam? How would I even get to that? I guess I'm going to take the shower and wall out and replace all that wood too....Wow this turned REALLY BAD Quick!!!

Well, you've solved the two main problems:You've found the true source of the water (and stopped it?) and you've removed the vinyl that's preventing the underlayment from drying out. Some of that wood may well dry out undamaged except for water stains- you may not have to tear out as much as you think. I'd let it get well dry and then assess what actually has to be torn out.One caveat:To prevent mold growth, I'd saturate the wet areas with a strong bleach solution while they're still wet. Doing that to wet wood will help to evenly distribute the bleach throughout.

Francesca Knowles wrote:Well, you've solved the two main problems:You've found the true source of the water (and stopped it?) and you've removed the vinyl that's preventing the underlayment from drying out. Some of that wood may well dry out undamaged except for water stains- you may not have to tear out as much as you think. I'd let it get well dry and then assess what actually has to be torn out.One caveat:To prevent mold growth, I'd saturate the wet areas with a strong bleach solution while they're still wet. Doing that to wet wood will help to evenly distribute the bleach throughout.Yes the leak was the 1st threaded joint under the drain. It wal literally pouring out Tuesday. It had never before ran out in the main floor. Now you say about letting dry out I might give that a shot. I wish I'd put a fan on it last night.... I'm a big DIY'er. But thinking of pulling the shower wall scared me last night thinking of doing it myself. I called my neighborhood handyman that's helped me renovate my current house project. He's going to help me pull the shower and wall tonight. I might hold back on cuttin all th way down the bed side. I'm betting that will dry and with bleach should only be water stains Thoughts on type of flooring to put back in? I was thinking of the peal and stick premium laminate squares???

One thing you might consider is when you replace the skirting board that is under the shower is to make it removable so you can open it up and inspect under the shower. I've thought about making mine removable just so I can check under there every so often to be sure nothing is leaking. Right now I have no reason to think it is but you never know!

Before you go nuts on it, go to http://www.rotdoctor.com/products/cpes.html and read everything.I used CPES on a wood rot repair. It is great stuff. If you can get to the wood and it still is intact, CPES can save you tons of work. CPES soaks into dry wood like crazy, then makes it very strong. If the wood is weak but still retaining its shape, you can use CPES and then a thin epoxy he sells, to coat it.

hotbyte wrote:One thing you might consider is when you replace the skirting board that is under the shower is to make it removable so you can open it up and inspect under the shower. I've thought about making mine removable just so I can check under there every so often to be sure nothing is leaking. Right now I have no reason to think it is but you never know!I thought about adding a galvanized pan with a drain tube as well... But you're right that wouldn't be a bad idea. I'm still unsure how ill match up the back wall of the shower if I remove the wall. I rent this motorhome out on the side and have a rental contract for 8/28 (18 days away). So I need to fix'er up quick!

Soft floor. A lot worse than thought!! | Good Sam Community

hotbyte
Explorer
Aug 16, 2013
Very nice! I'm sure it was a pain having to do that but it came out looking great.
DaHose
Explorer
Aug 16, 2013
Right on! That wood flooring looks really sharp.

Jose
Wikid86
Explorer
Aug 16, 2013
Finished! well except for some quarter round...
Wikid86
Explorer
Aug 10, 2013
A little afternoon update.

Picked up Minwax wood hardener in north dallas sherwin Williams (45 miles away). Been applying to marginal spots all morning. Pulled out most rotted wood under shower and cleaned up. Slipped 2x4's under good side floor edges for some screw to support. I'm going to put wood hardener on everything else then let dry real good.

Oh and fitted the patch.

Decided on Home Depots Allure laminate strips with squirt of Loctite construction adhesive.
Francesca_Knowl
Explorer
Aug 10, 2013
Does anyone know if residual moisture can/will have an effect on the effectiveness of the various sealers being discussed?

My instincts say the wood should be absolutely bone dry before application so that no water is sealed inside...is that correct or will some products displace moisture?
soren
Explorer
Aug 10, 2013
j-d wrote:
Thing with OSB, it's made of a lot of glue relative to the wood. That means relatively little cellulose/wood for the CPES to penetrate. I don't believe the glue gets penetrated to any extent.

Actually, it's quite the opposite. Prior to being pressed into the final thickness, the chip matt is about 6-8X as thick. In standard OSB the glue to cellulose ratio is pretty light. In proprietary products like Huber's Advantech, there is exponentially more resin, which is why the stuff is noticeably heavier, almost looks like a non-wood based composite product when viewing cut edges, and wears out blades a lot faster. When you find an old piece of OSB laying outside, and it is swollen to nearly twice it's original thickness dimension, you get an good visual as to how much absorbent fiber there really is.
riven1950
Explorer
Aug 10, 2013
It looks like you have OSB not plywood, depending on the quality of the OSB and how long it was wet it may dry out. I run into this with flipping mobile homes. Your problem ( one of them ) is your floor is a sandwich of OSB with foam as the filler. May be hard to dry it out.

Not that familiar with your TT floor construction but consider this. If you have to replace a section figure the total thickness of the sandwich then consider two layers of OSB or underlayment plywood that will total to the thickness of the sandwich. IE: if the sandwich is 1 1/2 inches you could use two layers of 3/4inch OSB or plywood. Turn second layer 90degrees from first for strength. Treated plywood is another option...will reduce the chances of a repeat performance. Good luck
j-d
Explorer II
Aug 10, 2013
That's Dr. Rot's claim. It's true because his CPES is literally WATERY. It soaks deeper before curing. If a product like this cures before it's in deep, then another "coat" won't help since the wood is already sealed at the surface and the epoxy can't get to the core.
Thing with OSB, it's made of a lot of glue relative to the wood. That means relatively little cellulose/wood for the CPES to penetrate. I don't believe the glue gets penetrated to any extent.
Snowman9000
Explorer
Aug 10, 2013
Wikid86 wrote:
DaHose wrote:
I'm with Snowman. If the wood is all there, consider CPES. That will kill the mold and encapsulate all the cellulose so it can't grow in there again.

Jose

Yeah I agree. Great idea. I went to lowes and they didn't have the Miniwax wood hardener which is similar and very close if resin is applied after. Currently I can't find CPES locally.

I picked up Elmer's Wood Rot Stabilizer. After reading up on it is rather find Miniwax's product.

Thoughts of that? I still want to remove all mildewed wood.

What a freaking nightmare.

I'd be surprised if the over the counter products are as good as CPES. That one comes with warnings and requires you use a fumes type respirator. The Rot Doctor claims it penetrates much deeper than the others. I believe it. Your mileage may vary. :)
bsinmich
Explorer
Aug 09, 2013
I used to have a wooden boat. Git-Rot was the product back then but I haven't found it lately. Basically it is epoxy that will soak into the wood and strengthen it. I am the pres. of our condo assn. ((182 units) and we found some rot in a placee under the doorwall that would have been very difficult to replace. We got the fiberglass compound from the marine supply here in town and solved the problem.

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Soft floor. A lot worse than thought!!

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