What's under the flooring?

[gator67]

If I were to remove the carpet in the living area, what would I find underneath?

If I were to remove the tile in the kitchen area, what would I find underneath?

[4Knights]

Dirt

Most likely a treated wood subfloor then some form of metal, under the tiles should be backer board then wood subfloor then metal.

[EngineerMike]

Hopefully Old Forester will chime in w/his superior forest products knowledge in this area. In case not- Weyerhaeuser shipped specialty floor panels that were full-coach-length of oriented strand board (OSB). this allowed coach mfgr's to assemble a floor frame, fill the pockets w/insulation, and sheet it above & below w/a single sheet of plywood-like material for speed of assembly. Theoritetically, it would potentially be stronger w/out seams in floor.

[OldForester]

EM has the gist of this. While at Weyerhaeuser I was responsible for the manufacturing and sale of Structurwood (a type of OSB) products which were the subfloor of our Alpines. This product is similar to OSB in that it is made of wood strands and resin (glue). It is different because it used an isocyanate resin (higher moisture resistance, faster manufacturing time)instead of phenol formaldehyde like in plywood or some OSB, it had a higher density (more wood strands) per cubic foot than regular OSB, a unique manufacturing formula, and a different panel size.

We supplied it in 8x12 and 8x24 foot panel sizes and custom sizes to the RV manufacturers instead of 4x8 so they could reduce the number of seams in the floor and reduce flexing, especially under tile joints. It also speeded the coach floor manufacturing process.

The proprietary formula with higher density also allowed for a thinner product to meet performance requirements.

More than one thickness was supplied to the RV mfrs but 5/8" and 23/32" were common. I am not sure of the thickness on our coaches but I think it is one of these I mentioned.

WRV applied a blue surface coating, especially in places prone to moisture, presumably to inhibit moisture. They also applied a black plastic film to the bottom of the subfloor as you have probably noticed.

Basically the primary structural product is this Structurwood product and the rest is primarily coatings.

If I had custom built our coach instead of buying one that had just been built, I would have covered the floor with high quality flexible linoleum - type product in a slate- like pattern instead of tile and carpet like it was built, except the bedroom, where I would have used carpet. No matter how much you try to keep floor flex down along with floor weight, there is going to be some flex with frames as responsive as Alpines. If all the flex were gone, we probably would not like the ride and handling.

So you basically have an engineered wood floor under your carpet. Let me know if you have more questions.

[EngineerMike]

I forgot about the isocyanate resin bonding agent in lieu of phenol formaldehyde. Sorry. I'll remember next time.

[mythplaced]

And HERE is what it looks like

[OldForester]

EM, but you have a remarkably good memory on all the rest of it! And Mythplaced, that's a good picture! Structurwood is actually a fairly forgiving product, so Gator, you can do a lot with it if you decide to take off the old flooring and put something else down. For example, it resists moisture from leaking plumbing fairly well if there's a way for the water to get away. But when it's sealed especially on the bottom like ours are with the black plastic film, moisture can be trapped and not be good in the long term. If you ever have a plumbing leak or another leak that is persistent, it's a good idea to remove some of that film under the leak and let the water move through the Structurwood so it doesn't rot or deteriorate over a longer period of time. Especially if it's going to be a while before you solve the leak.