Basement Doors

[DudleyDufort]

A couple of my basement doors have developed a crack along the line where the strut brackets are secured to the doors. One bracket is starting to pull loose. It appears as if a repair has been attempted at this bracket before using a foam epoxy filler. I'm wondering if anyone has had success in reinforcing this area using some other means.

Part of the problem may stem from opening (lifting) the doors beyond the partial stop that's intended to keep them from hitting the underside of the slides when the slides are extended. Some lifting effort must be applied to get the doors to a full open position when the slides are closed. Loading the compartments is a whole lot more difficult when the doors are only part way open. Maybe they were never intended to fully open, even with the slides retracted.

Looking for any ideas, experience, opinions or suggestions.

[inspectorudy]

I know one thing that hurts the area around the strut onthe door is to close the door from the opposite side. This puts a lot of torsional stress on that small patch of metal that the strut is attached to. I have not had good luck with the fixes that try to replace a simple butt joint weld. I watched a show that built two metal tables, one with a mig welder and the other with JBWeld epoxy. They dropped a concrete block from three stories up on each. The mig table just bent and was otherwise un harmed. The JBWeld table broke into all of its component parts like and explosion. You might be able to get it tack welded and if you use a lot of wet cloth on the painted side, you might get by with out much paint damage. Good luck.

[two slides]

I don't know of any remedy to help you. I also have cracks in some of doors, in fact National RV had to replace 7 of the 11 doors when they were still in business. Even these newer replacement doors have cracked but my problem is caused by COLD weather. I see you're in California so weather shouldn't be your problem.


someone will give you better help than I can do.

[coulter6]

I don't know if this will help, but here's a link to a thread that addresses a similar problem.

basement doors

[DudleyDufort]

Dear coulter6

Thanks! That was a lot of help. I wrote a private message to "kenscomet" asking for more specific information on the material that he used and the dimensions. That message was sent about a week ago. I've received no reply. Perhaps he's no longer a subscriber.

I'm wondering if anyone else has used this repair method and would they care to share some of the specifics with me.

Thanks, Dudley

[kenscomet]

Sorry it has taken me so long, Here goes the steel is 16 gage, 24in. x 4in. and as you can see by the pics. I matched the holes in the plate that mounts the shock to the door and staggerd holes from one end to the other. I used Gorilla Glue and screws to help secure the plate to the door. It seems to be working the doors have not gotten any worse. I did this back in Mid 08. Hope this helps Good Luck, Ken.

[DudleyDufort]

Thanks for getting back to me. I'm going to get started with repairs to a couple of the doors and I appreciate your advice and suggestions.

Dudley

[Blue Ribbon]

We have the same problem, but kenscomet's fix would not work on ours, as the inside liner (which I think is sheet PVC or maybe ABS) is coming loose from both the Styrofoam core material and where they are bonded on the edge to the outer fiberglass shell. Some day, I'm going to have to remove each door, and re-bond the the liner to the Styrofoam and door outer shell.

The hard part of this is getting the screws out on the piano hinge. Many of mine have rusted heads, and I'm afraid that they will shear off, rather than back out. The screws that break off will have to have the heads ground off, and once piano hinge is off, then try to extract the screw.

The other problem is what are you going to do with the "stuff" in the compartment when you have the doors off?? Even though we are in a locked storage, I could NEVER leave the coach unattended without a locked basement door.

I'm two years from retirement, and this will be a good summer project, while I wait another 5 years for the other half to retire.

[DudleyDufort]

One more question for Ken.

If ya had to do it again, would you use something heavier than 16 gauge? I haven't bought the metal strips yet. I was wondering if 16 gauge (appox. 1/16 inch) was too flexible. Or did that become a non-issue once the metal strips were bonded to the doors. Thanks

Dudley

[kenscomet]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DudleyDufort One more question for Ken. If ya had to do it again, would you use something heavier than 16 gauge? I haven't bought the metal strips yet. I was wondering if 16 gauge (appox. 1/16 inch) was too flexible. Or did that become a non-issue once the metal strips were bonded to the doors. Thanks Dudley

No, Once the matal strips were bonded they worked fine. Like I said I have not had any more trouble with any of my doors. Make sure you clean the doors before you glue them down. Good luck Ken