Community Forums

Retired and Happy · 08-20-2006, 06:28 PM

Has anyone ever replaced a built-in dinette with a free standing table and chairs? Are such tables actually free standing or are they fastened to the floor? We never use the dinette as a bed and hate the way the seat cushions slide forward during use. A table and 2-3 chairs would suit us well.

Retired and Happy · 08-20-2006, 06:28 PM

Has anyone ever replaced a built-in dinette with a free standing table and chairs? Are such tables actually free standing or are they fastened to the floor? We never use the dinette as a bed and hate the way the seat cushions slide forward during use. A table and 2-3 chairs would suit us well.

RV Wizard · 08-20-2006, 11:26 PM

Ken, we have done this on units we have sold and there are some things to be aware of when considering this change. The bench seats are also screwed to the walls and cabinte so holes will be left behind. The table too when removed will leave holes. If your coach has a slide out there could be bolts that are in the floor under the benches that are for the slideout rollers and you may have to deal with them. There are a variety of free standing tables. Some are secured in the the wall as well as the floor. You may concider using the table that is there and just replace the benches. Good luck and let us know the outcome.

NeilV · 08-20-2006, 11:46 PM

Ken,

We considered just removing the benches and buying four chairs keeping the original table. We did some research first and took a few coaches with table and chairs for a spin. After looking at how the travel straps are arranged on various coaches with chairs along with how difficult it was to get on your hands and knees to strap them down contered by how the chairs moved about and tipped on bumpy/curvy roads during the test drives without the straps attached, the storage that we would have lost and the input from our two daughters who indicated they would prefer to not share the sofa we put better non-slip matts under the cusions on the booth and let it be.

Hang on to the booth until you are sure that the chairs are the way you want to stay and then sell the ones you don't want. Some people will pay good money for a booth as indicated by a number of posts we have seen over the past year by those looking to buy them. You may be able to offset the cost of the conversion from the sale of the booth afterwards.

Regards,

Retired and Happy · 08-21-2006, 01:35 AM

Thanks for the replies. As usual there are some good points to consider. We'll see what DW says, but I'm inclined to leave well enough alone. The improved non-skid stuff sounds a lot easier than patching a lot of holes, running into who knows what under the seats, and putting up with the problems of securing the free standing stuff.

Kazoo Tom · 08-21-2006, 03:11 PM

We really like the additional storage available under the dinette seats, but agree that the cushion sliding is troublesome. The non skid stuff could work, along with velcro strips. The self stick velcro strips under the cushion and on the top of the bench does a fairly good job of keeping them in place.