Community Forums

alvo · 11-15-2015, 06:04 PM

I understand the concept. It's similar to a torsion box which is how Ikea makes furniture and how the walls and cabinets are sort-of constructed in this RV (they only surfaced them on one side). The resultant package is dimensionally stable along the width and height. Not so much front-to-back, especially if it's going to be walked on all the time. Foam compresses; thin plywood flexes--especially on the edges.

There mantra seems to have been make it light, make it cheap, make it just durable enough to make it through the warranty period.

Ernie Ekberg · 11-15-2015, 06:32 PM

Every coach floor flexes.

alvo · 11-15-2015, 06:55 PM

Like this?

aauummm · 11-15-2015, 07:00 PM

Looks pretty decent for a 1986 coach. That's almost 30 years old.

alvo · 11-17-2015, 11:25 PM

I was wrong. It's 5/16" plywood, not 1/4". I took out the dinette and had some dry rot from an old water leak and had to remove a section of the flooring. I had hoped to use the plywood from the dinette seat tops as a replacement, but they used 3/8" plywood for them!

Dogpatch · 11-17-2015, 11:51 PM

To make you plate install a little less proud of the floor, you could countersink the holes in the plate and use wood screws. They would then sit flush with the plate.

alvo · 11-19-2015, 10:20 AM

I had thoought about recessing the plates into the plywood but I sold all of my tools when I downsized from a house to an apartment and would have had to get a router just for that. At first I was going to use drywall screws whose heads would have set in flatter, but I had the construction screws from another project.

Everything does sit a bit above the surface but I have chosen to use a 3/8" thick dense foam pad under the carpet and I can't feel them through the pad, even knowing exactly where they are. Add the carpeting and I'm confident no one will ever know what underneath.