Hardwood Floor

DougH

I had a couple soft spots on my 2017 320 Azdel floor, so a few months back I tried 5mm vinyl planks as an overlay.  It helped the main soft area in the center of the floor, and came out looking nicer than the original vinyl sheeting, at least to my untrained eye...



... but I still don't like the feel. The soft spot is less noticeable, but the whole floor still has too much give.

I'm gonna try full-timing in it next year until there's a NuCamp model halfway between a 400 and Avia available, or a really awesome micro toy-hauler comes on the market. So until then, I want a perfectly flat rigid floor.

Accordingly my plan is to take the planking back out (I didn't glue it down, just a little caulk at the perimeter). Then I'll cut out the vinyl sheeting from the visible floor area, cut the perimeter of the visible Azdel, and lift or cut it out depending on how well it's glued to the aluminum frame. Hopefully the Azdel layer is not epoxied to the foam blocking.

Then after leveling the aluminum framing if needed, use a medium construction adhesive and put down an extremely hard real wood like Brazilian Walnut (Ipe) which you can find everywhere in 5.5" widths and 17 or 19mm thicknesses for building decks.

I looked at the deformation levels, sustainability, and look of Trex and Azek, and at their heart they are still composites, and still flex more than even moderate hardwoods, and can even weigh slightly more than a gorgeous hardwood like Tigerwood. And without the beauty of real wood.

I plan to only spend a few days sanding the planks once they're cut to size, then using linseed oil for additional protection and to enhance the surface appearance.  So it should hopefully come out with a beautiful grain showing, and not be too dark a look against all the lighter birch in the cabin.  Fingers crossed, a little lighter than this Ipe deck picture below, but with that same rich grain.



Theoretically I can drop a 5lb sledge on the floor, and with its hardness rating it won't leave a mark. Also supposed to be highly scratch and mold / mildew / water damage resistant.  Will use up 40-50lbs of my 700lb carry capacity though, but add around $5000 to the resale value.

Dumbest idea ever?  The only other alternative I can think of, after removing the top few current layers, is to put down a marine plywood, then a much thinner hardwood flooring material like one gets from a flooring shop.  But I suspect that combination would be just as, if not, heavier, and wouldn't have the same feel as pure 3/4" - 7/8" walnut boards.

VictoriaP

I wouldn’t count on it adding to the resale value, especially $5k. Not everyone will consider it an upgrade, and I personally would not pay anything extra for a hardwood floor in such a tiny space meant for camping, no matter how lovely it came out or the quality of the wood involved. Especially if I knew you’d removed not just the flooring vinyl, but a part of the laminated sandwich beneath. Any mod that messes with the actual construction of the trailer shell isn’t an upgrade to me, but rather a potential problem down the road. If I walked into a Tab with a non standard floor covering, the first question I’m going to ask is what was wrong that required fixing.

As far as concerns, just some conjecture: I’d wonder how resilient RV flooring actually needs to be? Will something like this travel well in these rolling earthquakes, or will it be prone to cracking under the flex and strain of travel down a Forest Service road? Not something I’d personally want to experiment with, but I’ll be interested to see what others think.

It’ll look nice with the cabinetry, though I do like the grey vinyl planks you used a lot!

DougH

@VictoriaP All good considerations, and worth thinking about. I could just take off the linoleum top sheet (barely attached), and put the hardwood on the existing untouched Azdel sandwich, since that portion of Azdel is probably only 5lbs. I am curious to see what the Azdel fracturing looks like at the main soft spot. And I've seen pics where aluminum welds have failed on RV Azdel construction, so I'm genuinely curious what it looks like under that top linoleum / vinyl sheeting surface.

While the $5000 was an exaggeration, with the lower center of mass of a hardwood floor, I should be able to take 90 degree corners at around 120mph without flipping over. 

4ncar

@DougH: you do realize there is a manufacturer recall on some 2017 manufacturered tabs for “soft” delaminating floors, don’t ya? Use the search feature on this site...

DougH

@4ncar Yup, familiar with service bulletin NCRV-SB-003, but it doesn't apply to me. I did talk to Austin and got a quote to delaminate and rebuild the central floor. I'm just being cheap in the short run... while also fulfilling every Tabber's unquenchable need to make their T@B unique.

VictoriaP

DougH said:

While the $5000 was an exaggeration, with the lower center of mass of a hardwood floor, I should be able to take 90 degree corners at around 120mph without flipping over. 

You speed demon, you. 😁

As long as you’re not anticipating a resale value bump and are willing to take a possible future valuation hit, then yeah, my one concern would be performance in a moving vehicle. Which may not actually be a legit concern, I simply don’t know. It’s an interesting idea!

ChanW

That IPE is beautiful. A friend has been installing it as decking all summer for various people here.
It's interesting wood. Almost like teak the way it's got an oily kind of raw surface.
You could probably add the fireplace and ottoman to finish the upgrade...

DougH

@ChanW @VictoriaP OK, its agreed then. There's a ton of folks on other camper forums and sites like IRV2 all dissatisfied with their soft floors or floors with random soft spots. Someone else just came here to the NuCamp forum late yesterday with the same issue...

https://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/12208/floor-rot-on-a-2016-tab-320-s-pleasant-valley#latest

We team up with your friend, hang out our shingle, and start converting small RV floors throughout North America. Only in the locations we're camping in already of course. Felt or equivalent tape between each board for contraction / expansion, and a light colored caulk between each board at the top to keep debris on top. A t-square, small band saw, oils and adhesives. Make it look like a high end boat deck. Optional truck bed matching.  Now we just need a company name and logo. We can probably knock out several dozen floors at üCamp 2022 once we get efficient at it.  

rfuss928

DougH  The welds are simply light tacks to help the aluminum framing hold shape/position before laminating and have no effect on the final assembly strength. Once the "skins" or adhesive fail, the entire assembly strength is lost and everything begins falling apart.  Those light duty tubes are much too small and thin to support any significant weight separated from the floor assembly.  My biggest concern with your proposed rebuild is the destruction of the existing floor structure and then assuring the replacement flooring acts as a continuous bonded sheet.  I think the proposal to add flooring to the top of the existing Azdel skin in exposed areas is a safer (and easier) approach.
Have fun.

DougH

@rfuss928 Thanks. So take off the top linoleum, inject epoxy into any soft spots, put down the IPE planks on top the Azdel, with a thin relief routed into each plank every few feet to embed and screw in (at the center of each plank) reclaimed iron strapping or polished and coated aluminum strap for that continuous bonded sheet requirement you spoke of.  And then I guess the whole thing could float instead of getting glued to the Azdel?



When nücamp said they could delaminate and rebuild the whole central floor, or just the section with the soft spot, I wonder how that's done.

ChanW

If it's going to float, use tongue & groove, and lay it down on a few strips of 4" Grace Vycor tape. Amazingly sticky stuff.

Denny16

First off under the Lino floor, is a moisture barrier that looks like this:  (Edited to resize photo - Sharon)

Under this I’d the Azdel panel, which is a single sheet, so not sure why it has a soft spot.  Some of the nüCamp flooring has an underlying foam but that cushions the floor’s feel, giving it a “spongy” feel.

The Brazilian Walnut (Ipe) is heavier than any American hardwood, and heavier than Teak, which is looks similar to.  This is going to subtract a pupound from yiur cargo weight for every point of Ipe that you install, which could add up around 100 lbs.  Try getting some manufactured Cork flooring thst is on a hard backing p, and can be laid to float, it is a tongue and groove type panel, 1-foot wide by 3-feet ling, is fairly rigid, send much lighter than the Ipe planks.

I also strongly recommend not removing thr Azdel panel,under the moisture barrier material, just add a manufactured flooring product of,your choice.
cheere