2004 Bigfoot Truck Camper Floor Rot Repair

Transcription

1 The following is how I repaired my Bigfoot Camper as an owner. I am not a professional, Any further floor rot would have required removal of the lower cabinets, a big job. Image 1 Damaged floor (Spongy to the touch) is about 20 inches from the door way. To the left is the bathroom with the Grey & black holding tanks below Page 1 or 8 pages

2 Image 2 Damaged floor (Spongy to the touch), near entrance door. Image 3 Page 2 or 8 pages

3 I removed the sill plate as removing the whole door was a big job. The sill (or sole plate) plate is attached to the vertical sides of the door frame by two screws at each end. To get to them, dig out the sealant at each end of the sill plate exposing the screws & then cut the screws with a 1" (about 1/32" thick) cut off wheel attached to a high speed grinder, I used a small air powered one I got at Princess Auto. The plate is sealed with Butyl tape on the portion of the sill plate that rests against the white fiberglass on the outside. Image 4 Tool I used to cut the two screws at each end of the Sill Plate. Image 5 Page 3 or 8 pages

4 I cut along the "tile" seam of the lino & then pealed it back to expose the floor. I may or may not reuse the lino. Image 6 This is the sickening view after I cut the plywood, it is 1/2" thick on my Bigfoot. Notice the gap near the outer fiberglass skin, it goes across the back of the floor side to side & there are 3/8" holes drilled, supposedly to allow water to drain. It did not work. Image 7 Page 4 or 8 pages

5 Image 7, This is what it looks like after I vacuumed it. The insulation is 1" thick bead board. I am going to replace it with Owens Corning FOAMULAR C-300 Extruded Polystyrene Rigid Insulation It is more dense than the white bead board Bigfoot uses. I am still working on the repairs. The floor stringer wood I will be replacing will be covered with System Three clear penetrating sealer, as well as the new plywood. Any rotted wood not accessible for removal, I will treat with System Three RotFix. There are some areas under the counter that I cannot get to, so I am going to drill holes & apply Boracol It is a rot prevention compound, that is supposed to be very good. It is BIG $$ though. The counter's are well supported by the 1" insulation board, so replacing the rotted floor stringer, I do not think will be required. The floor area where we walk is a different story, it will be replaced. Image 8 The stringers and foam board are glued down. Stringer identified as stringer#1 extends to the right under the counter as far as I could get it. I used a 15/16" forester bit to drill out the rotten stringer. I could not go any further than about 10 inches due to a wood screw blocking the drill bit. It is used to screw down the floor to the stringer. Stringer identified as stringer#2 extends the same as stringer #1 to the right & to the left, it goes to the edge of the opening of the bottom access panel. I used Lepage PL9000 to glue the stringers & Lepage PL300 to glue the foam board to the fiberglass & the 1/2" Fir plywood. Page 5 or 8 pages

6 Image 9 The plywood is installed and minor gaps filled with waterproof filler. I rolled the lino back down hoping the gaps would be ok, but no luck. I removed all the lino from the floor, including the brown beading (where the counter & lino meet). I will use wood molding to trim it. Page 6 or 8 pages

7 Image 10 The new lino is installed. For the floor molding on the right side, I cut up some Red Oak into 1/4" x 1/2 inch strips, length to suit &, sealed with Minwax pre-stain wood conditioner, stained with Minwax waterbased wood stain "Cinnamon toast" color, which for my unit is the closest I could find & coated with clear polyurethane. The two curved corners were a problem, so I uses a thin saw & cut slots perpendicular to the strip in the area of the bend, steamed the area with a household kettle and then bent to shape over a 1/2" drive socket & let dry. I put clear silicone sealer on the floor joint before putting the strip down, pre drilled some nail holes & used 3/4" finishing nails to secure the molding to the cabinet. For the left side, I used standard 1/4" x 1/4" Hemlock cove molding, sealed (important for this wood) stained & coated as above. Page 7 or 8 pages

8 The lino I purchased from "End Of The Roll" in Langley, BC, Canada. I was lucky, they had a similar color to the original, but with slightly smaller tiles. NOTES ABOUT LOCATION OF ROT IN MY BIGFOOT I could not find a "smoking gun" where the moisture got in Because Bigfoot on the series has an unprotected (i.e. not coated for rot protection) wood floor stringer at the rear adjacent to the approx 1" drainage trough at the lower rear of the camper (it where the two drain holes are at each rear corner of the shell are) any moisture whether from a leak or condensation will soak into the wood & migrate through the wood & eventually rot. Due to the location of the rot in my Bigfoot, it could be a leak in the:1) Door frame & sill plate 2) The propane tank compartment 3) The water heater outer frame area 4) The window frame just above the water heater 5) The bottom access panel. I noticed that it was not sealed & when I had it off to do some floor rot repair near the lower door frame area there was some moisture there from a rainfall the previous night. I had the entrance door covered with plastic during the rainfall, so it was not from that area. I think the water went down the outer fiberglass wall & then around the curved bottom corner where it could soak into the wood frame. 6) The joint where the upper & lower camper shells meet. SUGGESTIONS I would suggest you focus on those areas & also go over all sealed areas, including the roof openings, use lap sealant for the roof. Also when in storage have some kind of Dehumidifier to help prevent condensation. Where you live & how you store your camper determines what size or type of Dehumidifier. I live on the West Coast of Canada (rainy) & store my Bigfoot outside. I used a Clear Silicone Chalking for the External seams & Joints, except for the roof which I used Lap Sealant. Bigfoot as well as other manufacturer's to keep costs down do not seem to spend the time to seal critical areas or provide rot proof materials, in my opinion as a Bigfoot Owner. Page 8 or 8 pages