RE-Flooring a 2006 2350

Just my 2 cents on this.      We place strategically cut pieces of clear stairway runner on our carpet  for cleanup and preservation reasons.      The piece that covers the  carpeted area between the
front seats  gets surprisingly wet underneath when driving.    I always lift and let it dry at the end of the day.    Not doing so might  cause the trapped moisture over time to promote mold which is
never welcome.

10-4 on that!!  Discussing 'Entombing' the carpet up front with the PVC liner, spraying it (and letting it dry) with a mold/mildew inhibitor like https://www.homedepot.com/p/Concrobium-32-oz-Mold-Control-025326/100654126

(I do NOT work for Home Depot, but they are SO damn handy...  )

The dried residue will be 'reactivated' with water should a leak/condensate cause a problem.


 

Did a little more on the floor today, and am behind on pics.    Lets GO!

Pic 9097 shows the heads of the carriage bolts that will hold the battery pack.

Pic 9098 show the studs poking down under. I have since added 1 3/4 washers, lockwashers and nuts to secure them. This leaves ~ 1 1/4 inch of thread to mount the battery support system.

Pic 9099... a map. I am going to be installing a trim piece over the edge of the flooring, secured by screws. There are already screws there to hold the step in place. I do *NOT* want to try to put the trim screws where they are.  So I made a map of where they were, using the wall and cabinet as reference points. Now I can place my trim screw holes with confidence.    I made a similar map to chart the four holes in the floor for the table. We did not find the table useful, and will not be putting the floor brackets back in. We might want to later, so i made a map that goes into the RV record book.

Pic 0102 - It looks great.    Still more trim to go up, but the big picture is clear. 

pic 0118 - fitting up the stair trim.  It is gonna look GREAT!   

one more round... 

If you look at the post above, you will see I have removed the rear trim off the step area. This was a bit of a challenge, as it was installed at the factory BEFORE the door was put in. 

Pic 9114 shows the two mounting screws. The Yellow one, easy to get. The red arrow shows the location of screw 2.

Pic 9113 shows the hidden screw. 

pic 9115 shows the solution. I took every 3/8 socket extension, a 3/8 to 1/4 adapter, every 1/4 drive extension (I got toolz) , added a 1/4 deep socket, then the #2 Phillips  driver out of the cordless drill... and it reached. Bent enough to make it easy.  If you dont have a pile of tools, a #2 Phillips screwdriver on a broomstick, duck-taped securely, would be a good try.

We have the full floor Ford rubber mat over the carpet and I worry about moisture under the mat, held in by the carpet, and rusting the cab floor. I don't know if that would happen but I hope to someday take out the seats, remove the mat, and tear out the carpet (I hate carpet.) My original thought was to have a bare floor and get it spray sealed like they do in truck beds. Someone suggested I check with an installer and see if they'd give me a deal if I brought the rig in when they were doing other jobs as they could use the excess goop in our cab. I haven't checked that out yet.

Once we got the rig and experienced the heat, I modified my plan to this: rip out carpet, get floor sealed AND put Ford mat back on top for insulation. Since we went with vinyl throughout, that would leave only the bit of carpet on the stair riser and that should be an easy replacement with vinyl.

well... after finding wet carpet on the passenger floor, plans have shifted again. I am closer to your way of thinking.

The damp carpet was a bit of a disappointment, but glad i found it. Got pics and writeup in my rain leak thread.

good news however. Pulling up the carpet I found that the glue barely sticks to the carpet. Stays on the floor. Carpet peeled up easy to the passenger seat base.    So carpet is going away.

To compensate for the sound and thermal barrier loss, a two pronged approach.

First the noise abatement. Cab area is figured generously at 30 sq feet (60in x 72 in) and this noise deadening kit is on the way -

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00URUIKAK/ref=psdc_15709561_t1_B003TUNRGM

I went for the kit with roller and tape. I have used similar product, and it works very well.

For the thermal insulation, I already have Metalized Mylar single Foil Bubble Wrap. Over buy from a job. Decent insulator for being so thin, but a great radiant heat barrier. 

https://www.ecofoil.com/Single-Bubble-Foil-Insulation-Foil-Both-Sides-4x125-500-sq-ft?gclid=CjwKCAiAhfzSBRBTEiwAN-ysWKXJfme4aN18HBCg90M-5JAH717_33sZOjZMyvin7WUH6x-vZGXYWxoCDQIQAvD_BwE

""  It is 96% reflective and 4% emmissive, which means the product only allows 4% of radiant heat to pass through it.
 
To put it simple, the insulation does not try to slow the way heat passes through it, the insulation tries to eliminate heat from passing through it.
 
EcoFoil Single Bubble Foil Insulation is constructed of a single layer of polyethylene bubble insulation, bonded to two radiant barrier metalized sheets.

The insulation not only works well to reflect radiant heat, but it also works as a vapor barrier, preventing condensation which can cause mold. ""

   I like that!   



And ordered the PVC sheet to top it with.

Once i find the source of the passenger side moisture, I will be ripping out seats and laying a floor. 

WooooHoooo!! 

Still a bit sore from fridays show, but finally getting pics up.

Pic 9120 shows the area of carpet i found soaked. Rust trails show it coming from the A pillar

Pic 9123 shows the rust trail.

Pic 9166 shows the final floor mat and the sound deadening pads

Pic 9167 The sound pads from Russia... With love.. 

More to follow!  I have the entire front floor done. The loudest thing going down the road is the wind in the mirrors. 


Meanwhile, in the back. I put in some lights below the sink/stove before I put up the trim board.

Pic 9149 Shows the lights on, and we are looking forward to the cab. My new batteries on the left side, awaiting placement.

Pic 9150 is a lot closer to how it looks in 'real life' looking back towards the commode. The lighting is perfect for late night moving. 

Ok... back to the cab. The removal of the old carpet , the application of the sound deadening and the application of the insulation all took place late Thursday after work. The mat went in friday morning and the cab was complete by friday noon. Bit of a whirlwind process, and I dont have pics of the insulation being taped down.

 pic 9185 - The First Piece installed. This story has a happy ending.   (NOT sure why this shows first.   )

 pic 9170 shows the calm before the storm.  

 pic 9173 shows seats removed. Pretty simple process, but WOW are they heavy.

 pic 9177 shows carpet removed. VERY easy.  

 pics 9180/81 show the factory sound deadening. Not much there at all.  






Coming up next... Shiny silver stuff!!  

 

 

Ok... had some trouble posting, hope it sorts out. Done this post 4+ times so far...

pic 9188 is passenger floor starting point. Used the scraps in the wheelwell.

pic 9189 is the entire floor sound deadened. Well covered, small gaps are OK.

pic 9191 - insulation fastened to the back and ready to fit forward.

pic 9192 - passenger floor fitted.

pic 9193 - My loverly assistant pulls carpet staples that I left in for some unknown reason. 

pic 9198 - top layer of mat secured to the back edge, rolling forward getting fit.


I am not going to push the attachment limit. It says 10, but maxes out on size at 7 or 8.. 

Home stretch!   Almost done.

Pic 9200 - once again, slit in the middle and fit one side at a time. I really wanted to have no seams in the footwell area, so I trimmed SLOOOOOOWLY and left a lot of extra as I went.

pic 9201 - JUST what I was aiming for. One piece footwell.    Still a bit more trimming needed around the engine.

pic 9202 - Passenger footwell. I over insulated that area and smoothed it out for Mrs V.

pic 9205 - Finished. The lumps worked themselves out as the material relaxed. 

pic 9206 - Mission Ready cockpit. We fear no muddy boots.    Floor has some give, like a thin gym mat. All I need now is the edge trim for the cab/coach transition and for the stepwell in the coach.

Road testing friday night was VERY satisfying. Cab is super quiet, the wind in the mirrors is the loudest thing...tires are a close second. When sitting there idling, the A/C clutch kicking in can be heard slightly.  I am still travelling with the radio off so I know all the noises.


Getting close to our ideal festy coach inside. Mrs V is *very* pleased. 

Home stretch!   Almost done..........Getting close to our ideal festy coach inside. Mrs V is *very* pleased.  

Mrs V being very pleased is most critical.  Good for you.  Keep up the great rehab effort.  It sure is looking fine.

Quote from: Volkemon on January 28, 2018, 02:58:12 pm

Home stretch!   Almost done..........Getting close to our ideal festy coach inside. Mrs V is *very* pleased.  

Mrs V being very pleased is most critical.  Good for you.  Keep up the great rehab effort.  It sure is looking fine.

Thank You!  And for the record... I barely fit into the storage bin in back. Mrs V will not, she has the common sense not to go crawling into storage bins. 

Had my metal shop bend up some 2x2 angle from the 'dress' aluminum diamond plate. Made the transition pieces between the cockpit and coach perfect. Also trimmed the exit stairs for the coach. The shiny trim really helps draw the eye to the change in level, the wood(look) floor sorta blended that in. Safety and cool looks. 

Hi Volkemon,

Just finished reading through you re-flooring project. Very nice work and the final product looks great.

Fred

Thank You! 

Great job!  Congrats!

  Volkemon,  I know this is old, but want to thank you for such detail in your pics and write-up.  The question I have is: did you just lay the planks over the plywood and vinyl flooring, OR did you take the old vinyl flooring out?  If you laid over, did you need to put some leveling compound of some type from the plywood to vinyl?

Thanks,  Bob

  Volkemon,  I know this is old, but want to thank you for such detail in your pics and write-up.  The question I have is: did you just lay the planks over the plywood and vinyl flooring, OR did you take the old vinyl flooring out?  If you laid over, did you need to put some leveling compound of some type from the plywood to vinyl?

Thanks,  Bob

NO worries Bob!  I am just following Ron D's lead for helping others. He is a hard act to follow. 

Removed the carpet, then I just put the planks down over the vinyl and plywood. The flooring is VERY rigid, I can see no indication where the edges of the vinyl are. I really have been very satisfied with the flooring too. I would recommend it to anyone.

Thanks for the reply.  I just finished installing the same vinyl flooring in a bedroom.  I will be doing 1 more bedroom and the rv with it.  Again thanks for sharing.