Underlayment for a hardwood floor....

[Oregonconversion]

There is a way to seal your floor you know. The smell will not come through the wood as far as I know.

[JohnEd]

O.Version,

Sooooo many have failed to do so that thought it could be done.  Given the work involved and that all understand that, I personally take it to heart when the "old Hands" say, "get the old floor up and clean the thing and install your cable chases and water lines and hydraulics."  It is a ton of work.  Ultimately you do this your way within your budget constraints and time limitations.  And we will all God bless you and continue to help in any way we can.

Now if you have a method to seal that off, please share that.  Maybe someone has something to add to what you are planning.

Good Luck,

John

[belfert]

I believe NCBob's bus is mostly finished so he isn't going to pull up the original floor if it is still in there.

I replaced the original floor in my bus, but I really didn't have to.  I don't have a tunnel like an MCI and none of the wood was rotten or anything.  If I was doing another Dina I might leave the original floor in place as it was LOT of work to replace.  The main reason I started on the floor replacement was to get rid of the seat rails.  It turns out the seat rails helped support the floor and even 3/4" plywood is slightly springy in places where the supports are spaced every 27 inches.

I didn't add floor insulation as I need every bit of head room I have.  I did put epoxy paint on the bottom of the plywood to seal it, but the plywood is only exposed over the bays in my case.

[Blacksheep]

I went directly over my bus floor and I have no odors from the previous bus usage. No sealers used, just 3/8 plywood and finish material on that! I too had seat rails but my plywood covered them just fine!

Ace

[NewbeeMC9]

There is a way to seal your floor you know. The smell will not come through the wood as far as I know.

I understand not wanting to cutout the floor and it is your bus and your project and it maybe a lot of work that you were not planning on doing and i am by no means telling you what to do.

I do highly recommend cutting a hole or pulling up the center ramp at the front and have a look in that cavity before you decide.  Yours may not be that bad so you may be ok. Definately worth a check,

you may also want to figure out a way to use that space.  Maybe a flip up hatch for storage, tank, or with the inverter in it for access, will still have air for cooling but be out of the way and not in the bay.  a lot of wasted space there. space becomes more of a premium as you fill your bus up .  This area is mostly at the front, maybe you don't need to pull all the floor up just some spots.,  the bays and engine area you can see the bottom so your call.

If you use an RV dinette that makes a bed and the table mounts to the wall,  a hatch in the floor there would be good because you can lift the table out of the way to get to it.  Just a thought.

at least cut out around the wheel wells and seal or cut small holes and fill with spray foam them up to seal them.  If I drive in the rain, I sometimes end up with mushrooms growing up from the wet dirt there a little while later.  I don't think they cleaned the old floor when they put down the plywood  (could be from BS at the non-rally )  I haven't noticed a smell from there, at least not yet.  I did peek under there one time and noticed the dirt, yukkey!  If you are leaving the bus air you'll be treating it different.  Sealing the plywood is a good idea too.  Be sure to keep the engine hatches not only accesible but where you can get to them when there open too.

How bout some pics on your progress, you know we likes pics!!!

Do it your way!!!



NCBob, since you started this, what did you end up doing?  hows the winterfest going?

[Oregonconversion]

How many inches should I place the supports when using 3/4" plywood? 24"?

I believe NCBob's bus is mostly finished so he isn't going to pull up the original floor if it is still in there.

I replaced the original floor in my bus, but I really didn't have to.  I don't have a tunnel like an MCI and none of the wood was rotten or anything.  If I was doing another Dina I might leave the original floor in place as it was LOT of work to replace.  The main reason I started on the floor replacement was to get rid of the seat rails.  It turns out the seat rails helped support the floor and even 3/4" plywood is slightly springy in places where the supports are spaced every 27 inches.

I didn't add floor insulation as I need every bit of head room I have.  I did put epoxy paint on the bottom of the plywood to seal it, but the plywood is only exposed over the bays in my case.

[Jeremy]

Just thought I would mention someting regarding insulating the floor; the floor in my bus has a foam insulation material that was stuck on the underside of the plywood when the bus was built, which is something that anyone could do when replacing their floor as part of their conversion, and would avoid the problem of losing headroom by laying insulation on top of the floor.

The foam material on mine is probably 2" thick, and has the bottom surface sealed with a rubberised coating. I have bought identical foam sheets myself from acoustic foam suppliers. It would appear that Plaxton simply stuck the foam over the whole surface of the plywood floor, placed the plywood sheet into postion and fastened them down in the normal way (obviously drilling and putting fastenings through the foam), The foam squashes down (and forms a useful 'gasket' I guess) wherever the plywood touches a support beam or whatever, and the foam sheet also effectively seals and protects the wood floor from water or dirt from below.

It's probably not an idea that would otherwise have occured to me, but having seen it done I would definitely do the same myself if I ever had to replace any of the plywood

Jeremy

[Ncbob]

Guys, if you read the date on my original post you'll not that it's dated 2006. Someone resurrected the topic through research and brought it up again.

My hardwood floor has been down for a year and all is well in Podunk, USA.

NCbob

[belfert]

How many inches should I place the supports when using 3/4" plywood? 24"?

The maximum span for 3/4" plywood flooring is 24".  If you have to add support I would probably go less than 24" to make the floor even more solid.

My question would be why you would need to add support unless something you are removing something like the chair rails that was supporting the floor?  Didn't the original floor have enough support?  My chair rails that I removed also supported the plywood floor which is why my spans are a bit too wide now.

[Oregonconversion]

because I have decided to put 1" foam under the plywood.

[cody]

Quitcher bellyacheing bob and just redo it lol, I know that you and cliff did a fantastic job on your floor but what does that have to do with this, we feel you should just redo it the way we want lol.  Oh and say hi to jackie for us lol.

[uncle ned]

Bob  It must have been brought up because we all miss you on the board.   

Give Jackie a hug for me tonight

uncle ned

[CAROLINABOY]

I cut 3/4 inch strips 11/2 wide and put them on 16" on center with 3/4 foil faom board and 3/4 over that and its real solid

[viento1]

Where did you get the foil foam board (Isocynurate stuff ?)

The only stuff I can find is Extruded poly from Home depot

[JohnEd]

Iso is not an exotic material.  It is the best, however, of the sheet foam board goods.  Let your fingers do the walking to find it.  Home Depot "should" be happy to quote you a price and order it for you.  Calling them is better than a visit cause you talk to one of their procurement guys, thatway.  Lots of it in the 2 X 4 X 8 inch version but you should be able to order anything you want.  Find out what the correct spelling is and look on the net....can't hurt.

John