Step Repair or Renovation

Topic: Step Repair or Renovation (Read 2350 times) previous topic - next topic

Step Repair or Renovation

December 13, 2013, 01:33:26 pm

Doing the airbags and shock change out brought me to the point of addressing something that has been bugging me every since we first looked at our coach at the dealership. I am talking about the rotten first step issue which I noticed the first time I stepped inside the coach, so I knew that this was an issue going in... I just never thought it would take me this long to get around to it. However, the bulkhead issues and a few other things got in the way. Anyway, while having the front passenger wheel off, I couldn't overlook that problem anymore. The plywood underneath was completely rotted out and the damage extended to the bottom of the vertical sections of plywood on either side.
Make no mistake, this is not a project for the faint of heart, at least how I am approaching it. I think the wood damage was probably worse on our coach than most... I doubt that addressing it as soon as we got it home from the dealer would have made a substantial difference in the scope of the project.

I chose to use Starboard as a replacement for the plywood as it is impervious to water and is even available with an anti-texture on one side. I first heard of Starboard marine board froM Tim F. from the forummwhen he graciously gave me his phone number while I was inspecting the coach (thanks Tim!). He had his coach repaired at MOT using the stuff.

This will be a multiparty post as it is fairly involved to describe the steps I took to arrive at what I think is an optimal solution.
Here are some pictures of the process starting with the demo of the bottom step... I am still in the process and will post more as time permits.
Don

Re: Step Repair or Renovation

Reply #1 – December 13, 2013, 01:41:30 pm

Don, do not cover up as I think I will fly out to inspect it tomorrow!!!

To make sure it meets guidlines. Flight arrives 7 40pm looking forward to seeing you all.
John H

Re: Step Repair or Renovation

Reply #2 – December 13, 2013, 02:08:35 pm

Dan, I used a 1/4" aluminum plate the screwed plywood to it on my bottom step of my GV.

Re: Step Repair or Renovation

Reply #3 – December 13, 2013, 07:27:17 pm

Verrrry clean - looking forward to seeing the finished product.

Re: Step Repair or Renovation

Reply #4 – December 13, 2013, 10:06:31 pm

Don,

Yours much worse than mine - maybe your coach saw a little salt along the way?

Three years and Starboard working great. Want to get the Xtreme step conversion next.

Re: Step Repair or Renovation

Reply #5 – December 13, 2013, 11:16:57 pm

Tim,
I don't think road salt was an issue with our coach, the rest of the undercarriage is rust free and pretty clean, which was why I didn't look closer at the bulkhead when we got it. I believe the issue here was a poor seal at the bottom of the door and run off from the air-conditioners and condensation etc. working it's way into the wood. The real Achilles' heel of the construction of the 1st step in our coach is the insulation underneath the bottom step. Isn't sealed on the sides in front of the wheel or behind the headlight and the insulation itself is fairly porous and holds on to water. When I scraped the gooey insulation out, it was soaking wet.

Rest assured when it is all said and done, I will make sure the area is sealed and use insulation that is non permeable to boot.
Don

Quote from: Tim Fiedler – December 13, 2013, 10:06:31 pm

Don,

Yours much worse than mine - maybe your coach saw a little salt along the way?

Three years and Starboard working great. Want to get the Xtreme step conversion next.

Re: Step Repair or Renovation

Reply #6 – December 13, 2013, 11:51:40 pm

We had our bottom step replaced at FOT (would have done it myself if I'd known how easy it was) and the tech explained that it was a "wet step", since the bottom of the door really doesn't seal the water out, so the waterproofing around the step needs to be good and over 10-15 years, water gets into the wood, with predictable results. Not sure how I would seal the door better, since a heavy rain seems to get in from the hinge side and under the bottom, and then pools on the step. The later door design seems much better. Could probably have the later door retrofitted for maybe $15K

Re: Step Repair or Renovation

Reply #7 – December 13, 2013, 11:55:46 pm

I have gone over my door every inch and find that most of the problem is from the top and have fixed it. No water ever in the step area now.
JohnH

Re: Step Repair or Renovation

Reply #8 – December 14, 2013, 05:37:33 am

Don,

God stuff and as always, I would expect any of your work to be top shelf. Funny, I had to do the first step on my U-270 when I had it (plywood) and then the same issue on my U-320 (Starboard). Wasn't expensive (Less than a coach buck each time - inexpensive being a relative thing.......) but based on my experience, it would seem to be very prevalent in the fleet.

Love the pictures, keep them coming.

Re: Step Repair or Renovation

Reply #9 – December 14, 2013, 09:39:15 am

A Meet & Greet meeting cocktail hour (S) will be held tonight in Arlington/ Pantego TX @ about 8:00 PM till

( john does not arrive till 19:45 )

Meet John Haygarth and Don Fera in person !!

A gathering will also be held in Alvarado TX on Sunday morning about 10 till Don leaves for Extreme.

Call 817.274.0853 for location and directions

Re: Step Repair or Renovation

Reply #10 – December 14, 2013, 02:30:08 pm

ooh that cuts deep Dave!

but I do think how easy the repair is, is inversely proportional to how bad the damage is. It also depends on which kind of outcome you are desirous of. In my case, returning to the former status quo is never enough... sometimes though, I really wish I could let it go

However, I'm always more interested in the outcome than in the process. The outcome persist for a long time while the pain of the process fades soon enough.
Don

Quote from: Dave Katsuki – December 13, 2013, 11:51:40 pm

We had our bottom step replaced at FOT (would have done it myself if I'd known how easy it was)...

Re: Step Repair or Renovation

Reply #11 – December 15, 2013, 02:07:19 am

Quote from: John Haygarth – December 13, 2013, 11:55:46 pm

I have gone over my door every inch and find that most of the problem is from the top and have fixed it. No water ever in the step area now.
JohnH

Wow, that's encouraging! Does your coach have the earlier door design?

Re: Step Repair or Renovation

Reply #12 – December 15, 2013, 11:09:51 am

I considered that, bit it wanted to get rid of the vinyl treads (because they cover up problems just like the black ribbed rubber on the wet bay floor), so for me , the Starbord is ideal because it doesn't need to be covered. At three quarter inches thick, it is plenty strong enough for this span and I have it supported all the way around the perimeter. I have added a picture from underneath that show the stainless flat bar added underneath at the plywood/Starboard joint and the angle aluminum screwed to the frame under the front edge. The Starboard is in two sections offset top to bottom so that it is flush with the trim inside the coach.
Don

Quote from: fouroureye – December 13, 2013, 02:08:35 pm

Dan, I used a 1/4" aluminum plate the screwed plywood to it on my bottom step of my GV.

Re: Step Repair or Renovation

Reply #13 – December 16, 2013, 04:41:24 pm

It's finally mostly done! Time to head for NAC tomorrow so I have to wrap it up even though I still have some stuff to do on the project. I have a lot of clean up and packing to do, So I won't say much about it now but I will post some more pictures. As is obvious from the pictures, I still need to trim the sides of the step well and for now, I'm just going to use some ceiling carpet material. I'm not happy with the idea of a wet step design, but at least I know that the material that I used won't rot. When I get some time, I'm going to figure out something to seal the bottom of the door when it is shut. I added a secret compartment

No hinge, just a friction fit and fit it does! I still need to reinsulate the outside of the compartment, but I added some dynamat under the top step on the aluminum flashing. I will add more underneath as well as an inch of Polyurethane foam and a 1/2" of some other stuff.
Don

Re: Step Repair or Renovation

Reply #14 – December 16, 2013, 05:23:41 pm

Don that looks like it will last forever. I like the hidden compartment idea especially. Great job once again.

Mark

Re: Step Repair or Renovation

Reply #15 – December 16, 2013, 05:31:10 pm

Thanks Mark! No time to go into detail right now, but I did want to mention that I used JB Weld quick wood for filling in some voids left by rotten bottom front edge of the vertical sides of the step compartment behind the door frame. The stuff is expensive, but is amazing to work with for feeling small to medium voids. Once you get it pliable you can really compress it into a void and it forms to the shape of the void and dries very hard and strong. It also holds screws well, though all it's doing in my case, is taking up space.
Don

Quote from: MAZ – December 16, 2013, 05:23:41 pm

Don that looks like it will last forever. I like the hidden compartment idea especially. Great job once again.

Mark

Re: Step Repair or Renovation

Reply #16 – December 16, 2013, 05:34:28 pm

Thanks for the info Don. Safe travels to Nac.

Mark

Re: Step Repair or Renovation

Reply #17 – December 16, 2013, 05:34:54 pm

Don,

Excellent work-- as we have all come to expect!

Enjoy returning to your baby's birthplace.

Brett

Re: Step Repair or Renovation

Reply #18 – December 16, 2013, 05:37:10 pm

thanks Brett! We will enjoy giving our baby a bit of a facelift with a headlight conversion... And perhaps a few other miscellaneous items while were there.

Quote from: wolfe10 – December 16, 2013, 05:34:54 pm

Don,

Excellent work-- as we have all come to expect!

Enjoy returning to your baby's birthplace.

Brett

Re: Step Repair or Renovation

Reply #19 – December 16, 2013, 06:26:52 pm

LED tail lights make it look very modern... and roof paint..... Are you using Xtreme or FOT for the headlights? How about roof paint? Residential Refrig? It goes on and on...

Starboard for all the steps- NEAT!. I just have the first step in Starboard, but you wouldn't know it since original vinyl went back down on top of it. Love the hidden compartment. Very nice work as usual...

Have fun and be safe -

Re: Step Repair or Renovation

Reply #20 – December 16, 2013, 09:02:38 pm

Don, it looks really nice, as expected. I'm sure it doesn't have the flexibility it had when we met. Have a safe trip to Nac. Wish I had time to get there. MOT has a 96 320 I would like to see

but no time to get there yet.

Larry

Re: Step Repair or Renovation

Reply #21 – December 16, 2013, 09:42:16 pm

Don, another great job, but now your secret compartment is not secret any more! You told us all where it is.
Great pictures, have a good time at the factory.

Richard B

Re: Step Repair or Renovation

Reply #22 – December 16, 2013, 10:02:51 pm

Well the meet and greet was a bit late due to our flight being 2 hrs + late. Had a great time with Bill Dave C and of course Don and tys. Also met others but now are here in Van Horne for the night on way back home. Have lots of work to do in this GV to bring it up to specs and a few other things I did not expect. Thats life I guess but as you know Bill C and Dave & Dollie C are super people, hope to see more of them on our side of Continent. Personally saw Dons work and can attest to the fact it is so so ( no it is 100% perfect). Whirlwind trip but worth it to meet other Fore Forum people.
JohnH

Re: Step Repair or Renovation

Reply #23 – December 16, 2013, 10:09:28 pm

Ah Richard... That is just one of the semi-secret compartments (known only to the small group of intrepid Foretravelr's who are part of our best kept RV'ing secret society. I could tell you where the real secret compartment is, but then I would have to yada yada yada...

Don

Quote from: rbark – December 16, 2013, 09:42:16 pm

Don, another great job, but now your secret compartment is not secret any more! You told us all where it is.
Great pictures, have a good time at the factory.

Richard B

Re: Step Repair or Renovation

Reply #24 – December 17, 2013, 09:39:45 am

We are using Xtreme for the headlights and some variant of the level one makeover. We won't have the original graphics duplicated in paint, but maybe a partial as in no bottom stripes. I am considering the roof paint option, but I will be covering most of the exposed roof with Unisolar peel and stick panels and I'm wondering how the roof paint might affect the adhesion of the panels. After looking at Rich Bowman's roof, which was done at Foretravel, I think it would probably be fine... perhaps the pebbly texture might even make them stick better. I like the LED taillights, but the expense might take that out of the must do category, so replacement LED fixtures that fit the present cutouts might be a good compromise.
Don

Quote from: Tim Fiedler – December 16, 2013, 06:26:52 pm

LED tail lights make it look very modern... and roof paint..... Are you using Xtreme or FOT for the headlights? How about roof paint? Residential Refrig? It goes on and on...

Starboard for all the steps- NEAT!. I just have the first step in Starboard, but you wouldn't know it since original vinyl went back down on top of it. Love the hidden compartment. Very nice work as usual...

Have fun and be safe -

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