Screwing into my subfloor after I just filled holes? - Page 2

Jolly Roger · 08-10-2016, 05:34 PM

I don't plan on living anywhere cold but if I did.
I didn't use furring strips for my flooring. I framed all of my walls screwed to the metal floor then I used the 1/4" underlayment made for floating floors . Each space was floored separately.
My main walk and entrance area the floating floor is held down by the 1/4" round trim on the edges loosely because it is a floating floor. With the floating floor idea don't forget to leave a gap on the edges for the expansion and contraction of the wood with the temperature changes and the twisting of the bus going down the road.
I went underside and cleaned the metal floor bottom around any screw penetrations as I finished a run and caulked them.
If I insulate my flooring whether it be spray foam or 3" thick board? It will be done from underside to cover the ribs and all, save some headroom inside and to me most thermal breaks are more efficient before the metal skin? Not after it. Won't look to good on the sides and such but no reason not to. I am cleaning,priming and building my storage racks and such as I go but with 1day a week at home it is slow going.
Just my thoughts. Ya'll are the only ones I listen to if/when there is a complaint?

jazty · 08-10-2016, 07:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dan-fox

Can you buy shiplap foam sheets or do you have to get creative?

The pink 2'x8' XPS foam sheets around here are mostly ship lap. The 4'x8' sheets can come with ship lap edges, but they are less common.

slo-cruiser · 03-05-2019, 05:59 PM

I unbolted the drivers seat in my bus, and then ripped up the rubber. It was very wet, and the carpet-like material under the rubber was soaked. There was tons of dirt, dust, grime, glitter, and other random crap under rubber step up spot to the drivers seat (my bus has a drivers side door).

I've done an initial clean of the area, but I plan to deeply clean it, treat any rust, and paint it just as the rest of the floor, so I can install the entire subfloor all at once. I'm so glad I decided to do this because it was so nasty under the rubber!! All I needed was to buy a set of torx bits (6 pointed star shape) to unbolt my driver seat.

The floor under the gas and brake pedals is curved up... so I'm thinking about mimicking a quarter-pipe skate ramp construction here to achieve a smoothly curving wood piece. Hopefully that makes sense!

mnexpress2 · 03-10-2019, 10:16 AM

hey team!
awesome thread and super timely for me ... i'm just finishing up floor removal and rust clean up and the metal subfloor. I'm a bit confused and i think it might be partly syntactical ... i learned all my construction lingo in other languages. I could really use some pics, if you all could obliged.

I have a wheel chair accessible bus, so i had the pleasure of wrestling with L-tracks and counter-sunk button head cap screws for a few weeks. however, now i have all these holes to fill which held the bhcs. I was thinking about using some of them to hold part of the frame I'm going to build. but if i'm not mistaken, you all are describing a process that doesn't attach anything through the metal sub-floor? floating?

also many of the torx screws that attached my plywood sub-floor to the bus were drilled through the I-beams underneath. this seemed like a super secure way to attach the new plywood sub-floor i'm going to install and/or for framing. I'm not going to spend a lot of time in the cold so i'm not sure how much condensation/sweating screws will be a problem. let me know if you all have thoughts or pics! grazie!

Doktari · 03-24-2019, 02:44 PM

Good ideas. My bus is empty and ready for floor work also. It’s been a problem on a earlier bus. Moisture got trapped in the layers. Then the plywood got moldy. It’s difficult to keep all moisture out of a skool bus. It can work it’s way through floor seams during rain storms. Through window seams, roof seams, ....! It’s a bit like the bilge of a boat. All the crud and moisture works it’s way down there. It almost needs to be vented and flushable and made out of stainless steel.
I’m wondering if I raise the roof a few extra inches more than I was planning then I can raise the floor also. Then there would be room for a vented floor (air gap) and extra insulation in the floor.
OR, maybe I can prevent any wetness from getting in the floor by sealing, flashing, eaves, gutters, etc just like a house. Then do a simpler floor.
One could put electric heat mats on top of the steel subfloor just in case. Then dry it out when necessary. It all makes we want to live somewhere warm like when I was a kid. Winters have felt like a curse ever since moving here. Every old vehicle has had a gross wet floor. I used to tear it out and drive around with metal floor when I was a teenager.

o1marc · 03-24-2019, 03:03 PM

Keep in mind the issue of water getting to the floor happened when 70 school kids traipsed copious amounts of water onto it twice a day when it rained over the past 15-20 years with no attempt to minimize it or clean it up.. We as Skoolies will never see that kind of traffic and concern for the floor as before.

Sleddgracer · 03-24-2019, 03:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doktari

Good ideas. My bus is empty and ready for floor work also. It’s been a problem on a earlier bus. Moisture got trapped in the layers. Then the plywood got moldy. It’s difficult to keep all moisture out of a skool bus. It can work it’s way through floor seams during rain storms. Through window seams, roof seams, ....! It’s a bit like the bilge of a boat. All the crud and moisture works it’s way down there. It almost needs to be vented and flushable and made out of stainless steel.
I’m wondering if I raise the roof a few extra inches more than I was planning then I can raise the floor also. Then there would be room for a vented floor (air gap) and extra insulation in the floor.
OR, maybe I can prevent any wetness from getting in the floor by sealing, flashing, eaves, gutters, etc just like a house. Then do a simpler floor.
One could put electric heat mats on top of the steel subfloor just in case. Then dry it out when necessary. It all makes we want to live somewhere warm like when I was a kid. Winters have felt like a curse ever since moving here. Every old vehicle has had a gross wet floor. I used to tear it out and drive around with metal floor when I was a teenager.

more than one vehicle manufacturer has solved leaking window and wet floor mat complaints by drilling holes in the floor to let the water drain out

Doktari · 03-24-2019, 04:43 PM

Exactly. Just leave holes in the bottom. I removed the floor drain caps on some of my old ratty cars. On one old dodge van I drilled holes along the bottom of the rocker panel to drain the water. It was like bilge water coming out. When it rains hard enough water gets in somehow. A bus can be made dry with enough effort. I’m not squeamish about putting a few stainless or coated screws through the floor metal.

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