rotten floor 2005 jayfeather 165

[rewcamper]

hi, new to jayco, new to site. just looking for an educated guess on a leak problem.I'm in the process of purchasing in a couple of days,a 2005 165 that has almost half the floor end to end, soft, spongy, or downright gone. from an acquaintance, and for what I think is a reasonable price $1800. I'm a carpenter, and even though I'm 65, I think I can handle it and save the trailer. the roof ( TPO )looks and feels tight and sound with no soft spots. the walls, even all the way down to the floor show no signs of delamination of the layers. if you stood facing the fridge, the problem is to the left all the way to the tub, and under it, and just barely in part of the floor under the full bunk storage area. to the right of the fridge it goes quite wide to the front wall, and towards you a third of the width of the floor . some along the front wall about 8 inches wide. a very small amount under and behind the fridge along the wall. without getting too far ahead here I think there may be a leak at the tub / toilet, and another at the city water connection, the water tank, or something near there. the owners have removed a few things including the water tank. I plan to take out the stove / sink cabinet, the tub and surround, toilet, one bathroom wall and all of the dinette framing ( already done ) I thought then i'll carefully remove the vinyl,the rotted subfloor, clean it all up, and connect a hose and put water in the system. i'll also do what I can for a leak test all around the little bugger. I just thought that it all has to come out, and I could see the water, if at all possible when it's cleaned out. most of the kitchen area damage is all around the low point drains, and just around where the tank sits. one semblance of hole next to the tank had nothing going to it. the plastic sheeting under looks good so far, i'll see much more with the floor gone. the present owners for 3 years have not used the fresh water tank, hot water tank, or shower. I have just been worried about cleaning out under, and fitting the floor under the walls, as it was built in reverse of taking it apart. I may not be able to get in there and under the wall without cutting the nice solid wall out to get at the aluminum wall bottom plate. more to come any help or comments invited..thanks, bob

[muelldawg]

Please let me know how this works out as my rig is aging. It seems you will have a MAJOR project.

[rewcamper]

I will, thanks for your interest. i'll have it in a couple of days if I dare, then I'll start opening things up

[exjay1]

Yep... Had a low point tube that is suppost to go through the floor go missing at one time and needless to say draining the lines ended up a watery mess inside. I have a soft spot under the sink and out some in front of it and towards the floor heater. Mines not near as bad as yours but over time that OSB breaks down with moisture and spreads the soft flooring it seams. I just glued/screwed new 1/4 or 3/8" plywood (cant remember now) cut to fit the open flooring (except the bathroom) and carpeted over it with metal threshold for the transition to the bathroom. Not the correct way but will give us several more years out of if before moving on to another unit. With your project you have in mind..thats going to be ALOT of work and not sure of the order of attatchment of the walls. I belive I have Jayco wall schematics saved on my other hard drive for the 165 and if I can find them I will send them. PM me your e-mail if you would.

[rewcamper]

thanks for the help. I know it's a big job, but I kind of thought that being a carpenter for 49 years, I may be able to do it. right now no deadline. my other worry is in the bathroom area, could it be BLACK WATER TANK WATER that has ruined the floor, where the wood around the toilet is gone, and all the way to the door. that would be a mess...previous owners were traveling with it this way. the site won't let me send an email address, as I'm too new I guess..would love to see the drawings trailer is not at my house yet..thanks

[rewcamper]

these replies are sent to my existing yahoo mail address, but because I'm new I can't re send my address to anyone. could the drawings be part of a response with your email address in it, then I could write to you. this is a nice site, and I don't want to break the rules, thanks

[tugboat95]

Yours sounds similar to mine. I also have a 165BH I found the toilet was leaking. This led to my floor softening. Rv tech said it won't get worse but jury is still on that one. I am also considering replacing my floor. This is undoubtedly the hardest thing to work on. Major access problems and everything is attached to the floor. If I do it I plan on removing all the interior walls as well and try to enlarge the bathroom. I'm looking at 2 to 3 grand to do what I want to do. I wish you luck. 1800 is not a bad price, but you have a major project ahead of you. I'm currently looking at buying another. Might be money ahead, especially since I got the wife to sign off on a New one. (With conditions)I would love to see how your project goes and maybe learn a few tricks off of you.

[rewcamper]

ok as soon as I get it here and start the demolition, i'll post the progress. it may turn out to be too much, but it's a shame to let it go, as the rest of it seems to be really nice. one change I'd really like to make is an operating sliding window instead of the fixed one. I don't know why all the manufacturers have changed this over the years. I've seen places where with the correct measurements I can get a nice clamp ring window. it's much like the work I do on houses. except for... I KNOW..leaks...travelling over the road...quality of window etc. etc.

[exjay1]

Originally Posted by rewcamper

these replies are sent to my existing yahoo mail address, but because I'm new I can't re send my address to anyone. could the drawings be part of a response with your email address in it, then I could write to you. this is a nice site, and I don't want to break the rules, thanks

The PDF files are too big and I dont think it will attatch on the forum anyways. If you can send me a PM (which I got) just need an address now to send to.

[rewcamper]

bought this 165 today, will have tomorrow and the fun begins,,,,,

[tugboat95]

Please post pics so I can learn

[rewcamper]

have decided to completely gut the trailer of everything . I have to expose the complete floor, as it looks like all but the very middle is gone. I believe the leak is along the entire lower body moulding, and possibly the toilet. I've also decided to modify the interior a bit. I removed the small upper rear bunk, and cut the wall lower to expose the full bunk and have a feeling of more room. also less restriction of air flow with two windows exposed. I may even keep the front storage bins removed, and see if I can push the dinette forward a bit. all other projects I've done I've stayed true to factory, but this time where the damage is so extensive, I've decided to be a bit creative. 10 hours into it and I've got about two thirds removed, and the wall mods done. haha keep in mind I'm 65 five and still working as a full time carpenter. finding all the hidden screws, and being able to REACH THEM is the hardest part my camera / computer haven't been in sync some pics may be messed up. the last one is a cleat that I removed from the cabinet over the bed...cut too short, hung crooked, and filled with way too much caulk

[VicS1950]

I have no idea whether this will apply to your model trailer. I'm not at all familiar with your model.

I'm 99% certain that some of my floor water damage in my 23b was because the wheel arches weren't properly sealed. My guess is that the outer trim pieces kept the water out for a time. Once the seal on those exterior plastic pretty pieces got bad the water was able to get via the poorly sealed wheel arches and then in under the vinyl floor covering.

If your damage extends out from the wheel arches, or even touches that area it may be worth inspecting the seal between the outer skin and the wheel arch assembly. That said, if there is wall damage extending down to the floor area damage then you may have roof leaks.

I did some fixin' (not full blown repairs) to get our rig user friendly. It has worked very well for us. The trailer has been great.

Not that you asked.
As a carpenter I'm certain that your standards are higher than mine. Just keep in mind that most everything you do will not raise the value of an old, repaired trailer. If you're doing it for yourself then it is all worthwhile, but you are unlikely to recover your cost with resale.

Some of my wheel arch information is here.
http://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f3...tml#post128795

Have fun. vic

[rewcamper]

thanks vic the roof on this trailer looks and feels solid the way the pattern of the water goes is from al four corners in, this ultralight has filon panrls outside, Styrofoam in between aluminum " studs" and thin vinyl faced luan inside. no wall damage, no wicking up from the floo except for one small "6 by 6" area in the fron corner. I can see that the lower moulding putty outside was never taken care of, leading me to think that's the problem. wood around wheel wells is good. I'm just a little concerned about working around the loosr toilet/black water tank floor. the tank was never emptied enough by the last owner, and the trailer was dropped off that way. I wasn't aware till I got it here so I don't know what the back corner is soaked from...stay tuned

[rewcamper]

this floor was also not glued down..anywhere..lucky for me but has anyone seen this before ? it was stapled under the folded over black membrane

[SmokerBill]

Originally Posted by rewcamper

this floor was also not glued down..anywhere..lucky for me but has anyone seen this before ? it was stapled under the folded over black membrane

I think Jayco did this for a while in an attempt to prevent spontaneous vinyl rips caused by thermal expansion and contraction of the floor underlayment. And by the way, looks like you have an interesting project. Have fun!

[rewcamper]

thanks bill maybe I should do the same. but, if I can't put it down in one whole piece due to wiring, and plumbing in the way, and I'm not going to disconnect everything, or destroy the membrane from underneath. it may not work..although, the cabinets and partitions will hold it down. the flooring is / was in good shape for 10 years old. I've learned so much about the construction in the last few days of working on it. one problem in tear down is the ABUNDANCE of staples. I'm going to screw a lot of things together that they stapled...haha the small hanging cabinet in the bunk area was really only thin plywood stapled to a small frame, with a door face frame no back or side...

[rewcamper]

just to set the record straight in case you all think I'm crazy. I knew exactly what I was getting into when I bought this little trailer, and it was reasonable ( price ) and I'm saving it from extinction.

[tugboat95]

Wow, you sure have been busy! Even though I put mine up for sale today, I look forward to seeing your project. If I can't sell mine quickly for what I need I just may be following your example. I don't have any significant damage like you do, I just want a bigger bathroom.

[rewcamper]

ha...a new bathroom should be a cinch !