The Sun Came Out
Day 14 leads us to another day for tile work.
We are learning that the tile work is a very long process in itself.
More Tiles Being Pulled Out
Lots Of Tiles By The Powder Room
Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!
That’s what we walked into this morning at 6am. Not a fun way to start the day. More banging with a hammer. More tiles being ripped up.
I must say though, Jose the tile guy, is very thorough and removes every blemished and cracked tile he finds. He won’t even leave one in that has a little chip that could be grouted over. It has the potential to crack down the road so he’d rather take it out now and replace it.
Replacing Tile
Screwing Down The Tile Very Carefully
Now when it comes down to replacing the tile, that is a whole other beast. We were worried about the heated floor elements getting damaged and not working later. What we found out was the tile team turn on the heated floor and use a Flir gun to see the heating elements. Then they can pinpoint exactly where they can place the screws that hold the tiles into place.
Working On The Engine Compartment In The Back Closet
David Trying To Get Through The Day
They even had to work on the tile over the engine compartment door. We found that it was not sitting flush with the rest of the floor. So once the team got the engine compartment door up they worked on making it even.I must say, it was pretty interesting to see the engine from that angle. Hopefully I won’t ever have to see it again like that because that would mean that something was really wrong.
With so much banging going on all day long David was trying his best to get through the day. It is difficult to see our beautiful coach, that was actually starting to look finished, all torn up and dusty and dirty again.
Honestly, we can’t wait until this part is done.
Here’s our opinion, if you plan on coming into Red Bay, AL to see your motor home being built, which we highly recommend, skip the tile repair days.
Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!
That was our day.
Old Window Getting Removed
New Window Going In
On a plus note, we did get our passenger side window changed out. We noticed that when you sit down in the passenger seat and try to look out the window, you can not. The bar to open the window is very thick and obscures the entire viewing area.
Tiffin does have a direct replacement window that is a dual pane, single window. It can not open but you definitely have the view.
The plan for tomorrow is to grout all the new tile as they did not get to it today. So I don’t think anything else will be going on as the grout has to have a full day to dry.
BTW…Also a thought after pondering this tile work….To me it feels good that Tiffin chooses to go to the extreme they do with the time and expense of pulling tiles that was chipped. I mean, the guy gets on the floor with a light and goes tile by tile. 60% of the replacement were due to chips. As mentioned, even chips we would have never noticed, they tile was marked for replacement. So, to us, this showed a dedication to the product. So yes, they can improve this by looking at the tiles more closely before put down is my guess.
So I may not have a post tomorrow for you.
And now you know why.
I’m sure there’s a reason why they do it that way, but it seems like simply doing all the tile AFTER the coach is at this stage would be easier than having to tear up a bunch and replace it.
What’s left after the tile?? You’ve got to be getting close !!
Hi David and Brenda, I have been following your blog for the last week. The outstanding quality and in depth recording of the build is absolutely amazing! I assume that you must be professionally involved in film / video production industry. I am very jealous indeed of this experience you both are having. While I am partial to the Newmar product, watching your new coach being built has been very entertaining to me. I have now watched the entire video time laspe series 3 times now. My wife just starts laughing each time i begin watching a video ……….and then she soon starts humming the music theme! Funny !!!! I really had no idea exactly how complex these machines really are and all of the intricate steps that the crews must choreograph. I am very curious at how you were able to convince the Tiffin folks to allow you literally what appears to be complete unrestricted access. Im sorry to see the issues with the tile flooring you are having. But after seeing how they sequence this floooring and the amount of flexing that the finished floor assembly must endure as it is being handled, it is no wonder that there is so many damaged tiles. I also am thinking that the long length of each tlie may have contributed to this issue since tile does not flex. I look forward to your thoughts.
Hi Bruce…
The tile really is not something that most people would every know about having issues as it is handled as you can see, but tile replacement happens all the time and not just with TIffin or this Bus. As you have see, the floors are built off site as one complete floor. As such, with such large tiles and a large floor, in moving it from one point to another and then the install etc, this is not unexpected. From my reading, after the tile work is done, their usually is not an issue after that. If their is, it may be a one tile, two tile thing and something that was missed.
Most replacements, 60%, were due to a chips that someone noticed that they did not like. These chips were not noticed when the tile came out of the tile box when laid. Chips we would not have noticed and needed to ask…Why this tile?
But I do agree, they could do better in the process somehow, just not sure how other than smaller tiles and better checking for chips when putting it down the first time.
SIDE NOTE…If we really got what we wanted, we would want a cork floor. Light, warm, soft, sound dampening, and ease to repair. Heck, the fuel savings alone would be great based on the weight reduction.
Tell your wide thanks for humming along. :)
You are absolutely right David! A cork floor just makes perfect sense all around! You have to wonder why it’s not a standard option, especially with the price of fuel! So simple, it’s overlooked? What did Tiffin say when you asked about it?
Love and hugs…
I wonder if they waited till the end to grout the tile. This would reduce the pressure on each tile during installation and building process, plus they would not have to grind out grout on broken tiles. Tiles may also be chipping while their assembling the RV because the cardboard everyone is walking on is too thin, may be a reusable rubber layer to cover the tiles would be better.
Good thoughts Mark. My only guess is the dry time for the grout. You would not be able to walk into the coach for 8 hours to be safe. This would kill an entire day. But it is a really good thought as what is another day in a hold area for grout to dry?
One thing is it is very easy to have a screw in your work boot from the factory floor and this can also make for the chips. Thus the cardboard that does not say down and is not in all places. A rubber mat could make for issues with the slide coming in and out would be a guess.
Glad to see you got the full window. We are so happy we changed ours out.
Hi David and Brenda! Greetings from Rochester. Just curious when we will see more of the process, and less of Jose the tile guy. Keep up the great posts and look forward to more.
Hi…Tomorrow, Wednesday it will again be at paint touch out and final outside detail. Not much has happened that was video or talking about worthy. So we hope tomorrow and over the next few days we will have more updates. Thanks for waiting for the outcome.
Totally fascinating! I really enjoyed watching all the work getting done. It is quite a remarkable process. Thanks.
Thank you kindly. We very much enjoying making the videos and doing the daily blog entries for each build day. Glad you enjoyed it.