? What Did You Do To Your Born Free Today?

[ebaron]

Our BF climbed Whiteface Mountain in the Adirondacks yesterday. A great drive up as they just re paved the road. And...we forgot to take a pic with the BF at the top!

[rhyde]

We took our BF on a quick 2 day (Wed-Thurs) trip to Acadia National Park, about 3 hours from home. Here's a couple of shots from the top of Cadillac Mountain (where the sun first hits on the US east coast) and one from the park's "Loop Road". We try to get down there a couple times a year, but it's better either before June or after Labor Day when it's less crowded.

Cadillac Mountain1.jpg (187.65 KiB) Viewed 16627 times

Cadillac Mountain2.jpg (172.98 KiB) Viewed 16627 times

Park Loop Road1.jpg (220.62 KiB) Viewed 16627 times

[Kevin Mason]

I saw the Smart Tile installation on here, thought I would give it a try. We really like how it turn out. I know there been some questions about if they will stay put in the hot environment. I will keep you posted in this hot Southern Alabama weather. Drive safe.

Kevin and Erlinda
2006 26 ft RB

[stevek]

Thanks for Pic/ info. Looks really good. I keeping thinking about this too.
Home Depot sell Smart Tile over the net. Some in the store.
I am also wondering about the adhesive quality, so an update would be nice time to time.
I even thought about pre spaying the walls with that glue in the spray cans before installing the Smart Tile.
Not sure what my walls are. Kind of a press board with a white finish. Not sure about how the Smart Tile would stick.

Thanks Mike, from the post below... yes it is Melamine.
Regarding sticking.... maybe a Dicor butyl seal tape along the edge of the tile.
Sticking on both sides.
Dicor is really sticky stuff. I mean really sticky!

[Mike Jean Bandfield]

You make some good points Steve. Some comments:

... Looks really good. I keeping thinking about this too.

Me too.

I am also wondering about the adhesive quality, so an update would be nice time to time.

Yes, especially when you consider the heat and steam from cooking in this area. ...the months of heat from storage in the sun. ...the vibration from the road. The vinyl edging on the plywood cabinetry near the cook top is peeling off in our BF. I need to replace it with real oak trim glued on with wood glue.

I even thought about pre spaying the walls with that glue in the spray cans before installing the Smart Tile.

Hmm??? Have you considered adding another layer of glue adds another possible point of failure? I use the 3M 77 around the shop but don't consider it permanent. And, I've seen a lot of contact cement harden and fail over time.

Not sure what my walls are. Kind of a press board with a white finish. Not sure about how the Smart Tile would stick.

I believe they are Melamine - easy to clean because nothing can stick to it very well - which goes to your point how well will the tile stick to the wall? ...and what can be doe to better prepare the surface? ...sandpaper? ...etching acid/solution? ...primer? ...a different kind of tile (w/o peel and stick glue) that can be mounted with a stronger adhesive? I'd be interested in hearing about others experiences with the Smart Tile.

Mike

[Bonnie McDowell]

So far my Smart Tiles in both kitchen and bathroom are sticking well. Of course, that is only 3 months of Virginia summer and two road trips. I wondered whether they would stay stuck because, as others have noted, the walls in the kitchen and bathroom are pretty smooth, easy to wipe down surfaces. But so far, so good.

[harrisgowing]

The newer coaches have tile in the kitchen area. You might ask Born Free for advice on adding smart tiles to older coaches. It does look really nice and seems to be easy to clean.

[John S.]

I had my coach stall on me and have a hard time starting it. I was at a red light too. Got it home finally and the check engine light was on too. Found out it was the throttle switch that was shutting off the fuel had a short in it. As to putting up tile on a coach, I did it on my Foretravel, and first I sanded the wall then I used silicone to put it on. It will stick and it will flex a bit too. Make sure you use spacers till it is dry then you need to use a flexible grout. Funny thing is that I put the same tile in my Foretravel that I saw in one of the Born Frees.

[karls]

Concerning installation of LVT planks in place of the original rug and linoleum we had a poor experience with this modification. We had a local flooring service do the job and they have done nice work in a couple buildings we own. For whatever reason, after we had driven the RV in cold and warm conditions, large (1/4 inch) separations appeared at the ends of the planks. They agreed it was unacceptable and did the job again, but the same gaps appeared after some driving.

The problem may be that this material is not designed to take the wide range of temperatures the RV experiences, from below freezing in winter to over a hundred degrees due to engine heat.

Karl

1998 RB with 210,000 miles and running like a Swiss watch.

[jjhepkin]

I worked for Armstrong Floors most of my working life and your problem with the vinyl planks is definitely heat/cold related.
Flooring products with high concentrations of vinyl will expand and contract when subjected to high temp variations such as you have. When the pieces butt up to one another a gap of 1/4" is only an actual shrinkage of 1/8"on each piece, thus producing the wider gap, when they actually shrink away from one another.
You would be better using a sheet vinyl (one piece installation) or a wood or wood laminate product. They are not as affected by heat as the higher vinyl content floors are.

john

[RV Life Is A Trip]

Hi Bonnie. Thanks for the picture - great job on installing the Smart Tile, I am getting ready to complete some upgrades on mine and Smart Tile is a consideration -have a few questions:

1) did you install the Smart Tile over the top of the original wall paper or did you strip it first
2) now that it has been installed for a few months are you seeing any signs it might not stick over the long term
3) if you had it to do over again would you make a different choice

Thanks so much ~ Ruth Ann

[Kevin Mason]

Just a quick update on the "Smart Tiles", Have rolled down the road for about 5000 miles since I installed the tiles. Between the extreme temperatures between high 90's to the current lows of 24 degrees, the "Smart Tiles" look like they were just installed. Still look great. Saw some questions about adhesive use, I did not use any external adhesive. Good idea to really clean the backsplash really good before installing the tiles. I used "Simple Green". Good luck

Kevin and Erlinda
26RB
Just back from Corpus Christi, ready for another adventure

[Tahoe]

Just a quick update on the "Smart Tiles", Have rolled down the road for about 5000 miles since I installed the tiles. Between the extreme temperatures between high 90's to the current lows of 24 degrees, the "Smart Tiles" look like they were just installed. Still look great. Saw some questions about adhesive use, I did not use any external adhesive. Good idea to really clean the backsplash really good before installing the tiles. I used "Simple Green". Good luck

Kevin and Erlinda
26RB
Just back from Corpus Christi, ready for another adventure

Great information, we are thinking of doing the tiles when Winter is over.

What did I do today? I finished building a support to install a second flexsteel sofa in our 24RB. We are doing away with the chairs and table and turning the overhead into storage and possible tv location. We like the idea of opening up both sofas for a large bed. Not for everyone, but fits our needs. Hope to install soon after dodging snow storms. The BF is 45 minutes away in storage so need to haul it all down the mountain. Want it all done by the time Spring arrives.

[stevek]

Me too...Thanks. Sounds good about smart tile, and I am willing to try it when spring comes.

What did I do today.... well, we are still on the road. Been about 2 months. No boon docking. No Walmart.
Cheapest $20 a nite. Most expensive $75. Average... maybe $40-$45.
Most are GoodSam parks. All in CA. Have not left state.
Get a little break if we commit to a week. Stayed 2 weeks in one place at $318 a week.
I have not kept real good $ track, but looks like over a 1000 bucks a month for RV spots.
Gets expensive RVing.
Gas still over $2.00/ gal. Keep waiting to find less than $2. Anybody find less than $2 anywhere?

[shilohdad]

We are members of BJ's Wholesale Club. The club price in Danbury, CT, is $1.909. My dad lives in the Melbourne, FL, area. There is a RaceTrac there charging $1.839. Dad is also a Wal-Mart fan. The Murphy located next to Wal-Mart is charging $1.799. In our little town the gas station owners seem to think we are all rich. Nothing under $2.359.

As for campground prices, what are CA state parks charging? Up and down the east coast south of DC, we can usually find something in the $20-$35 range. Closer to home it's tough to find ANY campgrounds, much less one at a reasonable price. You have to get well away from NYC and Philadelphia to find campgrounds. Also, so many campgrounds in the metro area don't allow dogs, so we don't do much "local" camping.