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Old 10-15-2019, 03:26 PM   #1
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1991 34' Excella
Boerne , Texas
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 119
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floor patch

I cleaned up this damage at the back corner of our '91 34ft and removed plywood all the way back to the screws just past the cubby door opening. What is the best way to configure my replacement piece(s). I was going to cut one long piece to run down the wall and then another long piece next to the finished floor. All the joints would meet at a crossmember except for the finished floor area. My other orientation is to cut a piece to fit the curved section from the light back and then a separate piece to fill the section in front of it.

My other question is that the perimeter of the OSB board has been routed down to fit into the channel. Did Airstream do this or do you think this floor has been replaced once. The stamping on the OSB says 5/8 board.
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James B.
1991 34' excella 1000, bought 05/10, oak floors, granite countertops, Marble bathroom counter and floor, 2 A/C's, 2005 Hensley. 1600 Watts Solar/ 400Ah Lithium batteries
Tow With: 2006 Dodge 2500 Quad LB 2WD, 5.9 Cummins, Edge Insight CTS, Smarty Jr, Bilstein Shocks, Ingalls balljoints.
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Old 11-17-2019, 10:15 AM   #2
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1970 29' Ambassador
1978 31' Sovereign
Beautiful Santa Rosa , California
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Hi Tex,
It's been a month since you posted your question, so maybe you solved it a long time ago.
In case you didn't, it sounds like the idea of running the piece along the edge will work. If the piece that you pulled out was routed, then you can repeat that idea if the new floor is the same thickness.
A lot of people on this forum will use marine plywood and coat it with epoxy for good measure. When I replaced 4 feet of the floor in the back of our 1970 Ambassador I used regular plywood and I am focusing on eliminating as much water intrusion as I can.
When pieces meet without a frame member to support them, it is fine to use a scrap of plywood underneath and attach it with screws.
Let us know your progress :-) !
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Old 11-21-2019, 12:47 PM   #3
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1991 34' Limited
Wichita , Kansas
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I have a 1991 34' Limited where I've done extensive floor work and other work in the rear. I will find and refer you to a thread here at Air Forums once I've had a few minutes to find the link.
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Old 11-21-2019, 03:38 PM   #4
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1981 31' Excella II
New Market , Alabama
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You need to do more than just replace the floor. That area is where the main structural attachments are for the back of the trailer. There is a lot going on back there.



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Old 11-21-2019, 07:46 PM   #5
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James,
Here's my thread related to floor rot, leaks and structural reinforcement on my 1991 34' Limited. If you're interested, send me a PM anytime or I'd be glad to talk with you via phone if you like from time to time, depending on what you are dealing with. There are many threads related to leaks and floor rot on this forum (some of them relate to much newer trailers, so it's not the age necessarily).
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Old 11-22-2019, 08:18 AM   #6
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1991 34' Excella
Boerne , Texas
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Thanks Steve and Perryg114, you guys are pretty knowledgeable on this topic and the thread is great but I read it in bed for an hour on the tablet and only got 1/2 way through it. For some reason the link works on the PC but not on the tablet. I found it by searching for the title.

I did my repair over 2 weeks in October and expanded the repair to the other side that I realized that I did improperly 9 years ago. I have to finish tracking down the source of the leaks and fix two more spots in the floor that are weak, one in front of the sink where you stand and the other one at the water heater. I found a damaged spot at the wall of the drawers in the bedroom that I treated with penetrating epoxy so hopefully it won't progress and will maintain integrity.

I was able to place a single piece of 19/32 plywood into the C channel and drop it down into the cut out area. I first made a template from a 3/8 plywood and once that piece fit well I traced it onto the permanent piece. To make the curvature I had a piece of the original floor that I traced onto the 3/8, Some of the curve was missing. Then I used a compass and traced a line about 2 inches out along the C-channel onto the template always keeping the compass at right agles to the channel as I rounded the curve and removed the template and reviewed to check for short areas and eventually it fit the curve better. I used fiberglass insulation again but put rafter vents down in the bottom to keep it off the underside. This gets me around R13 so I might remove all of the underside and re-insulate with that method.
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James B.
1991 34' excella 1000, bought 05/10, oak floors, granite countertops, Marble bathroom counter and floor, 2 A/C's, 2005 Hensley. 1600 Watts Solar/ 400Ah Lithium batteries
Tow With: 2006 Dodge 2500 Quad LB 2WD, 5.9 Cummins, Edge Insight CTS, Smarty Jr, Bilstein Shocks, Ingalls balljoints.
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Old 11-22-2019, 09:17 AM   #7
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1991 34' Excella
Boerne , Texas
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I have to finish tracking down the source of the leaks and fix two more spots in the floor that are weak, one in front of the sink where you stand and the other one at the water heater. I found a damaged spot at the wall of the drawers in the bedroom that I treated with penetrating epoxy so hopefully it won't progress and will maintain integrity.

I had to work around the hard wood flooring because the installer used adhesive and I couldn't remove any pieces without breaking it. I'll save that for a large scale floor replacement when I have better facilities.

I discovered more floor rot at the very back edge, the hardwood floor was even crumbly, In the picture you can see that I had to run a replacement piece along the back but I was able to screw it down to the frame for rigidity.

The C channel was also collapsed just like Steve's and I used a wrecking bar to pry it open after the last frame bolts were cut and the frame dropped a bit. I attribute the outer skin wrinkle at the frame to the lack of support from degraded flooring as the back drags over inclines. I put in new 3500# axles last year so this doesn't happen much anymore.

The shell to frame bolts were 3/8 x 2" and the C channel to plywood bolts were 1/4 x 1 1/2" except at the back wall, 1/4 x 2" would reach better.
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James B.
1991 34' excella 1000, bought 05/10, oak floors, granite countertops, Marble bathroom counter and floor, 2 A/C's, 2005 Hensley. 1600 Watts Solar/ 400Ah Lithium batteries
Tow With: 2006 Dodge 2500 Quad LB 2WD, 5.9 Cummins, Edge Insight CTS, Smarty Jr, Bilstein Shocks, Ingalls balljoints.
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Old 11-22-2019, 10:07 AM   #8
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1981 31' Excella II
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There are some big bolts in the two frame rails to go through the frame floor and c-channel. There are smaller bolts along the back that go through the frame, floor, hold down plate, and c-channel. All in a sandwich. You have to make sure the floor goes under the c-channel and that all is bolted together. You can't just shove the floor under the c-channel and not pay attention to the shell attachments. The shell supports the frame and there at not enough attach points even when all of them are intact.







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