one piece floor

[truckasaurus]

I'm finding some great products for trailer flooring and just saw this and although it's too small for my project thought it would be just the ticket for a smaller trailer. About 3/4" thick with phenolic on both sides but only 7.5 meters long :-(

PERI Formwork Systems Inc., Products - Fin-Ply Maxi

[TG Twinkie]

Sounds like it would work for trailers up to 26' in length.
But how do you ship 1 piece that is 24.5' in length and 8.75 feet wide?
If I were doing a shell off renovation, I would certainly look closely at this product.
If one could come up with a way of permanently sealing the edges. This material looks like it would last a long time.
If I were to order a new coach. What do you think the odds of A$ using this material?

[truckasaurus]

I'd say there's zero chance of Airstream using it but I'm also an advocate of the if you don't ask you'll never know school, so I always ask. I think I'll be biscuit joining more traditional sheets together on mine but the Coosa composite samples arrived this week and they are very cool too. (Blue tech 26 and 20).

[Silver Hawk]

" I think I'll be biscuit joining more traditional sheets together on mine"

Why not use tongue & grove plywood flooring? A lot easier and stronger. Home Depot - or order different thickness from regular lumber yard.

[Silver Hawk]

P.S., The product looks great - easy answer to age old Airstream problem. Thought I would go to them and bring back one on my 28' car trailer - Checked and they are in Bolton, ON, a bit far from California - but would be easy for those closer.

[truckasaurus]

Good point; I haven't seen any decent plywood with tongue and groove but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. I used an HD exterior grade ply on the Overlander to save pennies and it was very very very poor. If marine ply had tongue and groove that would be nice. I will take a look at the tongue and groove stuff now you've mentioned it.

[Silver Hawk]

The only difference between regular and marine plywood is that all layers of the plywood has the knots plugged, not just the top layers (A-C) - same glue, etc. Buy a good grade (A-B) and they plug both the top and bottom layers - than seal.

[goshawks00]

Hmmm.... they are just outside Toronto!!

[idroba]

"Storage
When storing the units on site, attention should be given to the units being uniformly well protected or equally exposed to the weather. It is only possible to obtain a relatively equal result if the plywood of each unit has acclimatized relatively equally.

Edge treatment / Edge sealing
As soon as plywood is cut, attention should be given to the cut edges being immediately sealed again."

I see nothing that would make this a better flooring material for an Airstream. They indicate that it must be carefully stored and edges sealed if cut. All it seems to be is a big sheet of plywood with a smooth surface to be used on concrete as a form material when you want a large finished concrete area free from joint marks and a very smooth final concrete surface.

[heslinhotel]

Silver Hawk
Marine ply is made with many more layers, if memory serves me 1/2" is 7 ply some have as many as 12. Glue that they use in marine grade ply is waterproof.

[truckasaurus]

I'm drawn to the phenolic on these boards, and if I could have one big sheet I would. Having said all that there's down sides too obviously repairing a section is going to be hard!

[InsideOut]

"Edge treatment / Edge sealing
As soon as plywood is cut, attention should be given to the cut edges being immediately sealed again."

...and how exactly would you seal every screw/elevator bolt hole that penetrates it and attaches to the frame?

I agree, it's not that different from regular issues we all deal with our Airstream floors.

Shari

[truckasaurus]

I'm not saying its the holy grail of flooring but one piece of something is normally stronger than several little pieces and there'd be no joints to need to fill and eventually fail. I epoxied all the holes for plumbing, channel and elevator bolts on mine but only because I thought at the time it would be worth it. Now I'm not so sure. Maybe it doesn't come across well on a quick post but I really just thought it was a neat picture given the amount of traffic on here regarding one piece floors.

[Short563]

For those who want tongue and groove you could consider making your own with a router and bit set. I was just at my local Woodcraft store last weekend talking someone who sounded like a knowledgable woodworker - his comment was that biscuits are really only to hold while gluing and that they don't offer any structural capability. If I wanted structural support he said that there is a tool made by Festool that simulates mortis and tenon joints. Basically a biscuit jointer with much more substantial biscuits.

[truckasaurus]

That would probably be a strong joint, the downside is that each 4' wide sheet when router jointed becomes less than 4'. The joint is then unsupported on a crossmember with no bolts around it. Biscuits are good for alignment but they are also very strong in the right application, such as a mitre joint, I've seen the tests, but I think in this sheet end to end application it would't be super strong just better than nothing. I remember seeing the magnet activated biscuits for knock down displays, now they were cool!