Floor rerepair

[eracism]

The floor near the door of my ‘63 has been repaired by the PO. And is now loosening. Do I repair it form the top down or bottom up? I think I read a previous string recommended removal of the belly and stapling from the under side. Presently there are corrugated nails at the joints of the repair on the floor or top side. I have not remove the belly to look form the under side.

[Dbraw]

I recently repaired/replaced the floor in the bath area of our 71 Safari. I worked from below. Not a lot of trouble except the sore neck for a week after. Drilled out the rivets that hold up the belly pan, removed the pink insulation and rotten plywood and started from there. Replaced the plywood with new and then supported it with a square aluminum tube bolted in place. I then replaced the insulation with new batts and re-riveted the belly pan. I had to replaced the shower drain at the same time and it was easier than doing it from above. Especially since I had removed the all bath room fixtures a few months before and didn't want to do that again.
If you decide to to work from below, lower the tounge as much as possible to gain height in the rear area. Or better yet if you can, find a place where you can hang the rear of the trailer over a dropoff or ledge so you can stand up. Either way you are going to have a sore neck.
Good luck,
Dan

[Cruiser]

We've now joined the long line of AS owners to attempt a repair on the floor of their trailer. Our back side is hanging over a retaining wall by the driveway like Dan suggested. Sure makes getting the belly pan off easier. It's precarious, but we placed floor jacks under the frame in back to prevent the trailer from tipping over the edge. Of course, it's all reinforced with duct tape ;-). Pictures forthcoming.
Nancy, we have linoleum on the kitchen floor in the house. It's more brittle than vinyl and can tear easily during installation, but is durable once it's down. It can't be floated like some vinyl, but must be adhered fully to the floor. I don't know if linoleum is susceptible to cracking at floor seams in an AS, but we plan to use it anyway, because we like the look. Better installations heat-seal the seams; maybe this could be done at floor joints to prevent cracking? Purely speculation.
Doug

[59toaster]

Originally posted by Cruiser
We've now joined the long line of AS owners to attempt a repair on the floor of their trailer. Our back side is hanging over a retaining wall by the driveway like Dan suggested. Sure makes getting the belly pan off easier. It's precarious, but we placed floor jacks under the frame in back to prevent the trailer from tipping over the edge. Of course, it's all reinforced with duct tape ;-). Pictures forthcoming.
Nancy, we have linoleum on the kitchen floor in the house. It's more brittle than vinyl and can tear easily during installation, but is durable once it's down. It can't be floated like some vinyl, but must be adhered fully to the floor. I don't know if linoleum is susceptible to cracking at floor seams in an AS, but we plan to use it anyway, because we like the look. Better installations heat-seal the seams; maybe this could be done at floor joints to prevent cracking? Purely speculation.
Doug

1/4 inch undelayment that DOES NOT line up with the existing seams. Stapled or screwed every 10-12 inches in the feild and every 6-8 on the edges. Then some leveling compound that is a little flexible. I use to do tile flooring and even in a house you get enough movement to cause issues. The above is common pactice to help prevent it from happening

In our AS we are going with a floating laminent flooring. Depending on how bad I find the floor is once I get started will determine the route I go with whats below the laminent. If the body comes off then it will be 5/8 new decking with 1/4 underlayment. Over that will be a pure vinyl floor without paper backing BEFORE the body goes back on. It will wrap the edges and be stapled from the bottom. My thought is this will make it VERY difficult for any water from unnoticed leaks to get to the actual wood. The pure vinyle will also take the normal flexing of the trailer. It will only be fastend at the edges of the deck or where interrior cabinets are resting on it.

Unseen leaks is why I have a problem now. It got under the bath area and the last 4ft of the floor will have to be replaced. If that's the only place I find problems then under the bath area will be some roofers membrane. It's a rubber product with an adheasive backing they will put down where ice damn sometimes happes on a roof. Anything that goes through it like nails or screws will form a seal.

[74Argosy24MH]

It will wrap the edges and be stapled from the bottom.

If I understand you correctly you are trying to seal the top and edges with the vinyl by wrapping it around the floor. If so, you might want to check this as there is very little clearance between the body and floor. The edge of the wood will absorb the most water; when I did mine I painted all edges with exterior primer and paint, relatively thin and it didn't cause any fit problems.

John

[Cruiser]

59 Toaster-
I had wondered if we should use underlayment; sounds like it would be a good idea, esp. with the linoleum. I also like the idea of ice dam material in some areas of the floor. Our floor looks pretty good under the bath and kitchen areas, but it's soft behind the wheel wells, and has rotted clear through under the front window and back around the bumper, areas that might benefit from some extra protection.
Doug

[59toaster]

Originally posted by Cruiser
59 Toaster-
I had wondered if we should use underlayment; sounds like it would be a good idea, esp. with the linoleum. I also like the idea of ice dam material in some areas of the floor. Our floor looks pretty good under the bath and kitchen areas, but it's soft behind the wheel wells, and has rotted clear through under the front window and back around the bumper, areas that might benefit from some extra protection.
Doug

Behind the wheel wells I would be more inclined to think that the water damage was from below from spray off the tires.
One other think I for got to mention was I also plan to treat any ply wood I install with and epoxy rosin that Pill&Sue I believe it was mentioned. It's used in wood in boats. It's water proof but still alows the wood to breath some. The post is is the archives but might have to dig for it.

My feeling is you can't do enough to protect the wood. It's the achillies heal of the Airstreams.

[74Argosy24MH]

My feeling is you can't do enough to protect the wood. It's the achillies heal of the Airstreams.

Why not eliminate the wood? Argosy used foam core aluminum skinned panels for the floor on some trailers.

John

[Robert]

Foam core flooring, now that is a great idea. If you infused a resin in to the foam it would be completely structural and rot proof.

Many of the less expensive polyester resins work fine with foam. If you treat wood, you need to use epoxy which is more expensive (but a lot less than taking your trailer apart). BTW, epoxy doesn't let the wood breathe, it turns it into the substrate for what will be a plastic floor. If I were buying a new AS I would insist on the floor being sealed with two coats of epoxy resin (top/bottom/edge).
Robert