Replacing a Travel Trailer floor

[mrstan64]

I am looking for a local to MA or NH to replace my 21 ft TT floor due to it becoming spongy.I have attempted to do this on a local area of the trailer, but I found many other soft spots throughout. Does anyone have any recommendations?

Mark

[Huntindog]

CavemanCharlie wrote:
I don't know if this would work for you. But,,, I once just used 1/2 inch plywood to, Cover, and not replace a bad floor.

By doing this I was able to just go around cabinets and things like that and not replace the floor under them (where it was in good shape anyway).

I found that the little half round aluminum piece on the inside of the entry door was exactly 1/2 inch thick so I did not have to move the entry door. After covering the floor with new plywood the bottom of the door was now flush with the floor instead of the little kick up that it used to have. (I did not explain that very well but if you look at the inside of your entry door at the bottom I think you will see what I'm talking about. )

The rest of the drawers and cabinets doors were high enough to clear the new floor. The only thing I had to do was remove, and cut, a little off of the bathroom door to give it extra clearance.

I then went to the home center and bought some of those square glue on vinyl plank flooring and covered up all the plywood with them. It looked nice when I was done.

Worked fine for me and no one ever knew. But, I'm a caveman.

This could work. It will add more weight, but if you have enough CC, it would be OK... The risk is in not knowing just how bad the rot is. If it gets to the point where the structure is weakened,,,,It would be a waste of time. One can inspect all you want to try to determine this.... A total demolition is the only sure way to know. But with the right TT, and some luck, it could work

[CavemanCharlie]

I don't know if this would work for you. But,,, I once just used 1/2 inch plywood to, Cover, and not replace a bad floor.

By doing this I was able to just go around cabinets and things like that and not replace the floor under them (where it was in good shape anyway).

I found that the little half round aluminum piece on the inside of the entry door was exactly 1/2 inch thick so I did not have to move the entry door. After covering the floor with new plywood the bottom of the door was now flush with the floor instead of the little kick up that it used to have. (I did not explain that very well but if you look at the inside of your entry door at the bottom I think you will see what I'm talking about. )

The rest of the drawers and cabinets doors were high enough to clear the new floor. The only thing I had to do was remove, and cut, a little off of the bathroom door to give it extra clearance.

I then went to the home center and bought some of those square glue on vinyl plank flooring and covered up all the plywood with them. It looked nice when I was done.

Worked fine for me and no one ever knew. But, I'm a caveman.

[BobsYourUncle]

Putting things into perspective, with the aforementioned TT rebuild I did, all the work I described in my previous post, I didn't mention that I actually rebuilt nearly 100% of the entire thing, only exception being a few floor joists that somehow escaped the rot. Roof, walls, floor, furniture and partitions etc, all completely rebuilt with new wood.

I figured, the stuff is out anyways, cannot match the paneling of the original. most of it is rotten on the bottom anyways, may as well rebuild all of the furniture, partitions etc while I have it apart.

Labor wise, I roughly figure I had about 1000 hours of my own time into it. Yes I took my time, but like my father taught me, If a job is worth doing, its worth doing right.

I also spent, I forget exactly, but somewhere around 4G in materials too. Maybe more, I never had the guts to total it all up. I'd be depressed if I did that!

No, it is never worth rebuilding an RV of any kind. You will get upside down in a heck of a hurry.

After I was too far into it to quit, I still had a 1981 Citation 25 foot TT, and it was far from complete when I sold it for parts for $1750.

Unless you are madly in love with this thing, and want to be buried in it one day, I can tell you from personal experience that it isn't worth it.

I could have spent those 1000 hours camping instead.

[Gdetrailer]

mrstan64 wrote:
Yes it is a sandwich of luan. the Luan was completely rotted on the upper layer and the foam was a bit moldy.

I wont be paying 5 grand for a 21 foot trailer floor, but I would be ok with 2 grand.

OK, to put this into perspective..

Not including materials or taxes this is what $2K gets you..

$25 per hr, gives you 80 hrs of labor

$50 per hr, gives you 40 hrs of labor

$100 per hr, gives you 20 hrs of labor.

$150 per hr, gives you 13.3 hrs of labor.

Now, take into consideration the amount of work YOU did to fix ONE spot you should easily be able to see the problem here..

Additionally, keep in mind the person you hire, just may not be all that caring about how it is fixed or what they may damage or break in the process of repairing the floor.

Even worse is the fact you ARE also looking for help in New England states, an insanely costly place to live with insanely high cost of goods and services.. Had a Brother that lived in VT, paid 4 times more for stuff than states south of New York, you would swear that VT was some remote island..

Unless you are firmly attached to this trailer you might really wish to consider replacing it if you are not wanting to finish fixing it..

I have fully rebuilt two different TTs, it is a labor of love, not planning to EVER rebuild another, it is a lot of labor. Took me 9 months on my current TT to completely gut inside and out, replace all of the rotted wood (rot just kept going) then build all new cabinets, resided it and reroofed it on top. Yeah, I did buy it knowing it was rotted and yes, I intended to gut it.

You may not be intending to gut, but, until you start ripping things apart there is no way to know for sure..

[mgirardo]

mrstan64 wrote:
I am looking for a local to MA or NH to replace my 21 ft TT floor due to it becoming spongy.I have attempted to do this on a local area of the trailer, but I found many other soft spots throughout. Does anyone have any recommendations?

Mark

I don't know anyone in your area, but as others have said, it will be costly.

Our Hybrid TT had a soft floor from a leak at one of the outside storage doors. Factory didn't seal the bottom (have seen that on lots of TTs and MHs) and water came in. It started under the dinette, so we didn't notice it until the rot came out beyond the dinette.

I ended up replacing about 40% of the floor. Ours was an ultralight and after making the fix, the floor was not as stiff as new. I ended up putting in a few 2x4s to act as I Beams between the main trailer supports. It helped, but still not as stiff as new.

The process was a long one. I had a friend help me pull the furniture up (sofa, dinette and the front storage cabinet). We also had to remove the pump, fresh water tank and the hot water heater. We just the vinyl floor and pulled it back as far as we could, which was to the refrigerator. There was a small amount of rot under the refrigerator, but it wasn't bad enough to warrant removing the pantry and refrigerator cabinet.

After we removed the rotten wood, I let the trailer sit for a week in the backyard with the bed ends out and the door open in the middle of the summer in GA (no rain all week) to dry out. Then I replaced most of the insulation (foam board) and I used 1/4" oak plywood instead of luan. Glued the floor back down and replaced everything we removed.

-Michael

[msmith1_wa]

As already mentioned if you are going to pay a shop to the work is is going to cost a lot of $$$.

It might be cheaper to buy a replacement trailer than to pay to have yours repaired.

[BobsYourUncle]

I have done this task myself. I once replaced the entire floor of an old TT I rebuilt.

It is extremely labor intense. Ripping up the old floor and putting a new one down is the easy part. The hard part is all the prep work to get it ready for the task.

When the factory builds them, the floor is done first before anything else. So the plywood or OSB if used is put on in full sheets front to back. Then the sheet goods, lino or whatever is laid down in one piece, front to back. Ducts, pipes, wiring and such is all run inside the floor.

Then they poke holes throughout for the various vents, pipes and more.

Then the walls, cabinets, partitions etc are all put in place and screwed down to the floor. Gas lines, water lines, electrical are all run to their service points for appliance and fixture hookup.

Get the picture? It's rather elaborate.

In order to replace the floor properly, you need to get all this stuff out of the way to replace the floor sheeting in one piece, edge to edge of the unit. This is critical for the structural integrity of the thing. It is needed so it doesn't come apart when its bouncing and swaying down the highway.

Some people will say just cut around everything and piece the floor in there....
Very bad idea for the previously mentioned reasons. It won't stay together properly. You can do a small section like this but not the whole floor.

When I did mine, I disconnected everything, removed everything inside to a hollow shell. I pulled the siding off the outside and disconnected the walls from the floor, only leaving it strategically tacked to hold it together. Then, in sections, I raised the walls and roof as a unit, and removed the rotten floor, replaced the floor joists and insulation, and then ran my new plywood in, sliding it under the bottom of the walls. A few sheets in, I screwed the walls back down and did the other end.

Once it was done, the entire floor replaced, I put new flooring down, sheet goods, linoleum, in one piece, end to end. Same thing, I lifted the walls off the floor to do it. I weather barriered the perimeter with Bakor Blueskin membrane from the top of the floor under the walls, down the outside face of the floor and joists.

Then I rebuilt everything, including the walls, partitions, furniture, everything, and screwed it all back down over the new floor.

Yeah, it was a pile of work for sure, but it was done right.

[mrstan64]

Yes it is a sandwich of luan. the Luan was completely rotted on the upper layer and the foam was a bit moldy.

I wont be paying 5 grand for a 21 foot trailer floor, but I would be ok with 2 grand.

[Gdetrailer]

You might want to rethink having someone fix it, it will be costly..

Typical RV shop rates, you can expect $100-$150 PER HR labor charges.

Most "handyman" type jack of all trades type of folks most likely will be $50-$60 PER HR, if your lucky.

Could easily find yourself facing $5K or more in repairs paying at current labor rates.

Depending on the distance of the damage may even require major demo of cabinets and walls, don't know until you rip into it.

I would ALSO agree, make sure you have fixed the leaks first, otherwise all of that repair will be for naught.

If you are not interested in fixing yourself, perhaps put it up for sale and clearly list the reasons and price it reasonably as a handyman special.

[colliehauler]

Mark you did not say if your trailer was a ultralight model. If so the floor is a sandwich of foam and luan. If the luan losses it's bond from the foam the floor becomes spongy. Total different from soft spots caused by water intrusion.

[Lwiddis]

Worth fixing for a do-it-yourself as a project but otherwise...

[Huntindog]

mrstan64 wrote:
It was in the bathroom where I found the major soft spot. The doorway leading out of the camper is getting soft. There are no leaks atm and I have the bathroom gutted. The other leak was the air conditioner, which I fixed. Now I just need the floor fixed. I cut the bathroom floor out and was going to patch it, but since there are 2 other spots, a full floor replacement wouldn't be bad. The camper is worth fixing the floor.

I have seen a few people do it themselves.
It is very labor intensive.
Paying someone to do it will be pricey.

[mrstan64]

It was in the bathroom where I found the major soft spot. The doorway leading out of the camper is getting soft. There are no leaks atm and I have the bathroom gutted. The other leak was the air conditioner, which I fixed. Now I just need the floor fixed. I cut the bathroom floor out and was going to patch it, but since there are 2 other spots, a full floor replacement wouldn't be bad. The camper is worth fixing the floor.

[opnspaces]

No solutions for your area, but just a suggestion.If you have not already, you need to focus on the leak that is causing the soft spots.