RV plywood cleaning stains and repair

Gdetrailer wrote:

JimK-NY wrote:

Super_Dave wrote:
Sounds like a lot of you don't realize what the carpenters that built your house did/spilled on the subfloor before putting the flooring down. BTW, go with a vinyl plank and you will be very happy.

Vinyl plank floorings such as Pergo are very heavy. I would go with sheet vinyl or even carpeting. I have both. The sheet flooring is perfectly useable, light weight and protective. I have a continuous piece of indoor/outdoor carpeting on top. Periodically I pull out the carpet and wash it. Eventually I will replace it with another piece and use the existing as a template for cutting. Home center, indoor/outdoor carpeting is quite inexpensive. I like the carpeting so I can walk barefoot after a day in hiking boots. It adds to the warmth in cold weather and is a lot better for the night time bathroom trip.

X2!

Pergo is heavy and when they say "engineered" they really are covering up the fact that the heart of it is made up of "MDF" or Medium Density Fiber board, basically saw dust and glue pressed together under high pressure. MDF is heavy and one of the major faults of it is when moisture does get past the outside vinyl wrap, it will expand more than twice it's original size and when it dries out, will never go back to original size.

Straight vinyl sheet flooring on the other hand is moisture proof, mud proof, dirt proof, very easy to clean and extremely low cost.

We removed all carpeting and replaced with stick on vinyl tiles, then for the comfort of carpet we use small rubber backed throw rugs in strategic places that are easy and cheap to replace when worn or damaged. Makes sweeping and mopping quick and easy.

Vinyl is just that, vinyl, not sawdust.

JimK-NY wrote:

Super_Dave wrote:
Sounds like a lot of you don't realize what the carpenters that built your house did/spilled on the subfloor before putting the flooring down. BTW, go with a vinyl plank and you will be very happy.

Vinyl plank floorings such as Pergo are very heavy. I would go with sheet vinyl or even carpeting. I have both. The sheet flooring is perfectly useable, light weight and protective. I have a continuous piece of indoor/outdoor carpeting on top. Periodically I pull out the carpet and wash it. Eventually I will replace it with another piece and use the existing as a template for cutting. Home center, indoor/outdoor carpeting is quite inexpensive. I like the carpeting so I can walk barefoot after a day in hiking boots. It adds to the warmth in cold weather and is a lot better for the night time bathroom trip.

X2!

Pergo is heavy and when they say "engineered" they really are covering up the fact that the heart of it is made up of "MDF" or Medium Density Fiber board, basically saw dust and glue pressed together under high pressure. MDF is heavy and one of the major faults of it is when moisture does get past the outside vinyl wrap, it will expand more than twice it's original size and when it dries out, will never go back to original size.

Straight vinyl sheet flooring on the other hand is moisture proof, mud proof, dirt proof, very easy to clean and extremely low cost.

We removed all carpeting and replaced with stick on vinyl tiles, then for the comfort of carpet we use small rubber backed throw rugs in strategic places that are easy and cheap to replace when worn or damaged. Makes sweeping and mopping quick and easy.

Super_Dave wrote:
Sounds like a lot of you don't realize what the carpenters that built your house did/spilled on the subfloor before putting the flooring down. BTW, go with a vinyl plank and you will be very happy.

Vinyl plank floorings such as Pergo are very heavy. I would go with sheet vinyl or even carpeting. I have both. The sheet flooring is perfectly useable, light weight and protective. I have a continuous piece of indoor/outdoor carpeting on top. Periodically I pull out the carpet and wash it. Eventually I will replace it with another piece and use the existing as a template for cutting. Home center, indoor/outdoor carpeting is quite inexpensive. I like the carpeting so I can walk barefoot after a day in hiking boots. It adds to the warmth in cold weather and is a lot better for the night time bathroom trip.

Sounds like a lot of you don't realize what the carpenters that built your house did/spilled on the subfloor before putting the flooring down. BTW, go with a vinyl plank and you will be very happy.

Cummins12V98 wrote:
Plywood can and does warp depending on the conditions it's been in.

Which is why I recommended using a cloth soaked with soapy water instead of swabbing the deck with a mop and bucket approach. Basically spot clean lightly.

You only want to clean the top surface just enough to prep it for primer and paint.

Primer and paint will seal the rest of the leftover stain and provide a barrier from stain or odor to cause further problems. Additionally gives a liquid resistance layer under carpeting so future spills or stains can't reach the wood..

Very important, don't skip the primer and you want a primer that is rated to block stains. My go to for that is Kilz, hands down works.

On edit, I should add that since the OP removed vinyl flooring it is often 100% glued down, removing it often leaves a lot of rough glue residue. That glue must also be removed from the surface if you want your new floor to be smooth.

Most vinyl flooring glues are water based, you have to lightly spray the floor with water(I used a small bottle with squeeze trigger that had a spray option). Work in small area at a time, I did a 1 ft square section at a time. Lightly spritz the glue, wait a few minutes then use a 6 inch wide drywall mud knife and scrape off the glue.

Allow time to dry, then sanded floor with 80 grit paper, Primed and painted, came out nice, no warps. Did that 12yrs ago and the stick on vinyl tiles I used are still in place.

I would think any of the deck cleaner products available at the local big box store would work.

Plywood can and does warp depending on the conditions it's been in.

Wash it. If it still stinks paint it with killz before flooring.

newownerneedadvice wrote:
First time owning a 1996 Coachman 300 QB RV. Long story short trying to save money I asked someone to help me with the floor inside the RV. What happened was they ripped half the carpet up and and The linoleum and left a bare plywood base. Since then there has been milk spilled soda spills and any other kind of liquid spills. I’m asking for any advice on how to clean the plywood without making it warp so that I can either seal it and put new carpet on I’m just at a loss right now any advice would be helpful there is water damage in one corner by the driver area no where else That I can see but what should I use to clean the plywood and not further damage. Thanks in advance. Not super crafty but if someone gives me directions I’m sure I can figure it out.

Reality is once the wood fibers absorb the liquid, it is in the fibers forever so you really can't fully remove the spills, there will always be leftover spills that have soaked in.

What you want to do is remove any sticky residue on the top of the wood, lightly scrub top with a cloth soaked with soapy water (dish detergent like Dawn should work well enough) to get rid of anything sticky.

Allow to dry, then sand the floor to even out the grain of the wood (water and liquids will "open" the wood grain).

Vacuum off the leftover dust.

Then prime the wood with a good primer (may need several coats), Kilz is a very effective stain blocking primer.

Then paint the wood.

Then put down your new flooring.

Priming and painting the wood will seal and lock in any and all leftover residues and odors that were soaked into the wood (this also can be effective for stubborn pet mess stains) and help to resist absorbsion of any additional spills.

On edit, if you encounter rotted (soft) wood from continual water soak damage you will need to cut out, remove and replace the affected area (sounds like you may need some local help for that). Nothing can be done with wood that has rotted and you will need to remove all rotted wood if you encounter it. This requires some skill and adaptation that you might not have.

Clean with soap and water, and allow to dry. If you are that messy, you don't want carpet.