floor repair
l bought a 2006 trail sport. it has water damage from the front to about 3/4 of the way back. at first thought it was just a soft spot in the floor cause everything looked good until l cut the vinyl b...
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I helped a friend with a similar repair earlier this year. The damage was concentrated to just in front of his main door. The door seal had leaked and he had a soft spot directly in front of the door. His floor was laminated, which was the part I struggled with.
We ended up removing the interior fixtures that spanned between the floor joists (steel supports). In his TT, this was a 4 foot wide section which had us remove his dinette and 1 cupboard next to the door. Next we peeled back the vinyl flooring to exposed the rotted plywood. I used a plunge router to mill away the rotted floor section with the bit set 1/4" deep. When I was done, this left a 1/4" recessed pocket where the plywood used to be. Exposed was only the foam inner core of the laminated floor which looked to be in tact and in decent condition.
Next, I purchased a piece of 1/4" thick aluminum plate sheared 2 feet by 4 feet which was the size of the floor we routed away. Using construction adhesive compatible with the foam in the floor we inset the aluminum plate into the flooring. Once set in place we used automotive seam sealer to seam the transition around the perimeter of the plate against the remaining good plywood.
We then reinstalled the vinyl flooring and the dinette and cabinet (using sheet metal screws to secure them to the new aluminum floor.
It is worthwhile to mention that the membrane below the TT and underside of the floor was in good shape & solid.
So far this has held up well. The floor is solid in this area. Doing this again, I might substitute 1/4" plywood in place of the aluminum. At the time I wasn't sure how well the construction adhesive would hold and wanted the extra rigidity.
Good luck with the fix.
We ended up removing the interior fixtures that spanned between the floor joists (steel supports). In his TT, this was a 4 foot wide section which had us remove his dinette and 1 cupboard next to the door. Next we peeled back the vinyl flooring to exposed the rotted plywood. I used a plunge router to mill away the rotted floor section with the bit set 1/4" deep. When I was done, this left a 1/4" recessed pocket where the plywood used to be. Exposed was only the foam inner core of the laminated floor which looked to be in tact and in decent condition.
Next, I purchased a piece of 1/4" thick aluminum plate sheared 2 feet by 4 feet which was the size of the floor we routed away. Using construction adhesive compatible with the foam in the floor we inset the aluminum plate into the flooring. Once set in place we used automotive seam sealer to seam the transition around the perimeter of the plate against the remaining good plywood.
We then reinstalled the vinyl flooring and the dinette and cabinet (using sheet metal screws to secure them to the new aluminum floor.
It is worthwhile to mention that the membrane below the TT and underside of the floor was in good shape & solid.
So far this has held up well. The floor is solid in this area. Doing this again, I might substitute 1/4" plywood in place of the aluminum. At the time I wasn't sure how well the construction adhesive would hold and wanted the extra rigidity.
Good luck with the fix.
