2003 Travel Star 21SB outer floor/membrane repair

Question

Hey all, new to trailer camping and we got our first trailer this year - a 2003 Travel Star 21SB. Used it a couple times and love it so far. The previous owner said he did some flooring repairs and also changed the vinyl while he was at it. I don't know all that he did to repair the floors under the vinyl, but my question is about what I see underneath. In the rear right, it looks like the membrane is gone and some black material was applied as a patch, well now it has a broken edge and I can see the somewhat rotted wood underneath, these are the first 2 pictures. The previous owner mentioned there was a leak from one of the rear running lights which I believe cause this, it's under the shower in the corner of the bathroom. The third picture is of the rear left where the original membrane is still intact, but starting to separate at the rear.

What is the best way to address the exposed rotted wood on the right side, and to patch and close up the separating membrane on the left rear? I don't necessarily need to replace the wood since right now, but I want to seal everything up so when I tow in the rain I'm not introducing more water. The trailer is well sealed with no leaks currently. Thanks in advance for any help!

scottg · Answer

Is th ewood actually soft or just discolored?If just discolored I would use a wide strip of Eternabond to span the gap.

ihaveatrailer · Answer

Mostly discolored, it feels like it has softened maybe a little but not completely rotted. Would gorilla tape work as well as Eternabond just for sealing out water and mice? That stuff is expensive!

mdcamping · Answer

This is my thinking on this and take it with a grain of salt. looks like the membrane has been compromised in a bunch of areas. My guess no matter how well you seal it moisture will probably get up in there. With this said why not use bug screen instead so it can breath... after traveling in the rain the floor under will air dry out. With the age of your TT this might be a option.

BTW I had a similar problem on one of my past TT's and this is what I did. worked out well.

Good luck

Mike

slavco · Answer

mdcamping wrote:This is my thinking on this and take it with a grain of salt. looks like the membrane has been compromised in a bunch of areas. My guess no matter how well you seal it moisture will probably get up in there. With this said why not use bug screen instead so it can breath... after traveling in the rain the floor under will air dry out. With the age of your TT this might be a option.BTW I had a similar problem on one of my past TT's and this is what I did. worked out well.Good luckMikeI would agree with Mike's solution.You don't need to worry too much about getting it wet from underneath. Even if you do tow during the rain, the wood will dry out. Remember, the biggest enemy to the floor is having water trapped between the membrane and the wood, which is the #1 cause of these floor rotting out. The water gets trapped between the linoleum on the top, and the membrane on the bottom. After a year or two all there is left is the styrofoam they sandwich between the wood. One other thing you can try to keep moisture off the exposed wood is spray it with a rocker-panel spray for cars - it's that rubbery paint stuff, it will keep water from coming in contact with the wood but also won't trap water, and it's cheap :)

ihaveatrailer · Answer

Thanks for the suggestions guys. My other concern is not having open holes for mice or other critters to crawl into during winter storage. I ended up using some Nashua flashing tape which is 6" wide and has a very sticky black butyl backing. Did the trick for now to mend the separating membrane, we will see how long it holds up.

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2003 Travel Star 21SB outer floor/membrane repair

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