What would be the best way to tackle this floor rot? The last 6 inches of plywood is rotten on the back. Can I cut a new piece of marine grade plywood and slide it in to replace the rotten wood? I will have to remove the waste tank, any easy way to do that?

I just recently tackled this same thing along with much much more! lol....I totally gutted and re-did what I think is a 1972 Coachman knight. Anyway yours actually looks pretty good. The easiest thing to do is cut out all the rot until you reach solid wood and then once you pull up the rotten wood you will see how the floor is framed together. After removing the rotten flooring and frame it's pretty easy then to just tie into the good stuff and lay down a new piece of floor. As far as the tank it's hard to see exactly in the pics but you may find you won't have to disturb it at all to replace the floor. Good luck and just dig in. It's really not a bad job.

Talked to a friend who is in construction, after showing him the pictures he said he would do 2 pieces of angle iron, one steel for the bottom and screw it to that frame piece then another aluminum piece to the back so I can attach the skin to that.If I did it that way I wouldn't have to pull that wood out and the angle iron would act as a support, I might just put some epoxy into that rotten wood to hold it together.

Thanks for the reply eric, nice to hear it isn't to bad of a job, since the rot is only the last few inches on the back I might very well try this angle iron idea, it seems like a logical solution.

http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/show_product.do?pid=1268&familyName=Smiths+Warm+CPES+EpoxyTry using a penetrating epoxy first then the fix you mentioned. Should make it pretty strong.Wood rot is a big concern on any truck camper I have seen. Why they would use wood in that area remains a mystery to me. And just putting on some epoxy first to seal that wood would give it many more years of service.I like the alaskan campers, but then I see how much untreated wood they have and I say no thanks! Coming from a nautical background I am very much aware of the effect water has on wood, and add salt to it from winter and its a real problem.

Floor Rot | Good Sam Community

mellow
Explorer
Jul 08, 2014
Thanks Led, I am in the process of figuring out which wood hardener I want to buy, then once I get that injected I will put an epoxy putty over the wood so the screws can have something to bite into, or atleast that is the plan so far.

The wood is good and dry, I have been keeping the affected area covered with tarps, I might even run a fan on it before doing the harder.
Led_67
Explorer
Jul 08, 2014
bobfnbw wrote:
http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/show_product.do?pid=1268&familyName=Smiths+Warm+CPES+Epoxy

Try using a penetrating epoxy first then the fix you mentioned. Should make it pretty strong.
Wood rot is a big concern on any truck camper I have seen. Why they would use wood in that area remains a mystery to me. And just putting on some epoxy first to seal that wood would give it many more years of service.
I like the alaskan campers, but then I see how much untreated wood they have and I say no thanks!
Coming from a nautical background I am very much aware of the effect water has on wood, and add salt to it from winter and its a real problem.

X2 Also try to dry out whatever moisture remains in the wood otherwise the epoxy can force it to migrate to other parts of the wood.
Also while you are into it you may consider a wood primer to help protect the wood that you are putting down as well as the surrounding area.

Good Luck
mellow
Explorer
Jul 07, 2014
It was happening due to the roof leaking and running down the inside of the skin and getting into the screws, now that the roof is fixed it should nix the issue, or so I am hoping. If not the epoxy will stop further rot from happening.
ericboutin
Explorer
Jul 07, 2014
Super_Dave wrote:
How about the more important issue of knowing how to stop this from happening?

Amen to that Super Dave! It's been an amazing learning experience bringing one of these back to life! I believe OP's is a 90's model and mine is from the early 70's so that's a lot of history to try and go back and lay blame but I will tell you that if I ever get a new one or newer to me TC of less than say 5 years I will certainly know how to protect it! LOL...I think everyone should have to restore one to know how to protect one!! It's been a lot of fun these past months though and I look forward to making our maiden voyage next week!
ericboutin
Explorer
Jul 07, 2014
mellow wrote:
Yea, I am trying to not have to drop that sewer tank, all the nuts are rusted and it will be a pain to pull apart. If money was no object I would rip the flooring apart but I have already sunk almost a grand into fixing the roof, this was a nice surprise on Saturday while I was trying to attach the lower trim pieces back down.

Now I know why the door sags, one of these days I might be able to try this thing out.

Wow do I feel your pain! lol....luckily I had made the decision to gut the thing from the beginning and start over. Sometimes I think it would have been easier and cheaper to build one from scratch! Good luck with whatever you decide. Please update when you do your fix, I'd be curious to know how the epoxy idea works. I've heard good things about the wood epoxy stuff.
Super_Dave
Explorer
Jul 07, 2014
How about the more important issue of knowing how to stop this from happening?
mellow
Explorer
Jul 07, 2014
Yea, I am trying to not have to drop that sewer tank, all the nuts are rusted and it will be a pain to pull apart. If money was no object I would rip the flooring apart but I have already sunk almost a grand into fixing the roof, this was a nice surprise on Saturday while I was trying to attach the lower trim pieces back down.

Now I know why the door sags, one of these days I might be able to try this thing out.
ericboutin
Explorer
Jul 07, 2014
Here is what I was dealing with. You can see in the pics that the framing becomes very apparent once you pull away the rot. Tying back into it is a breeze. Of course you may be trying to protect your existing flooring etc on the inside. If that is the case then trying the angle iron/epoxy makes great sense. If you are going to rebuild anyway then getting rid of the rot and starting fresh is a great way too! lol
bobfnbw
Explorer
Jul 07, 2014
http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/show_product.do?pid=1268&familyName=Smiths+Warm+CPES+Epoxy

Try using a penetrating epoxy first then the fix you mentioned. Should make it pretty strong.
Wood rot is a big concern on any truck camper I have seen. Why they would use wood in that area remains a mystery to me. And just putting on some epoxy first to seal that wood would give it many more years of service.
I like the alaskan campers, but then I see how much untreated wood they have and I say no thanks!
Coming from a nautical background I am very much aware of the effect water has on wood, and add salt to it from winter and its a real problem.
mellow
Explorer
Jul 07, 2014
double post.