Replace/repair aerolite floor or junk it?

What type of floor exists in the original Aerolite?

Even if you have the older style plywood over joists rather than a composite panel, there will be a lot of work. Typically, the bad flooring needs to be removed and that means fixtures have to be removed. Hopefully the fixtures can be reinstalled but not everything comes out nicely.

Another wrinkle is that the usual method of TT building means the walls are installed onto the floor. When I repaired my floor, I was able to remove a few bad areas underneath the walls by cutting and grinding fasteners out and was able to slide a new flooring sheet underneath the wall. A grinder, a reciprocating saw and a nail puller became my good buddies.

Other than those challenges, replacing plywood decking is easy. Composite panels are a lot more work. There is also a good chance that a long term leak situation has entered frame and roof areas. More work for sure but also doable.

There are a few pictures in my restoration thread. The "Cowboy/Hilton" link in my signature.

That sounds like a LOT of water damage. Personally, just from your description alone, I wouldn't mess with it. Get a new camper and save yourself a long time of misery rebuilding it. And you most likely will have to completely rebuild it before it's over, investing time and money that could be used elsewhere.

Nah! Remove anything salvageable, Ebay it, or yard sale it, and use the remainder of the camper for a chicken coup.

Get a new camper and enjoy! (Unless you REALLY want a long term project to tinker with!)

Junk it. But will that cost you anything? If so and your going to a dealer, use it for the trade, they will either take it off your hands and deal with junking it (no cost to you) and might even give you a couple of bucks.

I would clean it up and trade it in. I finally gave up trying to repair our previous camper, found one we liked at a dealer, let them deal with it and never looked back.
Now, instead of fixing stuff, I can piddle around and improve our camper.
And go places without worrying about it falling apart.

As a hobby I rebuild trailers, and from experience I can tell you that what you can see is only a small part of the problem. The damage will extend way further than you can see. If you are handy and have the tools, knowledge, patience and space to take on a major rebuild go for it... It can be rewarding challenge. Otherwise I would just sell it as a project or for parts, or just trade it in.

Not the responses I was hoping for but they are what I expected. Repairing the TT is something I am not sure I am capable of doing on my own. I thought I would get some advise from those who have done it. It is paid for so we won't be taking a loss if we junk it or trade it in. We are considering getting a high-wall tent trailer. I might try craigslist and see if someone wants a restore project. Thanks for the good advice guys!

raychris1 wrote:
... I thought I would get some advise from those who have done it. ...

Actually, I have. My Father-in-law and I rebuilt his 15 foot Scottie. The back end had considerable rot in floor. Once we got into it, the rot went up the walls and into the ceiling. Before it was over, we gutted almost the entire trailer and rebuilt it from the inside out.

The skin remained, but most of the framing was re-done, one stud at a time. It took over a year. He lived on a farm. He was a carpenter by trade with his own business and had a handful of employees. He knew building and construction and wasn't afraid to tackle anything.

I came from a life time of (not paid) home remodeling projects, rebuilds, roofing, plumbing, dry wall, wall removals and rebuilds, ceramic floors, tile in bathrooms wall, wiring, you name it, that started when I was 15 years old and just as recent as (well... yesterday ... I replaced a toilet in a house with a new one), been doing this handy work, and now I'm 62 years old.

So tackling the camper was not anything to be afraid of, but it did take a lot of time, and it required a lot of patients, and it required a lot of debate and studying to figure out how to best approach the next step.

The cost to fix the trailer was about 4 times as much as the cost of the trailer. They bought it for $500. He invested over a couple thousand into it before it was camping ready, and took us a year.

I don't think I'd ever want to tackle an RV project like that again. Too many hidden problems that are exposed only when you start tearing into the walls.

Too many hidden problems that are exposed only when you start tearing into the walls.

The way some of them leaked, it's typical that you'll have more work than you can see.

From reading a few threads about this particular vintage of Aerolite trailers, it was evident that Aerolite had a problem about sealing some surfaces.

From reading a few threads about this particular vintage of Aerolite trailers, it was evident that Aerolite had a problem about sealing some surfaces.

After we bought the TT I looked at how hard it would be to flip the axles. I joined this forum and discovered the info about the leaking problem. We used the campgrounds facilities instead of the TT's. When we finally decided to use the hot water heater we came from a outing and discovered a large puddle. It only leaked when we had the lines under pressure. The previous owner, I am sure, probably knew of the problem and didn't say anything. Live and learn I guess.

Update. Now that the snow is gone I decided to check one more time and see if there was any other damage. I can definitely say we will not be fixing it. There is corrosion all around the vent. The TV antenna is surrounded by lots of water droplets, and the ceiling looks like it is bowing down with the weight of the water. Floor problem was bad enough. Now it looks like I would have to replace the roof vent and replace the ceiling as well. Oh well. Time to talk the wife into a new rv.