Replace Floor in Play-Mor 2001 - Model 2350

[Shultzee13]

Got a really good price on a used Play 2350 but the floor is extremely soft in a few spots. Like "I'm almost gonna fall through" feeling. Ughhh. Ripped linoleum up and thin glued-on plywood and found white styrofoam. Looks like blocks. I don't see any 2X4 bracing but there is steel braces underneath.

What is the best way to replace this floor without tearing out cabinets, plumbing etc.

The trailer had a slight hit on the side but I have repaired that so the leak has been stopped.

Trying to minimize construction yet shore up floor without sagging of course.

Please help.

[SoundGuy]

Shultzee13 wrote:
Got a really good price on a used Play 2350 but the floor is extremely soft in a few spots. Like "I'm almost gonna fall through" feeling.

Sorry, but the only "really good price" on a 15 yr old trailer with a floor as water damaged as I suspect this one is would be FREE ... and even then maybe not such a good deal as it would take extensive work and $$$$ to fully repair the damage, just as BobsYourUncle described. I've owned trailers before with this type of floor construction and I've never seen this kind of deterioration just from traffic wear alone but it certainly is commonly caused by water leakage. If the deal is done and you're stuck with it about the only other alternative you have is as westend described, by just patching the worst affected areas as best you can and living with it.

[opnspaces]

There are two reasons for a soft floor. By far the most common on this forum is a water leak. the other type is a floor that's a laminate of thin plywood with some styrofoam in the center.

It sounds to me like you have the laminate that wears out from foot traffic and not from water intrusion. To me that it a positive as the only damage is probably where you're feeling it.

If you have the second damage I would cut the soft foam out carefully down to the steel joists. Then build up something with a sheet of 3/4 inch ply on the top that is level with the existing floor.

Then lay the vinyl back down and go camping.

If however you have rot, then all you an do is keep disassembling until you find good wood and then rebuild from there.

Good luck with it, and if you can post a picture or two it might help us give more targeted advice.

[westend]

An alternative may be to cut back to good floor (maybe 6" from walls) and replace what needs to be replaced in the center. If you install another joist sized piece underneath your cuts, the floor will be as strong/stronger than original.

I've read a few other posts on the Forum about the component floors failing, especially in high traffic areas. It maybe that you can find an adhesive to just cut out the bad top wooden sheet and replace, gluing it all back together. If you wanted something that will last the longest, it's probably a fully framed floor with floor-rated sheathing.

[BobsYourUncle]

There is no real easy way to do this.

Our TT's rely on the structural integrity of all the components together as a unit to withstand flexing and twisting as we go down the highway.

The floor is a critical part of holding it all together. It really needs to be in one piece rather than being cut up into sections and pieced together.

The floor is built and the flooring put down before any walls, cabinets, partitions etc are put on. Then everything is put down on top of the floor and screwed down.

I rebuilt an old leaker years ago and I literally lifted all the walls completely off the floor and replaced the plywood and most of the joists. I then put everything back down onto the new floor.

It was a huge project and a very difficult one to do.

The short answer for you when replacing the rotten floor is to cut away where you can and install solid blocking all the way around the cuts, gluing and screwing the blocks both to the remaining old floor sheeting and also the new plywood to it. The idea here is to make the new plywood part of the old and very securely fasten it together so it does not move.

A lot of work but it can be done if you are diligent.

Only problem is I can almost 100% assure you that the floor will be rotten underneath cabinets, walls etc. which will entail removal of all things in the way.

My rule of thumb now is that if you find a leaky rotting RV for a good price, let someone else buy it. It is simply not worth the work and effort to fix.