'06 Cavalier. Starting total remodel/rebuild. Starting from the bottom up and thinking about the sub-floor. It has some patches but in 2 places. Factory floor is particle board and the dealer replaced the rot with OSB that has swollen in couple places. I was thinking of replacing it all with 4X8 sheets of 5/8" or 3/4" marine grade plywood one sheet at a time so not to disturb the wall framing. Once cut, knocking the old sub-floor out shouldn't be that hard. Should only take 7 or 8 sheets. I also am replacing the undercarriage sheeting with "plastic cardboard" and thinking of sistering 2X4s on both sides of the factory floor studs with either 1/2" bolts with washers through them at set intervals or screwing them together to mount the plastic board and add strength. This is about a month or two in the future but it has been bugging me and I can't find much online about it. Not too worried about cost as I am doing it right the first time to last a long time. Once this trailer is done, It will basically be a park model. I do know that pulling the sub-floor will be a pain but it will be worth it. Thanks.

Does the floor go under the walls? Sounds like a big job but you will know it inside and out when done. We love pics.

Sounds good but dont you need to fix what ever is allowing moisture in and damaging the floor?

I once replaced the entire floor in my TT. Big job to do it right. The floor sheeting goes all the way to the outside edge front to back.I literally disconnected everything and jacked the entire walls roof everything up off the floor and replaced rotten joists and plywood in one piece edge to edge. I used 5/8 T&G Big job but it can be done.Then I put new lino down, one piece all the way through front to back.Then put the walls back down, partitions etc.

I removed and replaced some of my floor in sections. As Bob said, the subfloor is installed underneath the walls. I was able to remove the sections under the walls by cutting fasteners, prying out the old, and sliding new sections underneath the walls. A right angle grinder and reciprocating saw were my friends. I had the walls opened up so attachment through the wall sill was easy. The original sheathing in my trailer was 5/8" plywood and most of it was OK. Where i had damaged sheets, I replaced with the same. Marine grade sheathing is overkill. It will add considerable weight and expense for small improvement. If you have concerns about future damage to the floor, painting the plywood or sealing with marine varnish should deter that. One thing I did as an improvement was filling the floor joist cavities with extruded foam. That greatly increased the R-value and comfort level. Since I replaced the original carpet with an underlayment of rubber and laminate flooring, I only had to fill the joints and screw holes lightly with a floor leveler. If an owner chose vinyl as a finished surface, attention to achieving a smooth surface would be necessary. Good luck with your floor!

The leak was taken care of long time ago and the trailer is now in a 12X45 garage. Yes, the floor extends under the wall. This is a build to last for a life time. After measuring it tonight, the running studs are 1.5" thick and 2.5" wide. 2X3 maybe? I was thinking of replacing it one sheet at a time. All the fasteners are getting replaced. Once the floor studs and sub-floor is finished, I had planned to use a closed cell spray insulation underneath then on top use a bondo type filler for joints and imperfections. My fear is mostly structure integrity. Once the floor is complete, the walls are next with their staples...

Replacing entire subfloor one piece at a time. | Good Sam Community

Cruiseomatic
Explorer
Aug 08, 2016
Sorry to hear that. At least your knowledge and pictures still live on. Right now, my wife and I are downsizing by the extremes by putting everything in storage and moving into another FEMA unit. Cost of housing in this area has gotten outrageous. This on top of me changing jobs and her possibly being pregnant. So basically, when I said I hardly have time, I'm changing jobs, putting the cash together for another unit, getting my current one ready for transport, putting everything in storage, and helping her. Current one needs tires, temp permit, brakes rewired, and lights. Trying to figure out the best way to tackle the floor joists, undercarriage, and subfloor first. Glad to find out about the luan providing structure integrity before I got to far. The siding is nothing more than scrap honestly.
BobsYourUncle
Nomad
Aug 08, 2016
Cruiseomatic wrote:
I read what I could but they left off the end. After reading that, I THOUGHT I had an idea of how to do this, lol.

Actually this was all they had. There is no end to it. What you see on the last page is basically how the trailer sat in my driveway for many years.
The shame of it is that I never finished the project.
I did put all new siding on it and an all new aluminum roof but then it sat.
Years later my marriage broke up, I lost my house and more.
I sold the Citation for $1700. unfinished. I gave the buyer everything I had for it and he said he will finish the job.
Cruiseomatic
Explorer
Aug 08, 2016
I read what I could but they left off the end. After reading that, I THOUGHT I had an idea of how to do this, lol.
BobsYourUncle
Nomad
Aug 08, 2016
Cruiseomatic wrote:
BobsYourUncle wrote:
Gee I sure wish my old website was still up.

I had completely and totally documented the total rebuild of my old Citation.

Website went down in 2012 amidst many struggles with me trying to keep it going. It was hard to keep going on a home connection.

I still have all the pictures and the website on a computer that has not been running in 3 years now.

I keep wanting to hook it up and pull stuff off it but with a loss of nearly everything I had, a marriage breakup and move to another province, the chance to get this info out and available for folks like you just has not been there.

It would sure be helpful

Talking about this?
Citation

Yes actually I am. Thanks for the link.
I had totally forgotten that I gave permission to those guys to copy all that material off my website. I haven't seen that in years.

Good post, that's all my work.
Thanks again
Bob
Cruiseomatic
Explorer
Aug 07, 2016
BobsYourUncle wrote:
Gee I sure wish my old website was still up.

I had completely and totally documented the total rebuild of my old Citation.

Website went down in 2012 amidst many struggles with me trying to keep it going. It was hard to keep going on a home connection.

I still have all the pictures and the website on a computer that has not been running in 3 years now.

I keep wanting to hook it up and pull stuff off it but with a loss of nearly everything I had, a marriage breakup and move to another province, the chance to get this info out and available for folks like you just has not been there.

It would sure be helpful

Talking about this?
Citation
BobsYourUncle
Nomad
Aug 07, 2016
westend wrote:
BobsYourUncle wrote:
Gee I sure wish my old website was still up.

I had completely and totally documented the total rebuild of my old Citation.

Website went down in 2012 amidst many struggles with me trying to keep it going. It was hard to keep going on a home connection.

I still have all the pictures and the website on a computer that has not been running in 3 years now.

I keep wanting to hook it up and pull stuff off it but with a loss of nearly everything I had, a marriage breakup and move to another province, the chance to get this info out and available for folks like you just has not been there.

It would sure be helpful

It sure would. I remember going through all the pages on your website when I was launching on my restoration. Everything you had done was well organized and informative. There were a lot of good pictures and the processes were all covered. I gained a lot from it and thank you much for hosting it then.

I think the largest part of reaching a successful conclusion with my restoration (I'll really never be done) was dedicating the time to it and carrying on until it was pretty much done. It's tough to keep going in the middle when you realize there is still tons to do. The two weeks of cutting and installing foam board almost did me in.

Thanks for the comment.
I appreciate the positive feedback.
seaeagle2
Explorer
Aug 07, 2016
CDX has waterproof glue, 3 or 5 cores, voids allowed in cores, voids allowed in surface panels C grade on one side, D on the other. Marine has same glue, 5 or 7 cores, no voids allowed in cores, A grade on one side, A or B on other side. For something that orginally used fiberboard or wafer board, CDX should be fine.
westend
Explorer
Aug 07, 2016
BobsYourUncle wrote:
Gee I sure wish my old website was still up.

I had completely and totally documented the total rebuild of my old Citation.

Website went down in 2012 amidst many struggles with me trying to keep it going. It was hard to keep going on a home connection.

I still have all the pictures and the website on a computer that has not been running in 3 years now.

I keep wanting to hook it up and pull stuff off it but with a loss of nearly everything I had, a marriage breakup and move to another province, the chance to get this info out and available for folks like you just has not been there.

It would sure be helpful

It sure would. I remember going through all the pages on your website when I was launching on my restoration. Everything you had done was well organized and informative. There were a lot of good pictures and the processes were all covered. I gained a lot from it and thank you much for hosting it then.

I think the largest part of reaching a successful conclusion with my restoration (I'll really never be done) was dedicating the time to it and carrying on until it was pretty much done. It's tough to keep going in the middle when you realize there is still tons to do. The two weeks of cutting and installing foam board almost did me in.
BobsYourUncle
Nomad
Aug 07, 2016
Gee I sure wish my old website was still up.

I had completely and totally documented the total rebuild of my old Citation.

Website went down in 2012 amidst many struggles with me trying to keep it going. It was hard to keep going on a home connection.

I still have all the pictures and the website on a computer that has not been running in 3 years now.

I keep wanting to hook it up and pull stuff off it but with a loss of nearly everything I had, a marriage breakup and move to another province, the chance to get this info out and available for folks like you just has not been there.

It would sure be helpful
Cruiseomatic
Explorer
Aug 07, 2016
Needs a new roof badly. The new lighting layout will require new ceiling panels also. Planned on adding sheathing yes. Same 1/8" luan as the inside. The demo plan was to remove everything and start fresh. Next chance I'll have to get pictures will be next weekend (hopefully). Been extremely busy with work. Never done a total gut a rebuild before. Done a couple patch jobs before on a '04 prowler and that was a pain. Especially since fleetwood screwed the furniture from the outside in.

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Replacing entire subfloor one piece at a time.

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