Soft floor

[MKirkland]

I have a floor in my 7 year old trailer that is soft in the busiest part of the trailer. You feel the support floorboard, but it is soft on both sides of it. The floor in that spot creaks like an old house. There is no evidence of water.Throw rugs over the place almost always stops the creaking and noises. What do you think I should do?

[CavemanCharlie]

DutchmenSport wrote:
I doubt very much is water damage. It's more likely just wear and tear. Over time shear weight standing on top of it over and over. Unless you step on the floor and the results are hole in the floor, I'd not worry about it. All 3 of my trailers (and my pop-up) had soft spots from the first day of purchase. I figure the floor "joists" are simply too far apart for good support, and when standing directly in the middle between 2 joists, there's going to be some flexing. Over time, it does get softer, but that does not mean the wood used under it is rotten or broken. Leave it, and just go camping!

Another thing, as we "age" we have a tendency to weigh more. If you've gained 50 pounds in the last 7 years, an extra 50 pounds standing on that same spot will put more force on that exact same spot between the joists than it did 7 years ago. More weight, means it could potentially bend the wood more. Perfectly normal in my opinion.

I agree. My TT has had low / soft spots in the floor for years. You can feel that the floor is just sagging between the joists. I don't worry about it and just go camping.

[Cecilt]

We have a 2014 Keystone Outback and started noticing a soft area in front of our fridge about 2 years ago. The Fridge and stove are on a slide. We have 1/4" luan on both sides of foam. Lightweight. My assumption is weight of the fried caused the area to become soft. We now have a soft area near a heat duct in front of the kitchen island. We throw a throw rug on the area in front of the fridge now so we can't really feel the softness of the floor. The other area we just try to walk on the slide carpet in front of the area.

We don't have water damage. The floor joists are just too far apart and you can almost feel where it has separated off a joist and is breaking down. We will just live with it and get as much use out of the TT as we can and trade it in down the road. Not worth the expense of trying to repair it as I don't have the skills to do it myself and not worth paying someone to attempt a repair.

[DutchmenSport]

I doubt very much is water damage. It's more likely just wear and tear. Over time shear weight standing on top of it over and over. Unless you step on the floor and the results are hole in the floor, I'd not worry about it. All 3 of my trailers (and my pop-up) had soft spots from the first day of purchase. I figure the floor "joists" are simply too far apart for good support, and when standing directly in the middle between 2 joists, there's going to be some flexing. Over time, it does get softer, but that does not mean the wood used under it is rotten or broken. Leave it, and just go camping!

Another thing, as we "age" we have a tendency to weigh more. If you've gained 50 pounds in the last 7 years, an extra 50 pounds standing on that same spot will put more force on that exact same spot between the joists than it did 7 years ago. More weight, means it could potentially bend the wood more. Perfectly normal in my opinion.

[MKirkland]

Thanks everyone for your input. The trailer is a Skyline Nomad 22 ft. Of course, they are no longer in business. Anyway, the roof has been resealed last year. I have good confidence in our maintenance company. The trailer is 3600 lbs empty. They didn't skimp on quality. The trailer is in dry warm storage for 5 months of the year and we live in a dry climate the rest of the time. Hopefully water isn't the issue here.

[rbpru]

My PUP floor has felt soft since the day I bought it. I is the materials used.

Our light weight TT floor seems solid.

In the real world, if you are not prepared to replace or repair, you live with it.

For your peace of mind, it would be good to know if the floor is rotting or the high dollar construction is breaking down from normal use.

Good luck

[valhalla360]

How did you verify there was no water? What you describe sounds a lot like wet plywood.

[djousma]

OP needs to clarify. He said soft floor, leading many to believe a leak has weakened the floor. I read that the complaint is that the floor is just flexing in that location, possibly due to foam core breaking down and all the traffic. The fix isnt easy, so if the only real complaint is the creaking noise, and the noticeable flexing, I'd probably just live with it.

[CarnationSailor]

It doesn't have to be an ultra-light to have a foam core floor. My 2011 Keystone Cougar 24-foot TT was not an ultra-light, but it had a foam core floor that began to break down in high traffic areas when just short of 4 years old. There was absolutely no water intrusion. The glue that was supposed to hold the "sandwich" together broke down.

[colliehauler]

You have not provided enough information. If it is a ultralight with the foam core floor or a conventional trailer?

[Artum_Snowbird]

What should you do? Well, that depends. Are you going to keep it, or trade it in? Put your carpet over it, and trade it in?

Sell it the way it is?

Or lift the vinyl up, then the OSB that is likely rotten over twice what you think it it. Replace it back to solid floor joists that have no rot, then cut the vinyl back to a logical spot and put in a patch of flooring boards with nice trim on the sides to cover the edges.

Or do the entire job with new plywood as much as you can, and replace all the flooring.

So..what will you do?

[Double_Haul]

What Make and model is the trailer? Where is the soft spot? Does the floor have carpet or vinyl on it. If vinyl you can tap the floor with the handle end of a screw driver and see if you here a difference in the sound of the soft area versus what doesn't feel soft. If bad will have a soft thud sound verses a sharp tap sound. If sound is different then worth further investigation.

[azrving]

Is it an ultra-light model? It may have a foam core floor that is breaking down

[gbopp]

Check your roof, windows, etc. for leaks. Get them sealed before you repair the floor.
There's no point working on the floor if you still have a leak.

Consider a pressure test by a RV repair shop, it will find any small leak.