Fix Delaminating Floor Covering

manyman297

After our last trip (1700 miles) I noticed the floor covering was starting to bubble in a couple of spots. One area was pretty minor but the other was maybe 2x6 inch area below the wardrobe. I wanted to share my experience since I know many other owners have had this issue come up. Repair is fairly easy and took maybe an hour. You'll need the following tools:

• Isopropyl Alcohol
• Vinyl Floor Repair Adhesive (I used Henry's...available on Amazon)
• J-Roller 
• 18 Gauge Needle and syringe (also on Amazon)
• Plenty of Paper Towels
• Something heavy to leave on the bubble after repair

The steps are:

• Fill syringe with flooring adhesive
• Puncture bubble in floor
• Squeeze adhesive under floor
• Use j-roller to and fingers to spread adhesive around
• Use fingers and j-roller to push excess adhesive our of needle hole
• Wipe up excess glue with water and/or alcohol
• Place heavy object on top of repair for 24 hours
• Pray that the rest of the floor doesn't start to delaminate

Some hints:

• It's best to puncture the flooring near the outer area where the bubble is. That way you can work the adhesive around and then use the j-roller to roll the adhesive back to the needle hole. Puncturing the middle of the bubble would make spreading the adhesive much more difficult and messy.
• I was able to use a flat needle (as opposed to an angled needle) to puncture the flooring quite easily. I wouldn't use any needle smaller than 18 gauge as I don't think the adhesive is viscous enough to flow through a smaller needle.
• I was actually amazed at how I wasn't able to easily find the needle hole after the repair. Plus the adhesive creates a seal in the flooring as well.
• Really make sure the flooring is flat. I think the j-roller is a must. Your fingers can only do so much but I found that the roller does a great job pushing the adhesive around and ensuring the repair is flat. 
• Use more adhesive than you think you need. You can always squeeze excess glue out of the needle hole.

Needle inserted under flooring.


Pushing the adhesive back out of the needle hole.

Tabaz

Great solution!  Question - how did you keep the heavy object from sticking to any residual glue coming out of the hole?  Wax paper maybe?

manyman297

Haha…good question. I didn’t even think of this until the next day (today). Went out to check it and it was fine. I think I squeezed enough out that there wasn’t any residual. But wax paper would be a great choice.

Sharon_is_SAM

@manyman297 - Did nuCamp provide the repair instructions?  Is this just due to insufficient adhesive?  

bergger

Sharon_is_SAM said:

@manyman297 - Did nuCamp provide the repair instructions?  Is this just due to insufficient adhesive?  

I'm wondering the same thing.  We have some minor bubbling in front of out dinette on our 2021 400.  Seems to be a bit worse in hot weather then get better in cooler weather.  The floor feels totally flat and solid but feels like air bubbles under the vinyl.  I was thinking of doing something just like you did but was wondering if it was just an adhesive issue or something else.  Seems like an adhesive issue to me.  Let us know how it holds up.  We're going on a 1100 mile trip at the end of the week so I'll be curious if our floor gets any better, worse or stays the same. Glad to see that it seems like an easy fix. 

ChrisFix

bergger said:

Sharon_is_SAM said:

@manyman297 - Did nuCamp provide the repair instructions?  Is this just due to insufficient adhesive?  

I'm wondering the same thing.  We have some minor bubbling in front of out dinette on our 2021 400.  Seems to be a bit worse in hot weather then get better in cooler weather.  The floor feels totally flat and solid but feels like air bubbles under the vinyl.  I was thinking of doing something just like you did but was wondering if it was just an adhesive issue or something else.  Seems like an adhesive issue to me.  Let us know how it holds up.  We're going on a 1100 mile trip at the end of the week so I'll be curious if our floor gets any better, worse or stays the same. Glad to see that it seems like an easy fix. 

@bergger
I have that exact same issue on my 2021 400 - same location too. I do wonder what happened when they put the flooring down.

manyman297

Sharon_is_SAM said:

@manyman297 - Did nuCamp provide the repair instructions?  Is this just due to insufficient adhesive?  

No. I did let them know about the issue though. 

This is a typical repair you'd do on a residential floor. I looked into various adhesives. They make RV-specific adhesive but they only sell it in huge buckets and my guess is that it's very thick and wouldn't work in a syringe. 

So if I follow that delamination behind the wardrobe base cabinet and stick my head behind the drawer below the wardrobe you can see the vinyl flooring is buckled all the way to where it terminates by the wheel well. I'm assuming that the flooring may have been laid slightly crooked and was maybe forced a bit to the driver's side as they laid it down to correct it and that put stress on the adhesive. 

My other theory is that wherever the base cabinets touch the floor there's a potential for delimination. I see one other small bump near the kitchen sink base cabinet. Maybe the weight of the cabinets and the force of the trailer hitting bumps causes the adhesive to release? Not sure. 

manyman297

bergger said:

Sharon_is_SAM said:

@manyman297 - Did nuCamp provide the repair instructions?  Is this just due to insufficient adhesive?  

I'm wondering the same thing.  We have some minor bubbling in front of out dinette on our 2021 400.  Seems to be a bit worse in hot weather then get better in cooler weather.  The floor feels totally flat and solid but feels like air bubbles under the vinyl.  I was thinking of doing something just like you did but was wondering if it was just an adhesive issue or something else.  Seems like an adhesive issue to me.  Let us know how it holds up.  We're going on a 1100 mile trip at the end of the week so I'll be curious if our floor gets any better, worse or stays the same. Glad to see that it seems like an easy fix. 

Overall I just don't think whoever is laying these floors is doing a good job. I've done this type of work before and it's not hard but you have to be mindful of allowing the vinyl to relax and applying enough adhesive.

I too thought the heat might correct our issue but it didn't. I'm just hoping this doesn't spread. I can see doing this a few times to correct some bubbling here and there but not much more than that.

bergger

I see there are several types of Henry vinyl floor adhesive.  Which one did you use, the original or improved original?

manyman297

I used this: 

ARDEX LLC Henry, WW Company 12220 6 oz Vinyl Repair Adhesive https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00114XB6O/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_RC4EMDT001DW8027B11E?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Bayliss

@manyman297, it has been over a year since you did this fix.  How has it held up?

manyman297

@Bayliss Funny you should ask. The areas I repaired have held up fine…BUT…multiple areas of the floor are beginning to delaminate so I’ll be out there this spring with a needle, glue and roller.

It happened suddenly toward the end of summer. I really wish they’d test these materials before committing them to a camper build. If my floor is delaminating I guarantee many other are. Just shine a flashlight perpendicular to the floor and you’ll instantly see all areas that are coming unglued.

manyman297

Wanted to do a quick update on the delaminating floor issue. 

Several (and I mean several) areas began delaminating early this year. The repair procedure detailed above still works great and, to me, is much easier to do than having the entire floor replaced. 

For those worried about small holes being visible everywhere, I’ve tweaked my process a bit and instead of relying on the syringe to create the hole I’ve started using a small nail to create a “starter” hole. The result is a virtually invisible hole. 

The first pic shows the syringe holes. The syringe actually punched out the center of the vinyl which is why the hole is so large. 

The second is shown using a nail. Much smaller hole and not very noticeable even on your hands and knees. 

This issue continues to happen. Just got back from a trip to oregon and another fairly large area has delaminated. At this point I’ve probably reglued 1/3 of the floor down. 

I have a theory that it’s the flex of the frame and mainly poor adhesion causing this. I think the subtle twist/flex in the frame “peels” the vinyl away. Just a theory.

At any rate I thought I’d post an update. Is it a perfect repair? No. Is it better than replacing the entire floor? I think to most people the answer would be yes.