soft floor repair/replace

lcb

Has anyone ever used a epoxy wood rot product to firm their floor back up on soft spots an what product did you use and if it works

dragonsdofly

@Icb, I see you're new here. Welcome to the forum. Some information is useful so those who have repaired their trailers with this problem. What year trailer do you have? Was it manufactured by Dutchman? That info can help others diagnose problems and recommend solutions. Good luck.

lcb

2004 T@B  by Dutchman floor soft across from door to far side left wall Bought Cheap an even with repairs it still will be a bargain

dragonsdofly

@Icb, I understand the Dutchman t@bs had wood in the floors and had water infiltration problems. They are constructed differently than the pleasant valley/NuCamp models. But there have been a few posts here about repairing the floors. Use the category list on the left side of the screen and look for mods/upgrades. You can use the search feature on the upper right side of the screen to search for floors or soft floors. I do remember someone posting something about injecting the type of material you are asking about for soft floor repair, but don't remember the specifics. May I also suggest you pose this question on the Yahoo forum which has many more Dutchman members. Keep us informed about what you find, and maybe some of the others here can answer your question directly as there are great folks and a wealth of information and expertise to be had. Good luck!

dragonsdofly

@Icb, found a thread by @irvingj, dated July 2016, which appears to address all of your questions. I apologize for not being able to post that link, but maybe someone else will. Again, good luck with everything. 

ScottG

See here for above referenced discussion!

irvingj

lcb-- Yes, I used a two-part, cellulose-based epoxy, with good success... BUT I only used it under the small storage area beneath the 3-way fridge, as the linoleum flooring was in good shape in the central area and I didn't want to lift it all up, and the worst of my soft floor --and where the water had come in-- was in that storage area. For the main part of the floor, I reinforced from beneath with aluminum grating and some steel brackets attached to the frame. You can see pics in the above-mentioned discussion, but let me know if you need more info.

The epoxy I used was from "The Rot Doctor" who sells his product online only. It seems to be a very good one specifically for repairing wooden structures; it penetrates exceptionally well. Here's what it looks like, Part A and Part B cans...

Geo

@Icb, I would highly recommend a whole new floor !
The soft floor syndrome is a symptom of the floor rotting out from under you. Patching the floor with various plates and added structure under the trailer is not addressing the real issue, water intrusion soaking into the plywood decking used on the bottom and top of the DM T@B's floor.
DM T@B's have a 1/8" plywood on the bottom and two layers of 1/8" plywood on the top of a very thin aluminum square tubing frame with the voids filled with Styrofoam insulation. Water intrusion is very common around  the wheel wells, front seam, and the cool cat opening. Our worst area was below the entrance door as no caulking was used to seal the bottom frame of the door. I had sealed the wheel wells in '06 as I could see daylight looking down into the storage area under passenger bench seat.
NuCamp has a replacement floor available for the DM T@B's that uses a fiberglass type board that is waterproof. I replaced our floor in '16 with this newer floor supplied by NuCamp.


Very pleased with the results. Some of us have done this ourselves others have let the factory complete the makeover.

If you love your vintage T@B it is well worth making it new again. . .

ScottG

@Geo, nice job! What was involved in getting the camper body off the floor? It looks from the photos that the interior was completely gutted.

irvingj

I had no idea a complete floor replacement was possible. Great job, the way it should be done!

lcb

Thanks all for information,Most like will replace flooring an  Thank's Geo  what was cost of replacement floor if you don't mind shareing

Geo

@ScottG , surprisingly very little!  The DM T@B's are a unibody type construction, 10 large screws through the side walls into floor framing and then the inside benches and cabinets hold it all together. Once trim and seam pieces were removed from the handles down, just started prying the seams apart with putty knife and jacking the body/shell up. Only the bed/dinette structures were removed, front cabinets I only removed the screws into the floor.

@irvingj , about 6 to 10 (maybe more) of us DM owner's have either done it ourselves or had the factory do it.

@Icb, NuCamp charged me $600.00 for a blank floor, two plastic wheel well replacements, and the bottom fiberglass fabric. An additional $400.00 for shipping. You could save a lot if your close enough to factory for pick-up, or perhaps have it shipped to a dealer along with a trailer delivery.
Blank floor was just that - no holes at all, no bottom fabric, no top layer of plywood, no linoleum or floor finish, no end wood pieces to tie into the curving front and rear of trailer.

You must remember the DM T@B's are a lot simpler in construction than the later Pleasant Valley / NuCamp units.

lcb

At last, after tearing out front cabinets and side seating boxes, ripped floor out and only rot was front half of floor,cut all out reinforced between frame rails and replaced with salt treated 1/2 plywood and new vinyl looks good solid and found water leak coming from front gas vent for fridge good for  another 14 yrs. thanks to all for post.

Ratkity

That sounds like a lot of work @lcb!! Any picts of the process?

Heavysquad

Geo said:

@ScottG , surprisingly very little!  The DM T@B's are a unibody type construction, 10 large screws through the side walls into floor framing and then the inside benches and cabinets hold it all together. Once trim and seam pieces were removed from the handles down, just started prying the seams apart with putty knife and jacking the body/shell up. Only the bed/dinette structures were removed, front cabinets I only removed the screws into the floor.

@irvingj , about 6 to 10 (maybe more) of us DM owner's have either done it ourselves or had the factory do it.

@Icb, NuCamp charged me $600.00 for a blank floor, two plastic wheel well replacements, and the bottom fiberglass fabric. An additional $400.00 for shipping. You could save a lot if your close enough to factory for pick-up, or perhaps have it shipped to a dealer along with a trailer delivery.
Blank floor was just that - no holes at all, no bottom fabric, no top layer of plywood, no linoleum or floor finish, no end wood pieces to tie into the curving front and rear of trailer.

You must remember the DM T@B's are a lot simpler in construction than the later Pleasant Valley / NuCamp units.

X2 on any more pics?

What is the fabric hanging down?

ScottG

I'm assuming that's the "bottom fiberglass fabric" described above by lcb.

lcb

Sorry i didn't take pics. but yes a lot of work,but cost wise about $200. labor not figured in,now its time to go camping

Heavysquad

Geo said:

@ScottG , surprisingly very little!  The DM T@B's are a unibody type construction, 10 large screws through the side walls into floor framing and then the inside benches and cabinets hold it all together. Once trim and seam pieces were removed from the handles down, just started prying the seams apart with putty knife and jacking the body/shell up. Only the bed/dinette structures were removed, front cabinets I only removed the screws into the floor.

@irvingj , about 6 to 10 (maybe more) of us DM owner's have either done it ourselves or had the factory do it.

@Icb, NuCamp charged me $600.00 for a blank floor, two plastic wheel well replacements, and the bottom fiberglass fabric. An additional $400.00 for shipping. You could save a lot if your close enough to factory for pick-up, or perhaps have it shipped to a dealer along with a trailer delivery.
Blank floor was just that - no holes at all, no bottom fabric, no top layer of plywood, no linoleum or floor finish, no end wood pieces to tie into the curving front and rear of trailer.

You must remember the DM T@B's are a lot simpler in construction than the later Pleasant Valley / NuCamp units.

Hey Geo, I'm replacing my floor and the prior owner did much of the demo, so I am just figuring it out as I go. I have a couple of questions.

1) the floor fabric, did you cut it or just glue it to the walls under the cabinets?

2) did you re-use the wood on the front and back? Any pics of that area? I have nothing to go on.  Here is my build https://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/7523/2005-tab-floor-replacement#latest

Geo

@Heavysquad
1) The 'bottom fabric' was trimmed after lowering the 'shell' onto the floor. The front was wrapped under the aluminum skin as high as it would go, the sides were trimmed to the outside edge of the 'shell'. A bead of caulk laid between fabric and bottom edge of side wall before reinstalling the aluminum edge trim (very messy but all covered by plastic decorative trim). 
2) I made new wood front and rear edge pieces from pressure treated wood then soaked them in 'Thompsons' water seal before installing them. I copied the profile from what little was left of the original. I also filled the open ends of the aluminum with foam sealer as the original floor's wood inserts were rotting.

Heavysquad

That’s great info, thanks. Did you use a spray adhesive to get the fabric to stick to the floor?

kdcampergirl

Ughhh. Tackling a similar job right now. Damage seems to be in closet (diver's side front). I have removed the rotted section and plan to replace and reinforce. I'll also call NüCamp about a replacement. 

dragonsdofly

@kdcampergirl, what year t@b do you have? And have you identified the source or location of the leak so you can prevent this from happening again? 

kdcampergirl

@dragonsdofly...I have an 06.  I was just about the look up how to take off the trim to access the side seams so I can caulk those.  The worst of the leak was in the very front corner of the closet so I'm assuming that's where the leak is.  There has been intrusion under the sink and fridge in the past but seems dry now and floor is solid.  Still I'd like to prevent further leaks.  Here's a picture of what I've done so far!

dragonsdofly

@kdcampergirl, wow, you're much more ambitious than me. That looks like a job and a half. Kudos that you would undertake such a heavy duty challenge. Boy, this appears to be one great love story. Please keep us informed as to your progress. Take and post lots of photos. Remember our mantra - pics or it didn't happen!  Good luck! - Denise

kdcampergirl

@dragonsdofly... Thanks for the kudos! I've learned a lot on this and other groups so I hope I can pull this off. The demo was easy and luckily it's the closet so I don't have to worry too much about cosmetics! My little Orange Blossom has taken me on quite a few adventures and was our shelter during Hurricane Irma. She has a lot more camping life in her yet 😍

Punkminister

@Geo how long did the repair take, if you did it straight through?

Geo

@Punkminister,  My day job interfered with the rebuild floor project. . .
It took me two months, but I took my time to put it together properly with a great deal of sealing and caulking. 

brorob

@Geo or anyone that has done a floor replacement on their own....

I know this post is very old but I'm in the process of replacing the floor on my 2004 DM.  I've searched the FB groups and this group for answers to some questions I have but haven't been able to find answers.  I've also contacted numerous people at nuCamp and haven't received any help, either because they don't know or won't reply to emails or phone calls, which is frustrating when I am giving them more business by purchasing a floor from them.  Wondering if you would be able to answer a few things.

One thing I'm confused about is how the replacement floor is delivered.  I was told that two 4x8 sheets of Azdel are shipped along with the floor, but I thought that would be attached prior to shipping.  Was yours shipped unattached?  If so, did you use spray adhesive to secure it to the floor?  Does the floor have a bottom and top layer included (besides the Azdel) that sandwiches the aluminum framing and polystyrene?  Do you know what material this is made of?  I'm assuming they don't use 1/8" plywood on the new floors.

For the front and rear profile pieces, how are these attached to the floor?  Mine are still in good shape so I was thinking of reusing them, after I seal them with something.  Otherwise I have to figure out how to make new pieces.

Did you use spray adhesive to attach the underbelly material?

Were there any screws in the door area you had to remove?  I saw one person had to do this but it was for a newer model.

Did you replace the screws that hold the walls to the floor?  I'd like to use new screws for this but I'm not sure if they are anything special.  I've read that you should use stainless steel when screwing into aluminum tubing.

Did you replace the elevator bolts with stainless steel bolts?  Also did you install these over the Azdel and under the linoleum?

What caulk did you use around the wheel wells, propane line, & electric wire entries?  Do you know approximately how much you used?

What caulk did you use around all of the outside trim pieces?  This looks different than the caulk around the wheel wells.

Did you replace your wheel wells because the old ones were bad?  Mine looks fine so I was hoping to reuse.

I noticed you used the front handles and rear storage area to hold up the shell while working on it.  I'm hoping the rear and front handles can support this weight since I don't have the storage area doors that yours does.

Thank you for any assistance with this!  A buddy's father is letting me borrow his heated barn for this floor replacement but I don't want to drag the project on, especially since I'm relying on friends to help.  Trying to prepare for the job as much as possible so I don't waste anyone's time.

irvingj

I wish you the best on the floor replacement!

I still miss our "old" DM T@B. I had repaired the floor on our 2006 (IFIRC) model, but the person that bought from me it found out the hard way (and I completely missed this) that the important area is the wall-to-frame connection.

The floor area was solid as a result of my repairs, but the entire upper portion apparently lifted and separated from the frame in a situation that involved hard/tight maneuvering.

As I said, I still miss that T@B, with its simplicity, and wish you the best -- total floor replacement is the way to go. I know some folks have done this --have you done a search? -- and the results have been solid.

You're lucky that you have a heated space to work in!

irvingj

PS -- just re-read this thread;  it's all there, more or less. After we sold our T@B (a sad day for me) we got a small motor home, a Roadtrek SS Agile on a short/tall Sprinter chassis. I STILL miss our T@B, however -- take care of it!

brorob

@irvingj Yeah, we're looking forward to spending time in our T@B.  I do like the simple design compared to newer models.  And I am very lucky and thankful to have a heated space to work on this project otherwise we were only going to have time to repair our existing floor.

I have re-read this and other threads several times in case I missed anything.  I just re-read it again and the only thing I think I found was an answer to is the construction of the floor.  I'm assuming from what I read that there is a bottom and top fiberglass layer that sandwiches the aluminum frame and then they supply Azdel to install on top.  The first times I read fiberglass I associated that with Azdel.

I still didn't see answers to my other specific questions though.  I see someone asked about whether the underbelly was attached with spray adhesive but didn't see an answer.  The wall to floor screws are mentioned a few times but not whether they were replaced or stainless steel was used.  The front and rear profile boards are mentioned but not how they are attached to the original floor.  Also questions about caulk, elevator bolts, etc.