Regular home handyman tools should be adequate to repair an RV floor.
In common with most travel trailers and fifth wheels, recreational vehicles -- or RVs -- are seldom manufactured with flooring made of lumber. Floors are usually particle board, which provides a reasonable trade-offs among rigidity, weight and cost. Unfortunately, particle board is very vulnerable to water damage. It will disintegrate after one soaking if the moisture is not immediately mopped up or dehumidified. The "soft" feeling underfoot which is experienced in many RVs is usually the result of disintegration following one roof or plumbing leak, rather than from repeated wetting over an extended period. Wet rot will spread, and disintegration makes underfloor components vulnerable to accidental damage, so repairing a soft floor in an RV is an urgent job. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Use graph paper to make an accurate floor plan of the RV, showing all interior walls, fixed cabinetry, equipment and appliances.
2. Move through the entire RV, testing the floor by putting weight on every square foot, then bouncing gently at the knee while gripping a handhold that is strong enough to support you should the floor give way. Note the locations of any soft-feeling areas on the plan; it is preferable to deal with all areas of disintegration in a single project than to lift floor coverings and furnishings piecemeal.
3. Remove all floor coverings from areas mapped out as in need of repair. Carpet glue breaks down when exposed to moisture, so non-rigid floor coverings can often be peeled away from one corner; slip a broad pry bar under the raised flap and move it in a broad side-to-side motion while pulling at the floor covering firmly but evenly. Rigid floor coverings such as linoleum and tiles must usually be removed in smaller, broken-off sections.
4. Scribe a heavy line around each area of soft floor marked on the plan; use a permanent marker pen that is not water soluble. Separated particleboard usually swells, so looking for uneven surfaces is a good way to double-check you have identified every area in need of repair.
5. Use a stud locator to find the underfloor joists supporting the floor around every soft extent of floor. Mark the location of each support stud until a square box has been drawn around each damaged area, then scribe a second box 1 inch outside the first. The lines forming the larger box are the cut lines.
6. Visually check 1 inch to either side of each cut line looking for metal objects; every foreign item must be removed prior to cutting because metal objects flicked into the air by a saw blade are very dangerous.
7. Make a hole through sound, unswollen floor inside the cut line, where there is no underfloor support, using an electric drill and a 1/2-inch wood bit. Measure the exact thickness of the floor and set your circular saw's blade shroud to that depth.
8. Separate the damaged floor by following the cut lines -- the outer box -- on all four sides of each marked area with the circular saw. Bend a metal coat-hanger into a hook, thread it into the measuring holes you drilled earlier, then lift out the panels.
9. Buy marine-grade plywood of precisely the same thickness as the original. Transfer each hole's dimensions to the new wood, then cut out replacement panels.
10. Install the new panels in their holes; they will seat precisely onto the 1-inch lip of underfloor stud left by the cut line. Make a mark every 6 inches around each panel edge, 1/2-inch in from the edge. Pilot-drill and then countersink every mark, then fasten the panels using exterior-grade deck screws.
11. Replace soft floor coverings when thoroughly dried out, or install new material in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions. Use carpet threshold bars to bridge joins between original and new floor coverings if necessary.
Tags: floor coverings, around each, soft floor, metal objects, need repair
