Floor repair

[Paulred]

I am sure all of you know, RV manufacturers use cheap parts and make repairs more difficult than they should be. Water penetration is a common problem in the RV world, yet most manufacturers insist on cheap particle board for the floors. Of course, a hint of wet dissolves the glue and the floor becomes mushy or rotten and moldy. It has to come out.
I am in a Four Winds Chateau C class. I am doing the floor, and will share the process as it goes.
Cutting. First, expose the floor down to the subfloor. Use a 1/2 in. drill to cut a hole to measure the floor depth. Most common depth is 3/4, but as it happens, 4 winds uses 1/2 in. Many supports are 2x3 or 2x4 wood.

I found my sub floor sits on metal channels ( good, no rot). The floor is bonded to styrofoam slabs that sit between the rails. I am cutting out the floor.

Of course, they put in the floor first and drop everything on top. So short of redoing the entire interior, you have to cut it around the floor cabinets. I found a Toe Kick saw from Harbor Freight allows you to cut close. For the rest of the area, use a radial saw with the depth of cut set to the wood in place.

I am using a product called Aspen gold bond. It features water proof glue. If swolen it dries back to original form. Its maybe 20 bucks a sheet more. if you can get it, Baltic Birch is also a good choice. You don't want to do this again in 5 years and you only need 2 or three sheets.
I'll keep you posted as I cut away the original floor

[AbdRahim]

Thanks for the description. Pictures would be wonderful, especially for those of who are less talented in this area.

[Paulred]

After opening up the floor, I made some adjustments to my plan. I started by cutting the 4 ft by 8 ft panel into 2 ft x 4 ft ones. This made it easier to take home in my car, and also made it easier to work with in the restricted area. I am not doing the whole floor, just the damaged parts.
Since we are full timers, this also helps because I can do the job in parts and we can still live in it.

I used a 15 in pry bar from Home depot that really helped. Where the floor is damaged, the wood has turned mealy and is easy to scoop out. I Cut grooves into the floor and pulled out the bad floor, and some good floor for fitting purposes. I have now fitted 6 panels.

Here is my plan.

Take back out the fitted panels and paint them with an oil based primer. This will give me some water resistance

Using a chisel, pry, and wire brush, clean off the steel ribs, control the rust and paint with Tremclad rust paint.

I am gluing the panels to the ribs, adhesive to be determined.

I noted that the sub floor under composition wood is mostly for insulation, and is not load bearing. The new 1/2 in thick panel feels a little springy, so I am going to overlay it with 1/4 in plywood, screwed to the new panels. I am putting over the whole floor, so I don't need to worry about fitting, except one small cut out.

By doing this, I do not need to worry about sealing joints etc, or making a perfect join. The new panels are water proof, I have fixed the leak, and if it happens again, the water can seep through the cracks and out.

The final step is the re lay the vinyl plank. In my mind, this is the best floor surface for an RV, tough, water resistant, easy to clean, easy to install.
One tip. These floors are supposed to be floating, with no nails needed. This is not easy in and RV, because you need a solid base wall to start with, and I can[t get under the slide. My solution was to tack a few down. I used a drill to make holes for a panel nail, but a good nail gun will do the job.
If you want pictures, send me a PM.