2013 Rockwood 2306 Floor Repair

[BarleyCrusher]

Hello Everyone,
I've been stalking for a bit now and have learned so much here. Thank you!

I posted this in the Rockwood forum and go no responses.
I'm about to be the owner of a new-to-me 2013 Rockwood 2306 Travel Trailer. There is a soft spot/area on the floor between the couch (Murphy bed) and the side wall, on the door side. I'm planning to repair this somehow. Has anyone done this? My understanding is the floor has aluminum joists at 16", and is constructed of a Luan/Polystyrene/Luan vacuum laminated sandwich. Since I can't vacuum laminate anything, I was going to cut out to the nearest joist, and install something different - plywood/insulation of some kind, and then a vinyl flooring. Perhaps beef up the support structure if I can.

Does that plan make sense? I'm not sure if there are even joists. If there aren't, I need to do a wall-to-wall floor replace, right?

I'm certainly going to be looking for the cause once it's open. No evidence of water coming in from the outside. Thanks for any help and advice you can provide!

[Bama Rambler]

Sorry that you haven't gotten any response. And I'm not going to be any help either.

I'm not sure that there are 'joists' underneath the floor per-se. There is probably some framing under there, but it's probably no where near 16" OC.

Some pictures may help you get more response.

I think I'd cut out the soft area and find, and build something as near to the original thickness as I could and then go underneath and some supports frame to frame to help support the repaired area. You can't vacuum laminate the flooring, but there are adhesives that you can use to 'glue' it all together.

[BarleyCrusher]

Thanks!

I don't pick up the TT for a couple of weeks, and I'll take pictures then. I'm just trying to think ahead and put together a game plan. I think I'll cut out the soft area and explore/analyze from there.

I was more trying to figure out the extent of the possible problem so I could better assess the price and how much a repair could cost. I'm kinda assuming I'll have to put in a new, homemade-glued laminate structure, from wall to wall, in the front 1/3 (or so) of the trailer. That's a pretty big project. Anything less will be gravy.

I'm planning to document for the benefit of everyone else who might have issues with their Rockwood floors in the future. It's going to be a slow job over the winter/spring.

-Barley

[youroo]

Barly, the floor makeup isn't going to allow a Easy repair! The proper repair is "remove Everything that is sitting on the floor and replace the "Entire Floor "! The New units have Real 5/8 Plywood floors, no more Styrofoam Sandwich! Youroo! !

[herdsman]

Hard to say without good pictures of the framing and the part of the floor that needs to be replaced, but in general for this type of repair I would not make the seam/cuts between the old floor and new section centered on the framing. I would make the cuts so that you can place a reinforcing piece of plywood under the cut with as much overlap on each side as possible, and use lots of screws and adhesive such as Liquid Nails. This would ultimately made a much stronger patch. Again, hard to say how practical that is without much more detail on your situation, YMMV.

[rockfordroo]

There are some threads where some folks have done what you're planning. You need to do some searching.


Here are a few:

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...oor-54746.html

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...ted-79901.html

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...mph-89062.html

This is a job that almost NONE of us are willing to tackle. Good luck.

[bobquest]

How could this have happened on a 2013 travel trailer??? It's only three years old. I hope this is an isolated case or is it cause for concern!
Tell me so I can dump my three year old Forest River RV now!

[hillsdaletc]

The sandwich laminated floor you are looking at is nearly impossible to fix. Notice I said nearly. The floor is just one inch or two inch bead board styrofoam glued on both sides to luan panels. There will be aluminum tube cross members usually every two to four feet depending on location. The strength is from the lamination of all three layers. If you do not see any water marks then you have a break down of the soft breadboard styrofoam. In high traffic areas the beads break up and the luan flexes. Repairing is difficult because unless you overlay the entire floor supporting from below will not stop the top luan from collapsing into the foam. Cutting into the floor will substantially weaken the floor assy.

[boaski]

I have done it not on a forestriver thou.You might want to drop the belly pan first if there is one to see if you can reinforce the frame work some how.Otherwise you might want to check if your vinyl is even glued down mine was not cut it along the edge and roll it out of the way.Cut out the bad part from support to support centers. I did not have to but I think you could in stall a small angle under the cut part of existing floor for support. What I did was gouge out some of the styrofoam and I used2x6s that went frame member to frame member and inserted.them where I gouged out the foam secure with adhesive and screws then used what ever plywood to meet the height mine was 3mm luan then float the edges with a floor repair compound roll the vinyl back glue down and caulk the edge

[Harris85]

Just wondering if the soft spot might be located where the foot of the Murphy Bed rest when the bed is lowered?

[Netcomdude]

I also have a Mini-lite 2306 purchased new in 2013. We are noticing spongy floors in front of the sink and stove. Not real bad but noticeable. Was hoping to see if there was a fix. I have actually "fished" wiring through the cutouts made at the factory. Appears the floor is made up of foam channels. A little nervous to drill small holes and use expansion foam. Any suggestions?


Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums

[Netcomdude]

Originally Posted by Harris85

Just wondering if the soft spot might be located where the foot of the Murphy Bed rest when the bed is lowered?

No, it’s in the bathroom in front of the stool, in front of the stove. But not where the Murphy bed folds down. I did remove the tiny feet from the bed as they were putting dents in the floor. Problem is the floor is a hollow foam floor. It is caving it over time.