please can someone advise me on what sort of ply to get for my van floor, would it be mariene ply? and what sort of adhesive/bonding do i get to re stick it after.i am a newbe and just sourcing ways of fixing my floor.please help.
When my Elldis floor became a bit soft( delaminated) I removed the carpet, bought 2 sheets of 8x4 x half inch ply, and used the carpet as a template to mark out floor shape/s on the ply. Then cut out with a jigsaw, passed the ply in through the front window, when in position, I drilled through the ply and floor ( checking all was clear under van) applied no nails adhesive or similar, and then my mate passed countersunk bolts through from the inside of van while I used a large metal washer/nut to clamp it all together. May not sound professional, but had the van for a further 6yrs, floor was solid as a rock.
thanks colin thats sounds like an easy why to solve the problem.Did you cut out the old top layer of old floor ply or attatch to the existing?Our problem is that the floor is quite raised in 2 places due to it , we now know, being filled with expanding foam, so we would have to cut out these bits as the fridge door would not clear the floor being any higher.
I kept the old floor in place..You could have a problem there. Suppose you could try and " flatten" the raised areas by planing or even cut them away as long as the areas are'nt too large. I was lucky that the new ply went down without any clearance problems. Best to check other areas for clearence as well, ( drop down bed lockers, gas fire, etc. As I say it worked for me, hope it works for you. If not, you can buy de-lamination kits.
if it needs repair,mine squeeked thats how i found it.also feels like your walking on soft shoes when you walk slowly across the foor because the ply has lifted up.
my version for what its worth
hi,delamination...frightening no if you set out your stall and take your time.this is not a two hour job as stated,when you have finished you will know why they charge so much at the caravan repair shop.i have just done ours a few months ago.i will go through the steps best i can.ours had gone in two places,next to the door entrance and next to the sink four feet away.you will find that delamination is where the floor is used most.ie next to the sink and the door entrance.first decide how much delamination you have,ie.2 feet (old school) or 6 feet,this information is required when you go to order your epoxi resin mix.one mix will cover about 3 feet by 3 feet.got mine from barrons £25 for both tins.you also need a large syringe to inject the mixed epoxi resin.this will also sell.also the chemicals (glue) are called apollo 1 and apollo 2.i think the code is A8136.the small tin is the hardener and must be used in the time on the tin.the first thing is to remove all carpets or lino.second(must) tape up all joints and the cowls under the caravan .use a good tape.ie brown packing tape,3 in wide.if you dont the glue will run out on to the ground outside through all the seams.you will not know until you see a pool on the path..third ,support the floor under the van in some way so it cannnot bend when pressure is placed on top,do not push up the floor.you can damage the fittings inside.use wood blocks stacked up just touching the floor on the underside in the same place as the delamination.fourth find a sharp 10mm drill .you need to buy 10 mm round wood to cut and plug the holes,sold in 6 foot lengths.this needs cutting into plugs,half inch long and sanded down at one end to make it go in easy.the next step is to do a test hole,find a place that has no gas pipes on the underside.slowly drill one hole until it only just touches the plywood at the bottom.DO NOT DRILL THROUGH.tape up the drill at this depth,use plenty of tape to stop the drill going deeper than it should.mark out the area of delamination,black marker,in a square grid pattern of 4 inch each way .when finished you will have a large square full of holes to the size of the delamination.ie.3 x 3 feet.clean away all and any dust or shavings.have a large polythene bag ready to put over the square,the glue does not stick to polythene.you need a tin or old pan to mix into of the correct size for size of mix.a clean strong stick to stir the mix.only mix what you need within the time allowed.start at the rear end injecting the holes one by one until it flows out then plug with the wood plug.when finished ,place poly bag over all holes.put a heavy weight on top ie.wheels and tyres or gas bottles.leave for 24 hours to dry.sand down all plugs until smooth.you must wear a mask for the fumes and open the windows when you are doing the job.rubber gloves are handy too.CHECK UNDERSIDE FOR GAS PIPES BEFORE STARTING.wish i could type. thought this may help
------------- the only silly question is the one you do not ask.
AS Michael stated you can try the delamination kit, but it did'nt work for me, and the price the workshops wanted, made up mind to try what I did, and as I said it was still fine when I resold the van years later. It,s up to you
I used 1 and half inch bolts with countersink heads 'bout quarter dia'. and large metal washers.
After spreading "No Nails" adhesive over the floor area and placing new ply over old floor,drilled through on each corner, down sides and randomly around centre, MAKING SURE UNDERSIDE WAS CLEAR OF PIPES CHASSIS Etc. As my mate passed bolts through, I used a Large Metal washer and nut to tighten starting from centre and working out to side and ends. As I said earlier, it depends on if the interior of your van can accomodate the extra thickness around fire, drop down cupboard hinges, etc.
Cheers Colin, I like the idea just hope that the extra wood does not put a strain the van in any way. I am thinking that the bolts should be on each corner as you say and then at intervals of about 12 -24 inch around the edges. Does that sound right or would you advise something diffrent.
Christian make sure all doors and cupboards will open when the extra thickness is added to the floor before fitting.i also see no reason apart from pipes and wires you cannot use a beam of sorts the full length of the van,ie.2 x 2.
------------- the only silly question is the one you do not ask.
24 inches should be Ok. Its not that critical, the bolts just pull the glued ply together. Just make sure the extra ply dont prevent anything from opening etc. The weight of half inch ply laid flat wouldn't affect the stability of your van. A mate of mine only half covered his floor, from back end to just passed his kitchen area where the problem was, tapered the end of the new ply,and put carpet back!!
Hope all works out ok for you. Perhaps you can bring the family to South Wales when you're done. Lots for the family down here! Take a look at my homepage above Colin
What do you think the draw backs would be to simply screw the floor down rather then drilling through and using bolts? Just thinking that their are 2 advantages 1. That I could use more screws therefore it would be fixed tight in more places and 2. That I have no risk of hitting something underneath.
May work, the reason I used bolts is that the existing floor of your van is made up like a sandwich e.g. 2 thin layers of ply with a middle layer of a type of foam, therefore there's not much for screws to "bite" into.Try using a screw in your existing floor, if it tightens up enough, to pull the floors together until the adhesive sets, ( I used "No Nails") using a gun, then it should be ok..Keep in touch
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Topic: floor re-do
thought this may help
Colin
