The floor in my 40 year old Holivan needs replacing as it is very spongy and having investigated, it is quite rotten in a couple of places.
What is the best thing to replace the floor with and how should I do it??!! I want to make sure she is still around in another 40 years (if possible!) so want to make sure the floor is solid and safe.
As far as I know, the floor (and usually the covering to that floor) is laid onto the chassis and then the rest of the caravan is built on top of that.
So, to replace the floor would entail removing the complete van and start back at chassis level.
I suppose there are ways that you could do that but it would take a very large workshop and some rather sophisticated tools.
to do the best job, you would need to take the walls off, but you can replace parts of the floor without this, its very time consuming but i had to do it due to very bad rot in mine.
I am fortunate that I do have the space to actually remove the walls of the van but my biggest concern doing this would be getting it back together again and ensuring it was water tight!!
It isn't the whole floor that is rotten (I don't think!!) - it is mainly infront of the door and the kitchen area which runs along the back wall of the caravan (approx 20"x36") The rest of the floor feels solid but obviously I will check properly!!
Would doing as lilbob suggests be enough or do I need some more substantial repairs? A friend suggested welding metal sheeting under the van and adding some bracing to support the floor and putting new marine ply down inside?
I suppose one possible way, if it was not in an area where wiring and plumbing went through the floor, would be to unbolt the chassis from the van, jack up the van and slide exterior ply under the rotten areas.
Personally I think that this is your only option. Hopefully others will come up with some other ideas.
First off try to work out if the floor is solid or laminate, 2 pieces of ply a polystyrene sandwich, if the latter then you will be able to use a de lam kit, if it's a single ply with possibly polystyrene encapsulated in polythene then it's possible to cut out the section of floor with a circular saw, just make a note of where the screws are and remove before cutting. Have a look here to see how we replaced a section of floor in our old van.
Hey there mate. How did u get on with taking the walls off and replacing your floor. I'm about to do the same! Do you have any pics of you doing it?any tips? Also what is the best glue for the sandwich flooring for the polystyrene to stick to the Plywood.
Welcome to UKCS. The thread you’ve posted to is ancient - it’s 11 years old. I don’t recognise some names there so some contributors may not be camping any more.
Hope you get a good response.
the information is still the same though. laminated flooring can be DIY repaired with a resin kit, other flooring may need to be removed and replaced. there will be plenty of videos on you tube i reckon as youre not the first (or last) to suffer from caravan spongy floor disease
I know this thread is ancient but I also have floor issues. I have watched lots of YouTube videos showing delamination repairs and I am prepared to give it a go myself but I also have a rotten section by the door due to a leak which I have hopefully sealed. I have been wondering about replacing the whole section of floor instead and putting cross beams in the void.
Thoughts on this would be appreciated.
Hi Lindylou and welcome to the forum, you may well have been better to start a new thread but what the heck.
Good for you, getting ready to tackle your problem floor, it's not too difficult as you are about to find out.
Even if the top surface ply is rotten it's only a 3mm thick sheet of plywood, it's bonded, and may be screwed or nailed in places, onto a frame of wood but that may no longer be the case if it's delaminated, just like a lot of highly trafficked areas like doorways. If this should be the case it makes for easy removal otherwise you need to cut it off the foam. If it was me, I'd be tempted to add crossbeams to add strength long term whilst you have it open, not much extra cost or complication for the benefit.
Dave.
------------- Never argue with an idiot, they will drag you down to their level and beat you on experience.
Mark Twain.
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Topic: Replacing Caravan Floor
via mobile 19/12/2020 at 9:20am
