Floor water damage

[jeffwash]

We have a 26 ft Kodiak, and recently had a water leak at the kitchen sink. I fixed the water leak, but the water has damaged the floor. There is now a big soft spot on the floor near the cabinets.

I took out the linoleum to expose the floor, and found some mildew and rotting wood. Here's where it gets fun. When I cut into the thin wood, I found about 1.5 inches of Styrofoam, then another layer of rotting thin wood, followed by a membrane, which leads to outside. The membrane is waterproof, so it did a good job of keeping the water in the floor causing greater rot. When I crawled under the trailer, I notices that the floor is a single piece about 7ft x 7ft with no supports to attach to. I need to repair the floor.

Has anyone else had this problem and what did you do?

[sawpilot]

It kind of depends how much you want to do. You could replace the entire 7x7 piece or create a patch. Cut back all the rot and trim it out to a square hole. Underneath create a patch at least 6 inches bigger than the hole and glue and screw it in place. Get creative and make yourself a patch the same size as the inside hole out of some plywood and Styrofoam to match the existing thickness of the floor and glue it in place. Use a filler to seal around the edges of the hole, finish and replace the linoleum. Seal the wood on the outside. Anyway, that's how I'd go about it.

[hddecker]

Originally Posted by sawpilot

It kind of depends how much you want to do. You could replace the entire 7x7 piece or create a patch. Cut back all the rot and trim it out to a square hole. Underneath create a patch at least 6 inches bigger than the hole and glue and screw it in place. Get creative and make yourself a patch the same size as the inside hole out of some plywood and Styrofoam to match the existing thickness of the floor and glue it in place. Use a filler to seal around the edges of the hole, finish and replace the linoleum. Seal the wood on the outside. Anyway, that's how I'd go about it.

X2

I used this method to fix the floor in my old Airstream.

[jeffwash]

Thanks for the replies! I was thinking something like a patch, but was concerned that since there are no supports (beams) or anything to attach it to it wouldn't be strong enough. The water damage is about 3 ft x 1.5 ft.

I'm half thinking about having someone weld a beam across the trailer so I would have something to attach it to...

Thoughts?

[sawpilot]

Don't really think the beam would be necessary but it's a thought. Repairs like this take a little thought and there is no "perfect" way to do it. It's your repair, be creative. But using a 1/2" piece of plywood on the outside and a good construction adhesive along with lots of screws should provide enough support. Good luck!