Areolite soft flooring

[aerolitebigbird]

I am dealing with a soft spot on my RV floor by bath sink area. I am handy and able to fix myself, however after lifting up the original linoleum I found a spot about onefeet round where the wood had rotted. I lifted up all the rot which was top couple layers of a 1/4 plywood which was black and wet, dried over a week. Below the plywood was 1 1/2 inch of white foam insulation. To my surprise below the foam was a paper thin layer then what appeared to be a fiberglass bladder containing water. Pushing on the fiberglass I could hear water through the vanity sink close by. I am puzzled as the minimal layers of flooring if in fact this is a water bladder.
Can anyone relate to this bizarre flooring situation. I have pictures to upload. Thank you.

[capeharj]

Sounds like you have a drain pipe leaking into the floor. There would be no bladder there. As far as the floor, fixing it is almost impossable, those panels are prefabricated in 4X8 sections and put together by using vacuum to put them together, making the whole thing a single engineered component. When it breaks down it looses its structural integrity and you can't make it strong again. If you look at the 5th wheel in my picture, that is also an Aerolight and I had the same issue in the floor and the roof. I took the roof completely off and rebuilt it with new foam and 1/4" plywood, glued it all together but had no way to use vacuum to pull the panels together, same with the floor.

[franktafl]

During our last storm, we got water in the bedroom to the tune of about 1/2” or so puddles (salt water too). Now the floor has depressions and spongy and creaks whenever we walk on it. The repairman says that the floor is beyond repair and we would need to take the slide completely out as well as the closet and dresser as well as taking the underbelly off. Guessing about 5k or more to repair. Currently, the blue book values this thing around 39k plus improvements. Still waiting on what the insurance company says...

[aerolitebigbird]

Originally Posted by capeharj

Sounds like you have a drain pipe leaking into the floor. There would be no bladder there. As far as the floor, fixing it is almost impossable, those panels are prefabricated in 4X8 sections and put together by using vacuum to put them together, making the whole thing a single engineered component. When it breaks down it looses its structural integrity and you can't make it strong again. If you look at the 5th wheel in my picture, that is also an Aerolight and I had the same issue in the floor and the roof. I took the roof completely off and rebuilt it with new foam and 1/4" plywood, glued it all together but had no way to use vacuum to pull the panels together, same with the floor.

Thank you for the reply. I am not clear in what you are stating regarding the 4X4 panels, are you referring to the existing floor panels? I only have one small area about 1ft square where this rot and water below is situated. I have taken the original linoleum out from the entire trailer floor as my intent is to replace with vinyl planking for cosmetic reasons only. The floor besides this problem area is in good condition without any soft spots damp areas etc.
I am still confused tho with this water under what seems to be a thin fiberglass layer and not sure what is below it as I don't want to cut into something that is containing the water good or bad. Just not sure why this one spot and the rest of the flooring is dry and fine. This unit is a 2006 and I just bought it beginning of September and hardly used....obviously enough to find this soft spot.
Since you have replaced your floor can you tell me what layer of wood etc there are right from the top linoleum ....that would be good to know.
Thanks again for your reply.

[yellowkayaker]

We had the same problem and the dealer carefully cut the flooring along the walls, vanity and shower but not in the doorway. This was after removing the toilet. It allowed them to carefully roll the flooring up to replace the delaminated area. It is still soft but not as bad. We have a thick foam bath matt that we keep there. The plywood is only 3/8” thick, not what I would use ever, but it must work.

[oleknot]

It may be possible to cut the bad spot out with 45d angle cuts and then do the same with a replacement patch. That way the patch can squeeze in line a glove. Add marine fiberglass below and on top to make the new floor better than OEM. Main thing would be getting the leak fixed so the rot can be stopped in its tracks.

[yellowkayaker]

Thanks for the suggestions, I plan to pull the under belly off this spring to update items in hopes of making it winter ready and will recheck for any leaks not visible from inside. I really like the idea of adding fiberglass.

[aerolitebigbird]

Thank you for the detailed information. I have since found the rot source; took care of the rot area; put in bondo filler added new subfloor throughout and now replaced flooring with wood plank vinyl flooring looks great and with the added sub floor it is much better than original. This is an Aerolite and has the minimal 3/8 plywood flooring then two inch insulation flooring with minimum support, it is now good and sturdy.
Have a great day, thanks again.