Soft Floor

[Aussie Bound]

Has anyone experienced soft spots on their caravan flooring. I had to fix a water leak on the same side of the van and suspect that it has something to do with it. It has been there for quite some time but is not getting any bigger. I am trying to avoid cutting the vinyl to investigate fearing the worst. I suppose the question being how easy is to fix a section of flooring?

[Old Techo]

I am trying to avoid cutting the vinyl to investigate fearing the worst.

Have you tried examining that spot from underneath the van?

[Aussie Bound]

Yes. The underside seems quite solid although it does have a hollow sound.

[J.REEVES]

Hi Ausi,
Is the floor ply?
Is the soft spot in a cupboard or is it in an area that is always visible?

I would tend to leave it and monitor the underside and also make sure you do not have any more water issues.

It’s not hard to cut a section of the floor out if it is ply then fit a good piece the same size in the hole plus a second piece larger than the hole on the underside.
If the area you are talking about is visible then not so simple only because of what it would look like after the repair.

Only last week at the Newcastle Caravan Show I was looking at a van with two hatch doors in the floor to give access to toilet and gray water stuff so that could be an option. Cut it out and turn it into an access door with nice edging to make the cut look like it was meant to be there.

JR

[Old Techo]

AB, depends how it concerns you.

If you don't care about the feel of the soft spot but worry about it falling through then screw/glue a small square of waterproof ply underneath.

If you want to fix it properly, carefully cut the vinyl with a sharp Stanley knife on 3 sides and lift up a hinged flap. Mark and cut out the soft section of floor. Hold a new bit of flooring (waterproof ply) underneath and trace the hole onto it. Cut to size. Cut a bigger piece with enough hole overlap and screw/glue underneath. Drop your cut-to-hole size piece on top with more glue. Glue and restore vinyl flap.

Bugger me .... JR beat me for a change

[Aussie Bound]

Thanks for the tips. They are what I was thinking. Whilst the underside is still solid I think I will continue to monitor it. I am probably only delaying the inevitable though.

[mickd]

Gooday all . If you can get to the soft spots let them dry out & Bunnings have a liquid you can pour on to re-harden the timber floor. Mick

[Sean]

How old is the van?

Older vans (which frequently have soft floors) sometimes had asbestos in the lino so be careful if you need to do any work here.

More than a few older vans have had floating timber floors installed instead of fixing the soft patches.

Rather than adding marine ply underneath I'd look at welding in an extra support between the existing ones.