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Hi all,

(This is my first post, hi!  Apologies for asking a question rather than helping someone else first!)

Having bought a damp ridden '86 Abbey GT212 that I can't afford to just throw away, I'm attempting to repair/restore it.  I've read most of the Fixedit Club sites, and these have been mega helpful and very encouraging.  My van is in a complete state, but I reckon I can fix it! 

Anyway, onto my question(s!)...

A big part of the rear end of my floor is rotten (falling apart, not just delaminated).  The ply skin just falls off, leaving only the styrofoam core.... not the most structural of compenents! 

From what I've seen so far, the construction is something along the lines of:

If my assumptions/questions are correct this would make the floor look something like:

The rotten areas of my floor are:

So my plan is to replace the whole floor from the wheels backwards.... any suggestions as to what with?  I'd thought of WBP ply, but to match the thickness of the laminated floor would be VERY heavy and expensive.  My current thoughts are to build a frame topped with ~12mm ply (so the floor level matches the remaining laminate flooring) to keep the weight down, but the strength up.  This would also allow some insulation to be put underneath:

Caveat: I know I am letting myself in for a massive amount of work, but I am planning to reframe the caravan from the inside out.  As I say, I can't afford anything better.  So far I've stripped everything inside, so I can see all the issues I have.  I know that the shell is fastened to the floor battens, which is why I'm going to have to be very cunning on how I do the replacement!!

Can anyone offer any words of wisdom, any advice?  Even a "looks good to me" would be very helpful!

I'm still getting my head around how a caravan gets its strength, but from what I can see the floor is about as integral as you get!!

Thanks for ANY advice,
James

Hi James just spotted your post , will reply tomorrow evening .

atb

Wizard

impressed with your drawings.see

Hi James , i would try and get a large piece of caravan flooring from a breakers where they have broken ( dismantled ) a caravan , that way you get a piece of floor ready made and with a bit of luck quite cheaply .
Although your idea of a 12mm ply top sounds good , i think it would still flex quite a bit when walked on and would be quite heavy compaired to a sandwich floor construction .
As to providing support for the walls when removing the damaged floor , i would jack the caravan up and block ( support ) the chassis in the middle , back and front .
Then carefully support the rear side and back walls while you tackle the floor .
You normally find a floor height trim on the outside of the caravan , you may find screws under the trim that fix the side walls to the floor batten .

Hope this info helps , good luck with your repair , and do ask as many questions as you like , The Fixed it Club members are always about on here to offer you advice .

atb

Wizard 

Thanks for the info and advice, I'll ring around a few breakers tomorrow.  My main concern is getting the floor in through the door!

One question about my assumptions, do the floors have battens in the construction where the floor bolts to the chassis or is it 100% foam laminate?  If it is just a laminate, how do the floor battens fasten to the laminate?

Cheers,
James

Hi James, was wondering how you got on with your floor replacement / repair ? I have problems with my floor, but cannot find any info on the make up or repair of floor, can you advise, lket me/us know how you faired

Cheers

Alan