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Topic: Underneath Floor Repair

hundleton1

02/11/2010 at 11:21pm
Location: None Entered
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Hi all, just got an Abbey 416 and have a some rot at the back two corners underneath, it going into the floor about 5 inches then its solid from there, its in the corners only and not across the whole back, looks like it where the rain has been running down the corners and its got into the timer.

any suggestions on the best method of repairing this? i don't know how the floor works on a van, is this bottom layer the whole floor or is there a layer above this ?

thanks in advance for any suggestions

Rune Caster

03/11/2010 at 8:21am
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Floors in caravans from the 80s onwards are of a sandwich construction - ply (around 6mm) / polystyrene (around 25mm) / ply (around 6mm) making up a floor that is around 36mm thick.

Regarding your repair, a lot will depend on the extent of water ingress into the wood supports and if they need to be renewed.

If yo have to renew any of the supporting wood you'll find that B&Q sell 'stripwood' which come in a variety of thicknesses including 25mm and a number of widths up to around 90mm.

Cut the rot out and cut a scarfe on the end of the existing wood, then cut a matching scarfe on the new wood and join together using wood glue (Gorilla glue or any other polyurethane type glue) and screws (the glue is the strength the screws hold it in place while the glue sets)
You may want to scrape out some polystyrene around the edges of the hole and insert some wood to screw the ply on to (see pic)

Then cut and fit new ply floor patch use polyurethane glue for this as well screwing into the wood to hold in place.

Polyurethane glue expands as it cures so will fill any gaps that may be present and also a further reason why screws are needed to hold the work together.

Lastly check out your awning rails - they may need resealing as this is where the water could be attacking the wood from

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Caravanning is a way of getting a cheap holiday out of an expensive hobby

rune@tabbytha.com

cliffbrown

06/11/2010 at 2:39pm
Location: chesterfield
Outfit: Ford Kuga AWD & Lunar Clubman SI

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Hi, I too have just found the underside of my van is rotting but only in one corner, my problem is it is beneath the toilet, so I dont know if it is coming from the toilet or water ingress from the rails, would I be better to have a professional look at it

Shaga

via mobile 04/2/2022 at 12:19pm
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Hi I have bought a swift europa 2008 and have noticed damp under caravan under toilet the floor has rotted about 7inch across the back end and 3inch down the side is this a big job to fix and expensive, there is a airline crackk half way up the side outside of caravan so wondering if this is where water getting in, also its starting to Rot a small area at other corner, thanks

Andy McKay

04/2/2022 at 3:59pm
Location: Derbyshire
Outfit: Swift Archway Woodford

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Just had a similar problem. As there was no damp inside the caravan It appeared to me that water was running down the awning rail and then creeping under the van rather than dripping off (same goes for the plastic light moulding fitting) and so damping the underside of the floor every time it rained. This left a couple of soft spots on the underside of the floor at each corner. I bought some L shaped white plastic strip from B & Q and bonded it around the bottom edge along the back of the caravan and along the sides for about 500mm trapping it between the underside of the floor and the edge of the rear plastic molding. This solved the problem as water now drips off rather than seeps into the floor. I then injected the holes behind the soft spots with expanding building foam and then a layer of plastic padding car bodywork filler. The two rear corners are now solid and weatherproof so the problem seems solved (time will tell).

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A & S Mac

Shaga

via mobile 06/2/2022 at 6:21pm
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Having a service done Monday as new to touring but wondering if the work is easy to rectify as a novice,how do you check yourself that it's not gone through to the joists.rthanks

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