Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Picked up a used 6x12 enclosed trailer, will be starting a build soon.

The floor and ramp is particle board (not the fine stuff used in cheapo furniture, but large chunks of wood glued and formed).

The trailer is only a year old, and besides a few oil stains, the flooring wood is in good shape. However, the top side or underside of the floor doesn't appear to have every been coated or sealed. This is concerning to me as I've seen what moisture does to particle board over time, especially for the underside of the trailer where it will be exposed to the elements.

Questions for the experts:
1) I've seen most trailers come with similar flooring from the factory: Is there some sort of sealant/coating I can put on both sides of it to make it last (cheaper option) and not have moisture concerns? If taking this route I'll probably pull the floors, fully seal/coat it on all sides, then reinstall. I'll eventually be doing a full length floor covering of some sort for appearances, so that isn't important to me as long as it holds up for several years to come.

2) Should I trash the current floor and put in something more robust (Actual plywood)? If so what are your recommendations?

Thanks for the assistance,
DANJR

Your floor appears to be osb which is more robust than you are giving it credit for. If you are concerned, just spray the bottom with something like Thompson's water seal with a weed sprayer. My floor is osb and I don't plan on doing anything to it. I'm sure it will outlast me.

Do a search above and see what comes up. I believe most people have the opinion that OSB is a bad choice for a floor and if you are going to run with it then it should have some sort of protection.

I tend to agree with Greygoose on this one. Most OSB floors require A TON of good sealant to last the life of the camper. That said, the ones in the more arid west last much better than those in the midwest/south (duh), so location is a big factor in the opinions you'll receive............jd.

Yes, that is OSB, oriented strand board. OSB was designed for use as a building construction material, meant to be used where it will be kept dry; sub-floor material, wall and roof sheathing where it is under a water-resistant layer. As someone who has built and remodeled homes for years, I can safely state OSB is pretty good material when kept dry. It quickly turns to crap when wet. It expands and does not shrink back. I think it is terrible material to be used in a cargo trailer floor.

Plywood usually has better resistance to moisture, but even plywood can delaminate if wet. In construction, the material I have favored for years is Advantech, made by Huber. It is an OSB type of material but uses more and better resins in its manufacture. We don't worry about rain before we get the structure dried in anymore, since switching to Advantech for our subfloor material. Advantech can be rained on many times before we get the building shell dried in. The rain is no problem. The Advantech panels stay flat, the edges don't swell like OSB will, there is no flaking off of the wood strands. Super stuff. It would make a great floor for a CT.

If I was to replace the floor in a cargo trailer I would use Advantech over regular OSB or plywood.

MtnDon, Howdy;

Good to see ya still lookin' in on the forum.

How can you tell the difference between that Advantech stuff and regular OSB?
Aside from the name painted on one side that may or may not have been trimmed off.

hank

leaving that product on the floor is asking for trouble down the road

the oil stain already tels me that the integrity(what little there was in the beginning) of the floor is being compromised as we speak

even treating it will not keep it from turning into mush and i surely woudn't want to be walking on it at that point

the underside will be attacked by flying debris that is kicked up by the TV and any coating will slowly be chipped away

that being pointed out... the real question is

do you want to fix it now or later after your fixtures are mounted inside and all have to be removed to perform the repairs?

IMHO 3/4" treated exterior plywood would provide a better surface and it would last much longer before any repairs are needed if they ever are

prior to installation give strong consideration to undercoating the plywood(and the entire frame) so you don't have to craw under the trailer to do it later

just this old man's 2¢ worth this morning

sw

My brand new trailer has a plywood floor. I pulled it up, coated it heavily on the bottom with spar urethane, then screwed it back down with construction adhesive.
The frame has a nice, tarry undercoating on it. They just fogged the plywood to make it kind of... black-ish.

I'm in the humid, southern swampland. We get serious tropical rains. I also remember the slop of the spring thaw from my early years in the north.
If you're going to invest money in your trailer, give it a solid foundation.
...My two cents.

hankaye wrote:How can you tell the difference between that Advantech stuff and regular OSB?
Aside from the name painted on one side that may or may not have been trimmed off.

hank

Hiya, hank. I continue to lurk a lot. It has been a busy year; been doing a total renovation on a home, some travel far afield to Canada.

Hmmmm... Advantech looks much the same as OSB when the piece is a cut off w/o the name printed on it. Soaking an edge in water for an hour should cause regular OSB to swell. Advantech is not available everywhere, sadly. The Lowe's near me used to stock it, but they stopped stocking it a while ago. I have not looked around NM recently. There are dealers in AZ, CO and TX though. Huber has a dealer locator on their website.

Interesting video here.

In my opinion, if I was going to build this into a Trailer, the last thing I'd want is a floor failure after I invested the time and money into the build. It is a lot easier to pull that flooring up now before walls and etc. go in and put in something you do not have to be concerned with. 6*12' is just going to be 3 sheets (plus the ramp) of whatever you decide to use. You could treat the bottom well before you put it down, and while you have the floor out, you can add some heavy duty Rust Oleum (or equivalent) rust stopping paint to the frame. I'd personally do that to even a new trailer. The use very little paint and surface rust will start soon if not already.

If you think the floor is good and solid as is and weather and future deterioration is the concern, then I'd consider insulating below. Sealing that up well below will keep any water from the road and etc. from getting to the floor. It should last much longer then. Insulating is probably a good thing to do in any case and could be done in a way to totally protect the flooring from below. I insulated mine a few months back and sealed it all up. It will be less expensive than replacing that OSB and only take 3 sheets of the 2" foil backed styrofoam to put R10 under your feet.


In any case, good luck with your build.

flboy wrote:
If you think the floor is good and solid as is and weather and future deterioration is the concern, then I'd consider insulating below. Sealing that up well below will keep any water from the road and etc. from getting to the floor. It should last much longer then. Insulating is probably a good thing to do in any case and could be done in a way to totally protect the flooring from below. I insulated mine a few months back and sealed it all up. It will be less expensive than replacing that OSB and only take 3 sheets of the 2" foil backed styrofoam to put R10 under your feet.

I think Flboy's answer (insulation and paint) is the way to go.

Have you heard of "the mix", a 75% mineral spirits and 25% polyurethane that is being used in "foamie" section for wood protection?

To all:

Thanks for all the posts and information. You confirmed my suspicion that regular OSB will not stand the test of time. I'll look into the options of advantech and possibly some heavy duty plywood with a good finish. In either case, if I'm pulling the floor, I'd rather do it right from the get go. I'm also planning to go ahead with an a thick coat of tractor and implement paint on the frame while the floor is out.

I hadn't planned on insulating the floor, but may need to look into it. I'm located near Boulder, CO, and will plan to be spending some winter weekends in the trailer. I'm not sure how much difference the floor will make if I'm insulating the walls and ceiling already?

I think if I do insulate the floor, it will be on top, not below, the main floor. However, this would cause me to lose some head height which is already at a premium.

Thanks,
DANJR

flboy wrote:If you think the floor is good and solid as is and weather and future deterioration is the concern, then I'd consider insulating below. Sealing that up well below will keep any water from the road and etc. from getting to the floor. It should last much longer then. Insulating is probably a good thing to do in any case and could be done in a way to totally protect the flooring from below. I insulated mine a few months back and sealed it all up. It will be less expensive than replacing that OSB and only take 3 sheets of the 2" foil backed styrofoam to put R10 under your feet.


In any case, good luck with your build.

Thanks! How did you seal up the underside after installing the foil backed styrofoam in between the floor frame pieces? Did you put another piece of sheathing on the bottom of the trailer sandwiching the insulation?

OP827 wrote:Have you heard of "the mix", a 75% mineral spirits and 25% polyurethane that is being used in "foamie" section for wood protection?

I'm not sure how this would apply or help with an OSB base though, versus a higher quality wood which I know is typically used for those builds. Might be a good option for the better floor material though. I'll try to find some threads on it in that section.