Foam floor

[Henry Benner]

Here is an idea for a warm, lightweight floor. I got this idea when I wanted to make my basement usable. It had a rough, uneven concrete floor so I installed those square, interlocking garage floor foam pads that you can buy at WalMart. Laid them right over the concrete as is. This worked amazingly well! Dips, trowel marks, flaking, chalking, all disappeared. Instant finished floor! Cost: $250. And you can get various colors. Insulating quality is so good I can sit or lay down on the floor.

So I thought, "Why not do something similar in my new foamy TTT?" First make a wood frame (2x3" would be good) that is the size of the outer perimeter of the TTT floor. Then stretch galvanized metal mesh (also known as hardware cloth), 1/2" squares should be good, across the frame; stretch and fasten it tight. Lay a sheet of polythene over the mesh for waterproofing, tape it to the frame. In high traffic areas lay down 1/4" fir plywood or hardboard (or use a second layer of mesh) for extra rigidity. Then lay the interlocking foam squares right on top. Nice light, insulated, finished floor. For extra insulation, use two layers. (Each layer is 3/8" thick.

[KCStudly]

Welcome. Innovative thinking is a big part of what this forum is about and you are jumping right into the big end!

I'm not sure what the construction mesh is doing for you. I guess I don't understand your description too well. If you are proposing the interlocking tiles directly over mesh in a hammock like method without a sub-floor, I'm not sure how sturdy or weather tight that will be. It seems to me that the mesh will sag no matter how tight it is to start.

At least a couple of people have used the dense foam tiles that you describe over their ply or stress panel floors with very good results; adding some cushion and insulation while at the same time making a well presented finished floor. The thin layer of higher density foam can make the difference between literally "bottoming" out when using a thinner foam mattress in order to save interior space (like when using a 4 inch mattress instead of a 6 inch one).

Some ideas are good, some are new, some are innovative, some are proven to be good, simple, and effective. Not necessarily all of the above. Test the unknown before making a major commitment, and be sure to share your results. That is the beauty of the forum; lots of ideas and results so that people can decide what will and will not work for them. Some times we all learn from other peoples mistakes (better to not be that guy if we can avoid it).

Keep sharing, but also keep studying the traditional ways. My TPCE build is innovative in some ways, but borrows heavily from traditional and creative (though existing) modern methods. Don't be afraid to "steal" good ideas from the vast experience here on the forum that has gone before you (I give this speech to all new comers that catch my eye... people with enthusiasm and signs that they have a clue ).

Read as much as you can in build journals, construction techniques, and the Foamie section. Building a camper, regardless of size, is a huge undertaking and should not be started without a great deal of consideration.

Just 2 cents.

[Henry Benner]

Yes, I probably did not describe it well.

Perhaps this will help:
In my present TTT I used 3/8" OSB for the entire floor (10'x4'). This weighed about 35 pounds, around 8% of the entire TTT weight! And not insulated to boot.

But in actuality I only need a strong floor where I walk, having a strong floor everywhere just adds extra weight. Storage under the bed, for example, can be very lightweight for my duffle bags and storage baskets. Where you do have the strong floor, it should go right across the trailer widthwise and should be resting on the trailer frame, not just on the mesh.

So, use mesh over the entire floor, add plywood in traffic areas, then cover the whole floor with foam pads. The foam pads take care of the height transition between the two floors. The foam floor is also good for items that need a shallow cutout 'well', like a porti-potti, to keep it from sliding around. Using this method in my present TTT could have saved around 18 pounds and I would have had a warm, finished, insulated floor besides.

[KCStudly]

I'm thinking of the foam floor mat tiles that have an interlocking keyed pattern around the edges, like what Aggie Tom (Silver Beatle) and Mike (? the photographer with the pop top standy out in the desert... I can never remember the name of his build, sorry) used.

How do you plan to keep water out of your storage areas? Won't it seep up through the joints in the tiles? My concern is that they might be too flexible to maintain a watertight seal, even if you were to attempt to glue them all together.

Maybe use a 1/2 inch layer of hard foam board to establish a seal first, then the mat on top. Might even be able to bond the foam to the mesh from underneath using roofing tar?

I dunno. Probably should do a test before jumping in whole hog.

We use another style of plastic floor tile at work that have a trough along two sides so that when you snap them together they are supposed to be wash down proof (I am skeptical), but those are more like thin medium hard plastic/rubber floor mats, not foam like at all; and you would still have to figure out how to seal the perimeter.