Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

There was water sitting on the floor when I pulled the cushions out. The covers are toast. The foam was still in plastic so it survived. The floor not so much. The worst spot is the passenger front corner. I literally stuck a finger through the bottom. There are other oblivious places where water got to the plywood. Looks like a floor replacement might be in order. So would you suggest cutting the top loose? How would you attach it to a new floor? Dang it.


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A quick fix would be soak the floor with bleach(kill any mold) let dry.
Soak with the mix (diluted polyurethane).
Put 1-1/2" extruded foam board inside on the floor( with canvas and glue on the bottom and top.)
Glue to the walls with Pl S40 polyurethane sealant with canvas and glue strip bridging the wall floor seam.
Put a 1/8 sheet of FRP or plastic wallboard on top of the new floor and run new bolts down in to the trailer frame with nylock nuts.
Just thinking off the top of my head.
Or cut the top off ,build a new foam floor(2" foam,canvas and FRP) Let the canvas go long under the floor so you can rap it up the walls . Glue the top down with PL S40 and tape the seam inside t with canvas glue and rap the under floor canvas up the walls.
The foam will not rot away like the plywood did.

I had similar ideas as Kenneth. I'd cut out any soft floor areas with a saber saw. Bleach is a good idea. Seal the edges of the cut floor. Using 1/2" plywood, cut squares just small enough to get through the door to put over the holes. Tetras pieces to finish the floor cover.

This is the hard part. Lift one side of the trailer safely so you can crawl under and paint the cut out areas with water proofing guck of your choise.

Sorry to hear about your door leak. Do you have a gutter above the door? If you take pictures of ythe door, inside and out, you will get a ton of ideas. I pull everything off my floor when my trailer is not being used because I'm so afraid of water getting in.

T

T

SORRY to here of your leak. If you have a lot of mold It will be every where inside your trailer. Places you can not see in every crack. At the port they have found using a home made sulfur burner made from a coffee cup warmer about $3.00 a small pile of sulfur 1/4 cup on a 20 foot container for 24 hr kills all spores . Even where you can't see. It makes a fine mist So after fix use then leave to air out about a week. Then one more spray down with Bleach. That way you'll not be breathing mold spores. Some thing like This low and slow heat. Then if you have roses plants with spots bag and use any place you have mold
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Portable-Electric-Tea-Coffee-Rapid-Mug-Hot-Drinks-Beverage-Cup-Warmer-Heater-New-/331712686698?hash=item4d3b9dea6a:g:8egAAOSwLzdWTouD

Ouch.... sorry to hear of this.

The floor not so much. The worst spot is the passenger front corner. I literally stuck a finger through the bottom. There are other oblivious places where water got to the plywood.

I looked in your build log but couldn't figure out what the floor is made from? Is this rot or delamination?

Tony

Tony the build is in the main foamie thread. I own GPW little foamie. Thankfully there isn't mold just a ruined floor. The floor was solid plywood. I like the canvas, foam and floor for a replacement.

Edit. The covers, which were regular upholstery material did not wash up well. There's no mold stink. I'm letting it air now. Since I was contemplating lengthening the box to add a 12 volt frig, I'm so thankful I found this now and not six months down the road. Local blue store didn't have 2" foam. Will had off to one of the others. I found 60" duck canvas a JoAnns on sale for 6.99. Felt like a good weight. Kenneth, did you paint your floor or black goo the canvas?
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Oh that's not good to hear. I thought Glen did a really good job on your build...

The floor is plywood, right?

Do you know where the water came from?

Mike...

Mike you are so right. Glenn did a wonderful job. I think the floor, suspended as it was above the frame on 2x4s developed micro cracks from use and traveling down the road. I check periodically and didn't see any signs of water, but t I actually found the rotted corner while I was investigating how the floor was attached to the frame. The upper part of the floor inside was still firm, but showed delamination (wavy curves in the wood). It was underneath where the major damage happened. The floor did seem to be dipping at the door. Looking very closely after I found the water -- not a lot, but enough to do the damage -- was probably some seepage at the door threshold which was loose and missing a screw.

I think it resulted from wear and tear. The tear is five years old, after all. It has endured a pretty harsh batch of spring storms here in IL. The worst storm actually tore a storm door off it's hinges on my house.

A new floor and I'm good to go again. I really like the idea of canvas, foam and FRP floor replacement.

On a small camper like that I would think that 1-1/2 inch thk foam would be plenty for a replacement floor.

Sorry this happened. It seems that water finds a way, despite our best efforts.

bonnie wrote: Kenneth, did you paint your floor or black goo the canvas?
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I painted the canvas under the floor.

As Chester A. Riley would say “ What a revolting development this is ! “ ...

Dang !!! Awful to hear this ... Plywood comes back to bite us AGAIN despite our best early efforts ... Being on the floor makes me think that a drip edge would have prevented this ... since the water came from storms (above) and not the road (below) ... Thinking this may have started in a bolt hole and spread as plywood is wont to do ...

Bonnie can you take some pictures ??? ... Just so we can see what’s happening ... It may be easier to just patch the floor rather than cut the entire cabin loose and re-glue on to another floor , although that is doable ... I always remember once the cutting started on BUB , it never stopped ...

Glenn, I am camping in two weeks. This one will get fixed. I will take pictures. I'm already thinking of a drip edge, too.


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Hi Bonnie,

I'm not sure what you are thinking of a drip edge. A inexpensive, light and effective gutter is aluminum J bead for house siding. I screwed my gutter above my door but an adhesive caulk or construction adhesive would also hold it. I've watched mine work when it rained hard. The gutter caught the water and it ran off both sides of the gutter away from the door.

T

We had a drip edge over the door and it took a positive pressure to close/seal the door , maybe that wasn’t enough ? ...

Was thinking a drip edge like you just finished on the foam stream


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