Patching Up Your RV’s Floor
RV Floor Repair Articles from Country Road RV
An RV is one of the best places to enjoy a comfortable vacation. But for an RV to be cozy, you’ll need to keep it in good condition, and one of the most common problem areas in a travel trailer or other RV is the flooring. When people track in dirt, mud, and water, all those elements eventually work their way down to the floorboards, which can cause it to rot. Over time, rotten wood will give away, which isn’t exactly conducive to RV safety. In this guide from Country Road RV of Sundre, we’ll explain how to assess the extent of damage to your floor, when to bring it into our service department, and how to do basic patchwork yourself, if you feel inclined to do so. However, we even recommend that have even small fixes done by a professional, and you can trust that our technicians will get your flooring as good as new when you bring it into our dealership, here in Sundre, and serving the areas of Canmore, Cochrane, Lethbridge, and Edmonton, Alberta.
How to Assess the Damage
Before setting out to do any repairs, you should assess the damage. Sometimes, it might just be the surface material that needs to be replaced, which is a pretty easy fix and something you’ll have no problem doing yourself. But when the floorboards are rotten, you’ll need to have them fixed up right away. To do the inspection, feel around your floor for any soft spots. When you find the area that feels a little off, peel away the carpet, vinyl, or linoleum over the damage, and poke around at the floor to see if the actual boards are soft or spongy. If it feels firm, there’s probably an issue with the surface material. But if it does feel spongy, you’ll need to get the old stuff cut out and replaced with a new patch.
Fixing Surface Material Damage
When you notice your carpet, linoleum, or vinyl is wearing down, all you have to do to is cut out the affected area and replace it with matching material. Of course, sometimes, you might welcome the damage as an excuse to replace the flooring entirely. Many RVers aren’t very happy with the original linoleum or off-colored carpet that came with their trailer, so if you decide that you’d like to change up the design a little bit, why not replace the surface material entirely?
Cutting and Patching
With the surface material peeled back, if you do need to replace the floorboards, we recommend bringing it into our service department. However, if you’re insistent about doing it yourself, there is a pretty simple method. Start by cutting out the damaged part, taking care to remove everything that’s rotten. Next, you’ll want to use that cut to compare so you can cut a fresh piece of wood that’s the same size. You can insert this new piece into the gap made by the cut, but it’s a good idea to treat the piece with an epoxy resin before installing it. Make sure you’re careful with the resin though. These products are toxic, so you’ll need to wear goggles, a hat, a mask, gloves, and other protective gear to prevent inhaling, ingesting, or allowing it to come in contact with your skin or eyes.
Patchwork can be done pretty easily on your own, but for the sake of safety and quality, we always recommend bringing your RV in when you have a damaged floor. At Country Road RV of Sundre, we’d be happy to help you get your trailer fixed up properly, and we serve the areas of Calgary, Airdrie, Red Deer, and Kamloops, Alberta, so don’t hesitate to stop by!
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