floor delamination

[paulcfc]

hi all
i am due to collect our new caravan next week. a 2010 lunar quasar 556

there is some delamintion on the floor by the sink, the dealer has said its not a problem and they will fix it
under warranty (they are a lunal dealer, i have since called, and the saleman has told me they have put a complete new floor in!!!
dont know if i am worrying over nowt, but i cant imagine that they would remove the old floor and put a new one in...
wouldnt they have to de construct the entire van??

has any one here any expierience on this?? what is the correct procedure ( i thought just resin injection)
just want to put my mind at rest that i am not buying a dodgy van that be bodged..

thanks
paul

paul

 

[starlightdj]

Hi I tend to agree, I think it very unlikely they have replaced the floor.

A caravan floor is usually constructed by having two sheets of ply separated by an insulating honeycomb filling.
Usually delamination is just the breakdown of the honeycomb leaving a spongy feel to the top layer.

This can be caused by a number of reasons but mostly either a lot of traffic over a specific area or damp.

The usual method of repair is to remove any surface covering i.e. carpets, Drill a series of holes through the top layer of ply in a diamond formation approx. 6 inches apart, inject a resin, then each hole filled with a dowel plug.
the van would be left overnight to set, then the area cleaned, tested & carpets re-laid.

The materials to carry out the job are not that expensive but it can be quiet time consuming so repair costs for hourly labour charges can be high if your paying.

However if it is a new or used van purchase, I would ask the supplying dealer exactly how and what they are doing to repair any delamination, also what guarantee they are putting on the repair in the unlikely event something goes wrong in the future.

Hope this helps, & let us know how you get on.
Cheers
John

 

[ProfJohnL]

hi all
i am due to collect our new caravan next week. a 2010 lunar quasar 556

there is some delamintion on the floor by the sink, the dealer has said its not a problem and they will fix it
under warranty (they are a lunal dealer, i have since called, and the saleman has told me they have put a complete new floor in!!!
dont know if i am worrying over nowt, but i cant imagine that they would remove the old floor and put a new one in...
wouldnt they have to de construct the entire van??

has any one here any expierience on this?? what is the correct procedure ( i thought just resin injection)
just want to put my mind at rest that i am not buying a dodgy van that be bodged..
paul

Hello Paul,

Starlight has given an explanation of how a repair can be done, in reality none of us know how your caravan has been repaired, only the dealer does so it makes sense to ask him.

It would be major work indeed to put a whole new floor in. and in reality I think they will not have replaced the complete floor. You are clearly and understandably concerned firstly because the caravan was faulty and I assume you have only agreed to purchase it because the dealer has agreed to repair the fault. You are perfectly within your rights to question how the repair was carried out, and ultimately if you are not satisfied with their explanation you could back out of the deal to purchase. That can be a useful position to be in, as dealers like to keep money turning over and hate to see a deal walking away.

I have to say that a properly repaired caravan should be perfectly acceptable and give many years of good service, but the big problem how do you know its been done properly. So do be certain in your own mind the repair and guarantee offered are to your complete satisfaction before you pay for the caravan.

 

[paulcfc]

thanks for your replies,
i will give it a good look over when i pick it up next weekend.
i'm sure if done well it will be fine, i was just concerned that the salesman told me that they had renewed the floor.. as i know it would be almost a complete rebuild.. never trust a salesman eh!!

 

[glenno]

As mentioned above floor delamination in a well used van is not usually a problem & easily fixed. However on a 2010 model it could indicate the floor has been wet either because of a leak or maybe even a flood. My own experience is maybe something to bear in mind :- Last year i bought a 2007 Senator. I detected a liitle springyness in the floor before I bought it but a quick look showed that someone had put a layer of insulation under the carpet so i thought nothing more. After using the van a couple of times this springyness stated to bug me so I pulled out all the carpets & insulation & to my horror i found the rear floor near the bathroom so rotten that a previous "bodger" had cut some of it out & replaced in with alloy sheet. I bought this van private "sold as seen" so i had little comeback on the seller. Fortunately i am an engineer so I was able to effect a repair by cutting out all the rotten inner floor sheet & replacing it with good wood epoxied back in & sanded smooth to match the surrounding. Any voids were filled by injecting resin in through holes drilled in the new wood. Most of the rest of the floor was delaminated but not rotten so it was repaired by injecting resin in from underneith the van and plugging the holes with dowels. The work on the inside had to be done by carefully cutting out the "lino" floor as close as possible to the units. At times I was serously doubting whether it would ever be right but now thankfully it is & we have had many happy trips away. I still dont know how the floor became rotten. Maybe the shower tray has leaking over a long period of time, maybe the van was a seasonal connected to a water supply & it leaked unoticed. I have no idea. I know one thing though. The next van i buy will have its floor properly inspected first!!

 

[Dustydog]

Delamination is not the end of the world.
what matters is the type and quality of repair.
The best and most comprehensive I have ever seen is that done by our own gallant engineer Sir Sproket.
If he reads this he may tell you more.

 

[Sproket]

Delamination is not the end of the world.
what matters is the type and quality of repair.
The best and most comprehensive I have ever seen is that done by our own gallant engineer Sir Sproket.
If he reads this he may tell you more.

The system I used when I suspected some delamination was this product made by the glue people

The main thing is when doing the job from underneath the van IMO is to shorten a drill bit so that you only have 40mm protruding from the chuck ( that way you will not drill right through the floor ) as it is only two bit's of plywood with a poystyrene infill, also you only have a limited amount of time due to the product curing. I did a dry run first to check that everything was going to plan with dowels put into all of the holes. When drilling I used a vacuum to clear all of the loose material out. I did not need to do all of this area but seeing that I had bought the glue & the dowels rather than waste it, I used it.

Make sure that you put some plastic sheeting on the floor before injecting the glue

Sand down all of those dowels flush & then re-seal the floor

This is how I created the extra head room to work on the floor

 

[efb34]

Hi, I am wondering if you can advise me. I own a 1999 luner 2000lx the floor has become spongy I have pulled up the lino and it has been repaired before from the top. I don't know if it is because it hasn't been repaired properly or something else, the floor from under the van seems to be intact,can I just add more dowels?

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

can I just add more dowels?

No, you need to insert the correct [strike]expanding[/strike] foam. Not having done it myself someone else will come along and say which foam you need.

Edit - struck out the word 'expanding' after Damian's comment.

 

[Damian]

Quote :
No, you need to insert the correct expanding foam. Not having done it myself someone else will come along and say which foam you need."

You do NOT use expanding foam, unless you want a floor like a rollercoaster.
There is specific two part mix resins which are used for delamination, which do not expand.

http://www.thegluepeople.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=23

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

Quote :
No, you need to insert the correct [strike]expanding[/strike] foam. Not having done it myself someone else will come along and say which foam you need."

You do NOT use expanding foam, unless you want a floor like a rollercoaster.
There is specific two part mix resins which are used for delamination, which do not expand.

]http://www.thegluepeople.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=23

http://www.thegluepeople.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=23[/quote
Whoops

 

[Sproket]

Hi, I am wondering if you can advise me. I own a 1999 luner 2000lx the floor has become spongy I have pulled up the lino and it has been repaired before from the top. I don't know if it is because it hasn't been repaired properly or something else, the floor from under the van seems to be intact,can I just add more dowels?

Ideally you need to be under the van and have someone walk about on the floor to watch how it flexes, if it flexes quite a bit it might be better to re-do the whole floor from the top again with dowels fitted as they will help to spread the weight by acting as supporting pillar's between the plywood floor sections, the idea works the same but remember not to drill right through & vacuum all of the loose foam / polystyrene out before you put the new resin in, you must also make sure that the dowels are pressed right to the bottom sheet of ply otherwise it won't work properly.

To do it from underneath is ok providing that you can get enough access to it but it's also a more expensive repair ...