Squeaky Floor

[FatherTed]

Hi, I have a Swift Challenger, (1989 I think). I was told it had been damp tested when I bought it , but they lied

I have repaired the main source of damp, but I am concerned about a section of floor in front of the cooker. ( no where near the damp problem).

There seems to be a lot of give in this section. About 1.5cm when I stand on it. Now I'm not the slimest of people, so..do I need to diet, or is there a problem with the floor? I've been underneath and I've noticed it's in a section with very little support from the chassis. Is this just normal movement even? I was thinking of using some 3x2 timber, braced across chassis, to support tis section.

Any opinions?

 

[Paul_374295069]

Hi Edward

it sounds to me that the floor has delaminated, you can buy a kit at any dealer to fix it.

 

[FatherTed]

Thanks for the reply ;-)

Is it easy to do? Is it necessary, or, providing I add additional support underneath, will it be OK?

 

[Damian]

Ted, adding additional support under the floor will do nothing.

The floor is made up of a sandwich of ply-polystyrene foam- ply.

Look back through the earlier postings, I have put a step by step guide to repairing delaminated floors.

 

[FatherTed]

Thanks Damian ;-)

I've had a mooch round other sites and seen a few were they have suggested expanding foam rather than resin for cost reasons.

Now I come to think of it, when I first got the van last year, the floor was dodgy in front of the door and I cut away the top board, filled with expanding foam and fitted new plywood. That part of the floor is now rock solid.

Would it be OK to drill lots of holes and use expanding foam over the larger area?

Sorry if this is answered in your other thread, I haven't been to look for it yet.

 

[Damian]

Ted, some people have used the ordinary expanding foam, but it expands at a much greater volume than the Apollo A7510 chemical , which is specifically made for the job.

Here is how to do it:

Floor Delamination.

6. If carpet involved, and is to be reused, use a very sharp Stanley Knife and cut at 90 degrees to horizontal to ensure good edge for relaying. Cut approx 6 inches bigger than affected area .

TOOLS REQUIRED

Stanley Knife with several new blades

Scraper.

Claw hammer

Dustpan and Brush or vacuum cleaner

Several clean used gun tubes

Floor Chemical

Carpet door cover strip if carpet cut across doorway.

Method.

1. Remove floor covering if possible.

2. Start furthest away from door

3. Mark floor at 9 inch centres in diamond pattern across affected area.

4. Check floor for stringers.

5. Avoid holes closer than 6 inches to side furniture.

6 Drill 8mm on marked points JUST through first ply layer. NOT full depth of floor sandwich.

7.Press Phillips screwdriver through each hole and wriggle about to break up polystyrene as much as possible.

8. Clean up debris on floor, use scraper if needed to remove old carpet backing.

Ensure area to be treated is as clean as possible.

9. Remove ALL tools from van.

10. Use suitable number of empty cartridges.

11. Cut Nozzle at 90 degrees to provide a 7mm nozzle end.

12. Put Duck Tape over nozzle end to provide temp seal.

13. Wear mask and goggles, mix suitable quantity of chemicals.

14.Fill tubes to approx

 

[FatherTed]

Thanks Damian.

I found your thread earlier.

So in short...Do a proper job with the proper stuff...makes sense really ;-)

 

[david_374308883]

Noticed you did not say anything about plugging the holes after inserting the resin as recommended in other posts,is that not required, it looks as the repair would be o.k. without them, do I get all I need in a kit and will I get this from a caravan dealer

 

[Damian]

David, with the Apollo A7510 you dont need to plug the holes, as the filler will expand to fill them.

The Apollo adhesive is available from Apollo Chemicals 01827 54218

Give them a ring and they will tell you how much you need, and send it to you.

 

[david_374308883]

Thank you for the info, I`ll do that thanks for your help