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floor rotted under crank

Started by shinobi, Aug 10, 2007, 12:35 PM

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shinobi

we went camping this weekend but had a hard time setting up and lowering our '79 Viking saga. when we went looking, we noticed that under the crack mechanism the floor had rotted and the crank is basically falling through the floor. Right beside it was the icebox drain and I guess it didn't always drain right and got the floor wet. How should we go about fixing it? it looks like a thin piece of wood would fix it and we don't want to have to tear the whole thing apart. It's on the passenger side. Thanks in advance for any help

wavery

Quote from: shinobiwe went camping this weekend but had a hard time setting up and lowering our '79 Viking saga. when we went looking, we noticed that under the crack mechanism the floor had rotted and the crank is basically falling through the floor. Right beside it was the icebox drain and I guess it didn't always drain right and got the floor wet. How should we go about fixing it? it looks like a thin piece of wood would fix it and we don't want to have to tear the whole thing apart. It's on the passenger side. Thanks in advance for any help
Remember....wood-rot is bacteria. It will continue to spread as long as it is not 100% removed. It would be in your best interest to cut out all of the dry-rot until you get back to good, dry wood ASAP. At that time, you will be able to tell where you need to put in a well supported patch. The longer that you wait, the more material that you will need to cut out.

In some cases, you can get away with putting in a patch without removing any cabinetry or outer walls but I must be honest and tell you that it seems to be more common to have to do some pretty extensive disassembly, of some sort. This is especially true if it is in an area that needs structural strength.

shinobi

We were thinking of welding a piece of metal underneath the crank and somehow attaching it to the trailer frame but we're not sure, Thanks :)

wavery

Quote from: shinobiWe were thinking of welding a piece of metal underneath the crank and somehow attaching it to the trailer frame but we're not sure, Thanks :)

The most important thing is to get the wood-rot out.  

It should be easy enough to bolt a plate under the crank. I'm not sure of the configuration on your particular trailer but about 4 - 1/4" bolts & nuts, bolting a plate to the frame and a few more bolting the cranking mechanism to the plate shouldn't be difficult.

ScouterMom

I had the floor rot out under the back two posts of my Starcraft and had to replace section of the floor.

Everyone above is right - if you don't get ALL the mold/rot contaminated wood out, even if it is dried out and painted or sealed - the rot will still spread.  

If you want to see what we had to do - check out my albums at:



Laura

shinobi

We just kept cutting the dry rot out until we hit good wood and then replaced the wood in the hole, the hole ended up being 18 x 20 inches when cut out. then we water sealed the whole thing :D next spring we are planning on redoing the whole inside. So maybe we'll find more rot but I hope not. At least it wasn't much rot considering the trailer is nearly 30 years old. :) Thanks for the advice.

wavery

Quote from: shinobiWe just kept cutting the dry rot out until we hit good wood and then replaced the wood in the hole, the hole ended up being 18 x 20 inches when cut out. then we water sealed the whole thing :D next spring we are planning on redoing the whole inside. So maybe we'll find more rot but I hope not. At least it wasn't much rot considering the trailer is nearly 30 years old. :) Thanks for the advice.
I'm glad that the job wasn't too extensive. I'm glad that you got on top of it right away.

austinado16

Nice job digging right into it and I'm glad it was in a location where you could get to it.  That'll really pay off huge for the future lifespan and your enjoyment.