2009 Passport BH floor is soft after winter storage

[Fishwater]

Checking our 2009 290BH after storage the floor in the bunk house had standing water on it. I dryed the floor with a towel & noticed the floor was soft. I cut some of the linoleum under one of the banks & can see that the wood is soaked. It was fine last season but obviously got water intrusion over the winter. I noticed the gasket on one of the rear compartment doors was pinched & didn't seal the door properly.

Is there any way to dry the floor or do I have to replace it? Obviously I won't know unless I pull everything out & remove the flooring but if there is a chance to salvage it is there anything else I can do?

[Festus2]

Originally Posted by Fishwater

Is there any way to dry the floor or do I have to replace it? Obviously I won't know unless I pull everything out & remove the flooring but if there is a chance to salvage it is there anything else I can do?

Drying the floor won't be easy since:
1) the top is covered with lino; and,
2) the bottom is probably covered with Darco, a woven tarp-like fabric which is applied to keep any moisture/water from penetrating the wood from below.

Since it is pretty much sealed on both sides, air dying the floor isn't going to work too well.

I'd peel back the black coroplast and have a look at the floor from the bottom. If it is covered with Darco, cut a slit in it, peel some away and examine the wood. If it is wet and soft that will tell you how far the water has penetrated into the flooring.

If you can do the same thing with the lino it will tell you about he condition of the top of the flooring.

Hopefully, it isn't "soaked" all the way through. Not sure how you would be able to dry the flooring other than to remove the lino and the darco/coroplast and expose both surfaces, top and bottom, to the air.
In any case, you need to get rid of the damp, wet wood or it will rot out quite soon.

You'll also have to find out the source of the leak and do whatever is necessary to prevent any further water intrusion.

Let us know what you find out.

[Tbos]

Get a dehumidifier running in there. Your floor should have a layer of styrofoam sandwiched between upper and lower layers of wood. Remove the linoleum and any carpets & dry the wood out. You may be able to save the linoleum and reuse it by gluing it back down and using trim where needed. As Festus mentioned you need to find that leak and get it stopped. Good luck. Let us know how it goes.

[Quiroule]

If the floor is soft, the wood is soaked and the chances of saving it are next to nil. Sorry. But on the bright side, you won’t have to replace the entire floor, just the soaked part.

[Fishwater]

Well I brought my camper to the dealership & it's not good. They are figuring 50 hours in labor to bring it back to original. Fortunately it's covered by insurance but unfortunately they'll probably total it which means we'll be looking for a new camper which isn't in the budget at the moment.

[Tbos]

Originally Posted by Fishwater

Well I brought my camper to the dealership & it's not good. They are figuring 50 hours in labor to bring it back to original. Fortunately it's covered by insurance but unfortunately they'll probably total it which means we'll be looking for a new camper which isn't in the budget at the moment.

If you like the camper try to convince them not to total it. Find comparable units for sale at dealerships and show them how much they cost. Someone ran into a tent camper I owned years ago and Insurance paid more to have it fixed than I paid when I bought it. It's worth a shot anyway. Good luck.

[chuckster57]

Another option is to let them total it, buy it back and have it fixed. This is assuming you can get enough and pay very little to get it back. And negotiate a better repair cost. I'm willing to bet the dealership would discount the labor to generate revenue.