Removing the Floor

It was finally time to remove the floor in the '48 Boles. I probably could have limited replacement to just the rotted spots in the front and rear but I knew the Kimsul insulation was worthless and the exterior layer needed repair in several spots so it just made sense to replace it all.

The floor is made up of the following layers from inside to exterior:

• linoleum
• 1/2" plywood sheathing
• 1" thick wood joists that run between the flooring and the steel frame
• Kimsul cellulose insulation between the sheathing and the exterior layer
• heavy roofing type tar paper is the exterior-most layer

It appears that they installed the flooring on the frame before the shell was built. The aluminum spars on the sidewalls come right down to the top of the flooring so there is no way you could tip it in.

Based on how the materials were stacked and fastened I believe the sheathing was layed on the floor. Then the wood joists were layed out on top of the sheathing and nailed. Then the insulation was layed down. and then the roofing paper layed out and nailed to the wood joists. Once the layers were assembled, they'd be flipped over and placed on the trailer frame. Screws were driven through the flooring and joists into the trailer frame. They'd need to be drilled first as they are very beefy.

The linoleum flooring was installed last and it covers the entire floor, even the parts that were covered by cabinets. Under the bed area there were several small scraps put together to cover the floor rather than one large sheet as I would have imagined.

Getting the floor up was no easy task. Many of the screws that hold the floor to the frame were rusted into place and prevented me from just unscrewing them and lifting the floor. Instead I used a circular saw set to just over 1/2" depth of cut and cut some smaller sections. Then I used prybars to lift the panels usually tearing the frame screws through the floor sheathing. I vacuumed out the the Kimsul insulation and cut out the roofing paper. I went back and removed the screws from the wood joists.

It was very messy with all the sawdust and broken down Kimsul insulation.

I found the floor material to be 1/2" thick "Plyscord Sheathing".

I still need to remove some of the flooring along the edges where it is trapped under the aluminum spars. I plan to use an oscillating saw that I didn't have today.

Note that a prior owner had replaced the roofing paper exterior in one rear corner with sheet metal of some variety (I haven't looked too closely). The flooring was in the worst shape in that spot but the insulation was still in place so I'm not sure why the sheet metal was installed. The fresh water fill was in that area so I suspect there was leakage from that.

Note that this trailer has apparently been retrofit with a torsion axle rather than the typical leaf springs. It also has electric brakes. I think they are manufactured by Kelsey because there is a Kelsey "Selective Resistor" mounted on the trailer tongue.