Replacing the Sub-floor
Tosha Tingey • May 10, 2019
Ripping out and replacing the Sub-floor
The decision to rip out all the floors wasn’t easy. While the middle sections were all in good shape the two panels in the front and back were soft. We debated just replacing the soft areas but figured if we were going to do that we might as well do the entire floor. To read our demolition story click here.
The two rusted beams in the bathroom came out with ease. We found a steel shop where we bought square metal tubing. Before replacing the floors, we welded the two beams back into place.
While the metal frame and the underbelly were exposed we took some time to do some maintenance on them and the tanks. Since we are planning to use a compost toilet, we sealed off the black tank with Epoxy and turned it into a second grey water tank. We cleaned both the back tanks and also took out the fresh water tank from underneath and will be replacing it later on. We wire-brushed the rust off the metal frame. Next, we used XO Rust from True Value (similar to Rustolium, but we prefer this because it’s cheaper and lasts longer and we were very impressed by it.) to seal in the rust we couldn’t remove and to prevent more rust.
Next came insulation!
Back in the day Airstreams were built with insulation that was thinner and was sandwiched between the metal support and the subfloor. Modern insulation is much thicker and so we needed to find a way to keep it off the metal underbelly in order to keep that pocket. We used a combination of wiring and stapling. Places, where we could wire across we, would build a wire bed for the insulation to lay on. In the other places where that wasn’t possible, we used a “wacky” stapler (my new favorite tool) to staple the insulation to the bottom of the new sub-floor.
The insulation is in and then come the floors! We wrote down measurements and cut the wood to fit the borders. The trickiest section was the bathroom where we had to cut the wood to the curve. It was also trickiest because it was the only area of the original sub-floor that had rotted underneath the frame. We created a template by piecing together cardboard to follow the curve and get the correct size. Once each section was measured and cut we placed it down to make sure it was the correct fit.
Thankfully it fit! It only took 3 attempts and Jon was incredibly thrilled when it finally worked.
Time to put the floors in!
We screwed wood scraps underneath the original wood border that stuck out for us to screw the new floor in to create a seam and offer support. Once those were placed it was time to screw down the floors. We went section by section and I would draw the lines where the metal beams underneath us were. Then Jon would drill and I would follow him and screw it down to the metal frame. Four trips to the hardware store, six drill bits, and two boxes of wood to metal screws later… the floors were DONE!
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