Fixing cracked Boler floor

[Niall]

Hi guys,
I am brand new to this forum and would love some advice.
I recently purchased a Boler 1970 Boler and I am about to commence work on fixing it up.
The first thing I want address is the crack in the plastic floor. It is not major but will only get worse over time.
I was thinking of coating the existing floor in resin and adding a piece of 1/2'' plywood over the top to form a new solid surface. Save me ripping out the whole floor which is mostly fine.
Any thoughts or comments on this would be greatly appreciated!!

[John in Michigan]

Pictures would help to understand the extent of the problem.

On my previous Boler 13, the fiberglass floor was an integral part of the bottom of the body of the trailer. If I had seen a crack in the floor of that trailer I would have looked for any damage underneath (bottom), particularly looking for broken supporting members which were wood strips. If I had seen damage underneath, I might have done fiberglass repairs underneath first, then done cosmetic repairs to the floor.

Putting down a layer of plywood also might work. If you do this, I would suggest bonding the plywood with something stronger than resin, either a two part epoxy or a construction adhesive.

[Borden]

Originally Posted by Niall

Hi guys,
I am brand new to this forum and would love some advice.
I recently purchased a Boler 1970 Boler and I am about to commence work on fixing it up.
The first thing I want address is the crack in the plastic floor. It is not major but will only get worse over time.
I was thinking of coating the existing floor in resin and adding a piece of 1/2'' plywood over the top to form a new solid surface. Save me ripping out the whole floor which is mostly fine.
Any thoughts or comments on this would be greatly appreciated!!

What size is the boler?
Many 13' bolers had plywood floor and some 17' units had plywood as well that was fiberglassed to outer walls with vinyl on top with no fiberglass sub floor below plywood.
Ours has a fiberglass subfloor that is part of the lower half with the original 1/2" ply on top that was fiberglassed to the outer wall with vinyl flooring on top. The cupboards attached to the plywood floor. Do not know of any with plastic floor.
Hope this helps

[Niall]

Hi guys,
We recently purchased a 1970 Boler which was rebuilt a number of years ago. There is a crack in the floor which I want to repair before doing much else with it. You can see from the pictures exactly where it is in the floor, as well as the support member of the frame which seems to be causing the trouble.
What are your recommendations on fixing this?
I want to seal the crack, put down some waterproof membrane over the crack to be safe, then epoxy a piece of 1/2'' marine ply over the top of the whole floor to reinforce it.
Thoughts??

[John in Michigan]

From your photos, your 1970 Boler floor appears to be constructed the same way as my former 1974 Boler 13. Its a solid fiberglass floor reinforced below with encased strips of wood. It has a textured gelcoat floor surface.

The difference is that your floor appears to have already been painted over, and partially on the bottom as well and possibly repaired before it was painted (?).

I believe your idea to epoxy plywood to the top surface would work. The application of a waterproof membrane is not necessary as epoxy is waterproof. Furthermore, I suggest you first sand the floor with 80 grit sandpaper to sand off the paint and provide good adhesion for the epoxy.

[John in Michigan]

Beyond that, I suggest you carefully inspect the frame to ensure its solid with no rust holes, no weak joints, and that the frame is not bending. These frames tend to fail were the rails bend together to form the tongue.

Also verify that the bolts and screws (many of them) holding the body to the frame have been replaced. The original ones will have rusted out.

[Alex Adams]

Check that frame member out very carefully. It appears to be damaged. It looks like it hit something since it is supposed to be angle iron and it is bent out of shape. Your crack could be due to the frame member having been bent upwards towards the floor.

[thrifty bill]

+10 sure looks like frame got walloped and bent. I'd start there.