Trillium 4500 Floor Replacement and Build - Fiberglass RV
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Old 01-15-2016, 08:31 AM   #1
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Name: Matthew
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Texas
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Trillium 4500 Floor Replacement and Build

Hello, So I haven't posted in a while or given any updates but I have been slowly working along. My Trillium 4500 had almost no wood left inside of it. The floor in the front under the bunks as well as the plywood under the rear bed was completely rotted away.
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Old 01-15-2016, 08:47 AM   #2
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Name: Sylvio
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That really scares me...
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Old 01-15-2016, 09:10 AM   #3
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Pictures

When I really started to pull things apart it was just worse and worse
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Old 01-15-2016, 09:17 AM   #4
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Started to demo

Pulled the front bunk to get at floor
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Old 01-15-2016, 09:20 AM   #5
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last picture shows lip of fibreglass that sandwiches the floor all around the edges of the wall, had to cut all of that out but left this lip to act as a guide. when I put new floor in I managed to get the edges to slide back into this lip
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Old 01-15-2016, 09:22 AM   #6
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second picture shows a mock up

I took some scrap plywood and made a new floor to test the fit and the order of assembly necessary to get the pieces to fit under the lip at the edge, under the furniture that I didn’t remove and around any other obstacle
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Old 01-15-2016, 09:23 AM   #7
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first pict shows as I started to get it actually cleaned up
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Old 01-15-2016, 09:25 AM   #8
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Name: Matthew
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More

Demo
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Old 01-15-2016, 09:29 AM   #9
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all my pictures seem to be uploading in reverse order so bear with me. I basically was so grossed out I just kept on heading deeper into the floor. I just hoped I would be able to work my way back out of it again.
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Old 01-15-2016, 09:43 AM   #10
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More

More
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Old 01-15-2016, 09:44 AM   #11
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more

More
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Old 01-15-2016, 09:48 AM   #12
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Last ones For now

Few More
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Old 01-15-2016, 09:58 AM   #13
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This is largely an effort to get all these photos up, I've got questions and answers but I thought starting a new thread might be a good place to start
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Old 01-15-2016, 10:03 AM   #14
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uncle, yes it was very scary. I often say I prefer "project" things that I can see the damage rather than risk ending up with something "flipped" that has a new coat of paint over rot. I feel like I have had to eat those words. I have found myself wishing for a blissful ignorance of all the problems I hunted down in this trailer!
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Old 01-16-2016, 01:37 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ironhinge View Post
Hello, So I haven't posted in a while or given any updates but I have been slowly working along. My Trillium 4500 had almost no wood left inside of it. The floor in the front under the bunks as well as the plywood under the rear bed was completely rotted away.


We're going through essentially the same thing...one bad surprise after another over the fall months, now a gutted shell in the process of repair while we wait out the cold weather and downpours. Sometimes Paul's able to get out there and patch a few holes--there were nearly 3 dozen...some very small, some huge.

Best of luck to you! Don't know HOW you managed to get the ply out and leave the furniture in! We didn't make it.

Thanks for all the photos!

Kai in Seattle
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Old 01-16-2016, 07:11 PM   #16
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I'm at the same stage on mine also........nothing quite like the feeling of pulling up your linoleum & finding what used to be plywood.

Look at the bright side, when you're finished you'll have a camper that's better than new and built to fit your needs.
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Old 01-17-2016, 12:57 PM   #17
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Name: Barbara
Trailer: 1977 Trillium 4500
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Rotted floor on 4500

Ironhinge - why did you go looking at the floor in your 4500? Did you suspect some problem from a particular symptom or did you stumble on the wood rot by accident? We have a 1977 Trillium 4500 - are newbies to these little trailers - it looks to be in excellent shape and we have no suspicions of problems. Are we living in a fool's paradise given the age of the trailer or is it possible that we did actually get a super Trillium? I'm afraid to post this.........fear the responses!
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Old 01-17-2016, 01:55 PM   #18
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As far as the furniture removal I was somewhat lucky that the floor under the kitchen was intact. I trimmed the corner of the closet out to pull out the full width near the door and left a seem in the middle of the floor. So essentially I pulled a 4' by 4' section in the front curb side of the trailer. I think the seam will be fine because I hope to fiberglass the floor back to the way it was and it should bond the pieces.
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Old 01-17-2016, 01:58 PM   #19
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The 6th photo down shows the corner I trimmed out. In order to replace it I jacked the roof up to take the weight off that corner and left it untill the fiberglass relaxed (a few warm days) enough that the piece fit back in. I feathered out the edges of the joint and fiberglassed it back into place. It seems like it is taking the weight again.


In the back under the bed the plywood is actually pretty small pieces. in the middle under the floor is a space for the water tank, the furniture and fiberglass shell are bonded directly to one another in this area so by grinding the walls smooth I was able to fit 2 pieces in though the top of the seat to replace the one that had been bonded in.
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Old 01-17-2016, 02:11 PM   #20
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As far as better than new thats what I meant about eating my words... I still believe that at the end of the tunnel is a project I know. Knowing not only the quality of the work but also how to address problems if they arise. Still the scope of the project is overwhelming... what I am trying to do is say thank you for the encouragement!

It has been interesting comparing my work to the original factory work. Ill do something and look at it criticly, planning to carve it back out and do it again... then I will get a chance to look at the factury work and I need to think about it again. I keep on balancing what I think is good enough vrs what has held together relatively well since 1977... I have been finding myself trying to pick my battles.

I used marine plywood in the floor because I do not want to do this again but the gel coat I bought does not match, one day I might like to pull all the windows again and paint the whole thing...
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