I have a blister!

[Googlebot]

Well, the floor in my Hymer Exsis I does.

The floor is raised in the high wear area by the kitchen about 40cm round. It was much worse in warm weather and disappeared when cooler. It is now there all the time leading to a springy thud every time you walk across it.

Having repaired a delaminated floor in caravans before, this isn’t the same construction. It feels only as if the very top layer of ply or thick Lino has delaminated.

I need to repair it as it’s driving me nuts!

I can see my options are to drill a hole in the middle and then use that hole to squirt lots of glue in, then weights on the floor and let it dry and fill the hole in later.

Other option is to cut down the plank effect between two planks and create a slit then do the same which might be less noticeable than a hole.

My musings are which glue to use? An expanding polyurethane might not be the best option for obvious reasons. I was thinking of a two part resin which will be nice and runny but harden over the course of a few hours.

Has anyone sorted this? Any tips?

 

[Jimbohorlicks]

If you go for a hole ,have a look under your appliances to see if you can match the piece your drilling,it must have a repeat pattern somewhere.I think your best option is as you say cut down an edge of a strip .You can then check if it's just the floor covering that's lifted other than the floor itself. Sometimes ,if not glued down properly they can cause a bubble due to changes in temperature.have you tried warming it up and putting a weighted board over the bubble .
Best of luck

 

[Googlebot]

Good plan with warming it up. I could try that before cutting anything.

That‘s also a good plan for a matching plug. Have lots of places I can drill a spare plug from.

 

[pappajohn]

The proper way is drill a series of holes ALMOST the depth of the floor from below.
Make enough wooden dowels for the amount of holes drilled.
Weigh the delamenated floor down heavily
Use a 2 part epoxy (araldite) and sqiirt a little into each hole in turn then insert and tap in a dowel.
The dowels will force epoxy into the delamenated area (hence the heavy weight) and the dowel itself will spread the footfall load throughout the floor depth.

 

[Googlebot]

The proper way is drill a series of holes 90% the depth of the floor from below.
Make enough wooden dowels for the amount of holes drilled.
Weigh the delamenated floor down heavily
Use a 2 part epoxy (araldite) and sqiirt a little into each hole in turn then insert and tap in a dowel.
The dowels will force epoxy into the delamenated area (hence the heavy weight) and the dowel itself will spread the footfall load throughout the floor depth.

That is what I did for the caravan. Worked great.

Alas the waste tank and fuel tank are below so without dismantling half the underside, I don’t have many options. :-(

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[Vipar]

Above sounds the best idea seeing as you have done it that way before.

I know nothing, but, I would cut the floor alongside a unit then you can run a bead to make it look like you would have at home

 

[Vipar]

You have plenty of time to sort this out as Unfortunately you ain’t going nowhere yet.

 

[Googlebot]

You have plenty of time to sort this out as Unfortunately you ain’t going nowhere yet.

Alas you’re right.

At least it gives me something to do.

 

[TheBig1]

2 part epoxy, injected with a big syringe and large bore needle. A little nick in the vinyl following the grain pattern to hide it. Clean any mess immediately then put plastic down a flat weight. the plastic barrier is easier to clean off after

 

[Just smiffy]

Ditto on the TheBig1 ‘s method ...

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[Googlebot]

Thanks The BigOne, that’s confirmed what I was thinking. I am hoping to avoid any overspill onto the floor as I know it will be a pain to clear off. That said, I don’t want to do it again either.

 

[Googlebot]

There is a dizzying array of two part resin glues!

Runny enough to use a syringe and needle, strong enough to stand me jumping on it.

It’s a tough ask I suppose.

I might need to ring a company that sells the stuff, it seems quite a specialist area.

 

[funflair]

I’m not convinced epoxy will take to vinyl, a contact adhesive would be better I think.

 

[Googlebot]

I’m not convinced epoxy will take to vinyl, a contact adhesive would be better I think.

I was musing this, it’s cheap and once cured, sticks really well. Used to use it for sticking down lashing straps in plastic canoes. Still stuck firm 15 years later! Flexible too.

 

[Googlebot]

Had a look today, it is the first layer of ply that has raised unfortunately. I tried a needle through but couldn’t inject the contact adhesive as it’s too thick.

Ended up with a 10mm hole I will attempt to fill somehow.

Squirted about 100mm of adhesive in and spread it with a rolling pin. Plugged the hole and now weighted the floor. Will have to wait till tomorrow to see if it’s worked.

My hunch is that I will be getting the dowels and resin shortly and have to do it properly.

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[Googlebot]

That hasn’t worked in the slightest. :-(

Last ditch effort now with a different glue.

 

[Stonemags76]

Hubby suggested foaming glue for chipboard flooring - loads of makes. He’s just used some on a house he’s working on, & says it’s the same as a kit he bought to repair the floor in our last van. If he did it again, he wouldn’t get the kit, just use this glue & the wooden dowels. The glue is for sticking the flooring to the joists.

 

[Googlebot]

That’s my next option, the expanding stuff is great!

I was worried about a bulge forming which is why I am trying the resin first.

I will know in an hour when it’s cured if I will have to ruin the floor covering.

 

[Googlebot]

Back to Screwfix it is. :-(

 

[Googlebot]

Well, almost done.

One patch was slightly soft still so did it again with more dowels and glue.

The lot feels solid now and just waiting for the glue to cure properly.

Will clean up after my run of shifts when I should be able to stick the lithium batteries in too.

Now how to disguise the repair. Will wait to see how well it looks after sanding down. Might be a mat job, might look okay.

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[Just smiffy]

Those cans of coke in boxes aren’t heavy enough...... they’re Diet Coke...

 

[Lenny HB]

Has it worked?
Not heard of it happening on a Hymer floor before, floor hatches were a problem a few years ago but not the main floor.

What year is your Exsis? Our last van was a 2014 Exsis no problems but kept it less than 3 years.

 

[Googlebot]

It has worked and is now rock solid, just looks an absolute mess!

It’s a 2013, we have had it 18 months and at first it was only just noticeable in hot weather. Since the summer it got much worse and hot or cold, the floor bowed up terribly.

I was surprised too at how bad it was, but I suppose it is just ply and if the glue fails and is then repeatedly walked on, it will happen. The middle was just where I stand to cook and I stand there a lot.

The fitted carpet covers that bit nicely, might look at some more lino to put down at some point as we hate carpet.

It does however look so bad, especially after sanding the excess glue off, we can’t leave it without being covered.