Advice on Subfloor Replacement

[RoseHippie]

A few months ago I bought a 1986 25H Avion and have been in the process of restoring it. This website has been immensely helpful while doing this Avion restoration, but I started to have problems while ripping out the subfloor and I need some advice.

The front, back, and bathroom of the trailer have pretty severe rot so I decided to replace all of the subfloor. I was struggling to rip out allot of the floor around the edges of the trailer and realized that the subfloor is stapled to the aluminum of the trailer. Does anybody have any advice for removing the subfloor from the staples? The staples either rip through the aluminum when I pull the subfloor out, or the floor just won't even budge due to it being stuck on the staples. I'll leave a few photos to help give a visual.

(staples sticking out from aluminum)

(further back to show where the staples are)

If anybody can give me advice on how to deal with this, that would be great!

I also have two more quick questions. How do you keep the shell elevated once the subfloor is out? I was thinking about putting 2 1/4 inch tall blocks of wood between the c-channel and frame. Then I would remove the blocks once I replace the floor in 4 foot sections. Is that how most people keep the shell elevated when replacing the subfloor, or is there a better way?

Also, does anybody know where to get replacement screws for the lower rub rail that screws into the subfloor? All of the screws in my trailer are rusted and falling apart. Thanks!

[pbsled]

That Is a big job, but doable. The staples are tough - but if you can try and pry them out from the outside depending on where you are. This can be possible, especially if you are removing / loosening the lower panels. If the wood is really rotten you can do the demo without that step, but might be face it eventallly anyway. What I discovered is pictured slow as an example.

If you are only doing a section at a time the camper shell will self support for awhile just because the structure of the shell is so strong. I had the whole 7’ of my bathroom cantilevered without support for about a month with no issues.

[RoseHippie]

Thank you so much pbsled! I will definitely go and try to remove the lower panels from the outside. That didn't cross my mind because the shell overlaps with the the lower panel where the staples are, but I will try to get something in between there to pry the pannel off. Also, thanks for the advice on the shell. I didn't realize that the structure of it was so strong!