Another newbie

[fogu]

Hi; I'm very happy tp find this forum. I purchased a beat up 1966 Avion H-24 in August. I am doing a total reno on the inside. I'm not sticking with the original design (apologies to all of you tradionalists). My first project is replacing a good part of the subfloor. Any advice is welcome, thank you.

[Razorback]

Welcome, fogu! Glad to have you here! Congratulations on your Avion.

No apologies needed....... it's your Avion to do as you please! Keep us posted on the project.

[Salty]

Welcome, fogu! Glad to have you here! Congratulations on your Avion.

No apologies needed....... it's your Avion to do as you please! Keep us posted on the project.

X2 on all accounts.
So how radical? 50 amp, dual AC + solar?
Ethan Allen grade cabinetry?

Subfloor: Two schools of thought. one says go back with COOSA board - a synthetic material that will never suffer from water damage.
The other is the traditional plywood/foam/plywood sandwich.
You will find a number of threads here dedicated to subfloor replacement.

Recommended tool list for a traditional floor repair:
Tools:
Sawzall
Oscillating saw
#2 Square head bit
Skill Saw (Portable saw) plywood and rip cut blades
Drill
3/8” Drill bit
Jigsaw - various blades
¾” drill bit (Front only)
Speed square
Camera
Tape measure
optional; table saw and compound mitre saw

A word about wood:
Poplar is a good choice and the original choice for the edges and sleepers of the floor’s construction, but that doesn’t make it the best choice. If there is a concern about repeat water intrusion, you may want to choose something more rot resistant than Poplar, such as Spanish mahogany – which is light and strong like poplar. Teak is the gold standard for rot resistance, but is heavier than either Poplar or Spanish mahogany. AND pricier.

Plywood:
If you feel like being deluxe, you may want to choose Okume or a Teak marine plywood. This is certainly overkill and vastly more expensive. The glues are water resistant and the wood is more rot resistant.
Failing that, a good external grade plywood from a local lumber yard is sufficient. Pressure treated requires a barrier between the aluminum and the pressure treated wood, as the chemicals used to preserve pressure treated react to the aluminum and corrode it. As such, I wouldn’t consider it ideal

To understand how best to remove the floor, it is useful to understand how the floor was constructed in the first place. So, when the trailer was built, the frame was constructed, the floor laid onto the frame and then the outer skin, the wiring attached to the outer skin, insulating foam was then sprayed over that and then the interior skin was attached.
The floor on 80s’ Avions is ¼” plywood on the bottom – on top of the frame – a layer of 1 ½” foamboard and 1 ½” poplar sleepers and ½” plywood over the top.
The edges of the floor are 1 ½” poplar on the sides, center front and center rear and the radiused corners are a pair of ¾” plywood cut to shape and sandwiched between the ¼” and ½” plywood.
Elevator bolts are used to anchor the floor to the frame. Removing these rusty bolts from a rotting floor may require some ingenuity.

EDIT:
I neglected to mention a couple of things.
First, the belt line that surrounds the trailer at the bottom is screwed into the the edges of the floor. So in any equation that involves floor repair, it requires the removal of these screws which originally were under a cover inset into the belt line.
Second, when they were building the trailer, they used an abundance of staples to fasten the outer skin to the floor. This was done to maintain the shape of the skin, particularly in the radius-ed corners. These can be annoyingly difficult to remove. When repairing the floor, these do not need to be replaced.

[fogu]

Thanks for all of the info and advice. Wow, If I knew what I was getting into, I may not have bought an Avion. But I am going to give it my best shot. This forum is definitely going to offer lots of help. Thanks again.