Soft Decking Repair

 

All things considered, my Overlander had a very limited amount of floor damage forward of the bathroom considering how may different leak sources there were.  Although leaks damaged all the countertops, the presence of a countertop diverted the water onto the main floor where it could evaporate off the rubber-backed carpet without damaging the floor.

 

The worst damage occurred just inside the hinge side of the door.  Through a combination of a bad door seal & loose/missing sealant on an exterior seam, water rusted a hole in part of the steel step’s mounting structure allowing water to attack the decking.  The carpet kept trapped water from evaporating from the top, and a sheet metal plate associated with the step kept it from evaporating from the bottom.

 

I believe the bulk of the damage on the other side of the door was caused by a leak from the small fixed window below the larger hinged one (not shown).

After repairing, or at least identifying the leaks, each soft area was thoroughly dried with parabolic work lights fitted with 100 watt bulbs.  A floor fan helped keep the air stirred up.  It is extremely important to make sure the area to be repaired is thoroughly dry.  Any water left will be trapped by the following repair, and continue to do damage.

A locally available product identical to Rot Doctor was then applied to each area according to directions.  I like the Rot Doctor’s general working principle, and was pleased with the final result.

Now, Rot Doctor type products are very thin when applied so that they will soak into the wood’s fibers.  When cured, and that does take some time in cooler weather like I had, the area will still need smoothing and/or leveling.

Even though my master plan involved leveling the entire floor with leveling compound, I went ahead & floated fiberglass resin over the worst damage because of the amount of wood missing.