2013 Jay Swift SLX 165RB

[Kimberly12]

Purchased a new-to-me hybrid and it is in excellent condition. The previous owners were very helpful, nice, and seemed particular about care of camper. As Ive been spending more time in it, Ive noticed what seems to be a soft spot right at the entry infront of door. Very small area, maybe width of door and not even a foot in. Has anyone had experience with this? Waiting on better weather to really investigate but Im worried because obviously first thought is rotten subfloor. Is there any other cause or reason for that area to feel 'soft' or dip a bit? Rest of floor feels completely solid, just area immediatly inside door. Thanks!

[Tunce the traveler]

Welcome to the forum and we’ll help you out any way we can. Can you feel the soft spot with your hand pressing down or your foot walking over it.

[Kimberly12]

Id say both...I noticed it initially with my foot, but I would say if you press with your hand near little metal threshhold plate you can tell some. More noticable with foot for sure.

[Tunce the traveler]

First thing I would do is remove the screws ( 3 in my trailer) that hold the inner trim strip for the threshold and see if their rusty. This piece never gets wet because its on the inside of your trailer. If their rusty then you have a water problem in your subfloor. In case you were wondering I installed a foam floor over my standard flooring.
The first place I would look for water intrusion would be where the aluminum siding slips into the door perimeter trim. Look for cracks in the caulking, it should be tighter than bark on a tree.

[Kimberly12]

Yep....I looked at it today and lifted it up without having to unscrew them. They were rusty so Ive got a problem. I also looked at the caulking around door and I assume thats where the issue is. My next question is do I want to approach the repair from the bottom of camper or from top inside? Im not wanting to ruin the linoleum. ��

[RogerR]

I helped my brother replace the floor around the door of an old Airstream he bought. We tried to save the flooring but quickly gave up. We cut out the rotten flooring and then explored until we could cut back the good flooring over support where we could mount a new sub floor. Then we put in snap together rubber flooring over the whole floor. It looked nicer than new when we were done as the new flooring was better than factory!

[Kimberly12]

With it being such a small area infront of the door Id hate to do the whole floor, but glad it turned out well for your brother!

[bankr63]

Unfortunately, you will probably have to work from the top. Not 100% certain with the Swift because it is stick and tin, but with the laminated Jay Feathers the floor is a single unit that is sitting on top of the frame. The frame members get in the way. Also, with the location of your bathroom, I am betting your black tank is directly under the damaged area. It might require dropping the black tank to get access from below.

I did a near identical repair on our X19H. It is about a 3 weekend affair. 1 day of demo to remove rotten material then a few days of drying time for any wet but undamaged material. One day on weekend two to cut and replace the subfloor. Two days to run a new flooring throughout the trailer (actually one day to lay it, but another day to lift cabinets and dinette/sofa and then reinstall when done).

I have a post around here somewhere with pictures, will track it down and post the link. There are others here who have done even more complex and in-depth floor repairs with full picture threads to help guide you.

ETA: Funny, I thought I did a whole thread on it, but just piggy-backed an existing thread. Here are a handful of pictures of what I did...
https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f...tml#post776036

[RogerR]

If you can carefully trim up to the wall until you can get access to the floor area you might be able to put it back and cover the edges with quarter round. I would use the solid plastic instead of wood quarter round if you can find the right color. Probably have to edge glue the repaired area to keep it from pulling out.

I would cut a porthole in the bad area and look with a mirror and widen your hole. Then add treated 2x4 support for the edges of the patch after you widen the hole to take out all the bad wood. I would consider using something to feather in the joints or they will show through.