My RV’s floor squeaks with no apparent water damage. What can I look for?

Dear Dave, 
My trailer’s kitchen floor and living room floor squeak, but there’s no water damage. What should I look for? Thank you. —Tammy, 2016 Keystone Denali TT

Dear Tammy,
Your Denali is a Dutchmen brand RV that is now owned by Keystone (Thor). There is not much documentation on the product. The Denali series was available in 5th wheel and traditional travel trailer floorplans. Since you listed TT, I assume it is a travel trailer. The difference would be in the construction of the floor.

I contacted my tech rep at Keystone, who found a sample diagram of the framework and even talked with another tech who had worked at Dutchmen in the past. Here is the diagram.

It shows that the perimeter and outriggers are 1.5” x 1.5” tubing. According to my contact, the floor is laminated with double luan on the top and single on the bottom. Since it is a trailer, the floor is most likely sandwiched with block foam insulation and very little framework inside.

So, there are a few things to consider that might be causing the squeak. The luan sheets are typically 4’ x 8’ placed across from side to side. You could have movement where the sheets meet, known as the seam. As you walk on one side or the other, the movement creates a rubbing that I have found in some cases sounds like a squeak. To fix this, you would need to pull back the flooring and check the seam. The fix in this situation would be to fill the seam with an adhesive or epoxy and reinforce it with a seam tape. This would be the easiest to repair.

Weak insulation

If your floor is laminated with block foam insulation, it is possible the insulation has broken down and is moving. Again, there is little documentation on the construction, so we don’t know if it’s the white bead board material or the more solid blue foam. You would also need to remove the top flooring to get a look at the affected area and then remove the luan material. This will show what is happening with the foam and if it has possibly shrunk and is allowing the flooring to move. This would be much harder to do as a DIY, as you would need to replace the insulation and reinstall the wood.

Cracked welds

The undercarriage is a series of welded aluminum tubing, as mentioned earlier. It is possible there is a cracked or broken weld that is moving. You may be able to look inside a compartment. However, most trailers have a corrugated underbelly sheet covering access to most of the outriggers. This would need to be removed to gain access to all the welds.

This issue would not require removal of the inside flooring material, but it is hard to find the cracked weld.

It could also be the laminated floor is not secure to the underneath outriggers.

As you can see, there is not an easy path to finding the issue.

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How much does it cost to replace an RV floor?

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I live in my RV full-time, and my floors are becoming soft in certain areas. What is the cost to replace an RV floor? Is it expensive? I am retired and live on a fixed income, so I need to know how much approximately do you think it would cost? —Diana, 2017 Keystone Bullet

Read Dave’s answer.

Dave Solberg is a leading expert in the RV industry and the author of the “RV Handbook.”

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