Water under floor and Mold

1054 Views 19 Replies 12 Participants Last post by Road2Healing, 5 d ago

ysuleman

Discussion Starter · 11 d ago

3

Hello,

So I am dealing with a huge issue. I went into my van the other day, we were thinking of taking it on a trip, so I went to make sure everything was good and I saw a small piece of vinyl floor shifted and I pulled it and it was BAD.

The plywood was all wrotten and molded. So I started removing everything and it seems like just the first piece of plywood was FULL of mold and rotten.

I removed the plywood and looked under the The Vanrug and there was water underneath. We haven't used the van in a long time so we have no idea where the water came from.

I know during the freeze, the pump broke so there may have been leakage.

I know we had a few spills about a year ago so could the water still be from that time?

Is this only condensation?

I am not sure how to even start.

The second picture you can see under how much water is there. It seems like when the leak happened the water is stuck under? I am not too sure, if anything even leaked.

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Col

· #2 · 11 d ago

Thanks for the heads up. I ended up with 1/2 inch XPS 250 and 1/2 inch sanded plywood. Following others advise I'm going to offset the XPS plywood layers and paint and biscuit joint the plywood and bolt it down using the 8 D ring placements on the floor. Again thank you and everyone on the forum for letting me learn from your challenges.

JohnnyRambles

· #3 · 11 d ago (Edited)

Yikes!

I couldn't tell for sure, but from the photos it appears that you had the "Van Rug" directly on the metal under the plywood? If that's how it was set up, my assumption would be that was mostly what caused this issue. Any water that did enter (Through spills, leaks or condensation) was basically trapped there as the rug would allow water in, but would not provide ventilation for it to escape.

Thankfully it's probably an easy fix from here. Just tear out the mess and bleach it to kill any mold, inspect the roof for any bad sealant and then soak the van down with a hose to check for actual leaks. If you don't find any ditch the Van Rug and go with a sheet of XPS under new plywood (Unless you are very tall I'd recommend 1" XPS and 3/4" plywood). Sure, you can paint the rust spots if you want, but they appear to be cosmetic and with the floor allowed to breath a bit will probably outlast the rest of the van without issues.

Reactions: 2

ysuleman

Discussion Starter · #4 · 11 d ago

Man I was so scared haha.

Yeah I will clean the entire floor. If I decide to paint it, would I just paint over the rust or first I would have to take care of the rust?

Any idea on how I would remove the rust?

ysuleman

Discussion Starter · #5 · 11 d ago

Yes I had the van rug directly on the floor then I had plywood on top of it.

baitbegger44##

· #6 · 10 d ago

Auto parts store rust enabler....it's expensive $$$ could take wire brusk to it then sand, start with 80 then 120....then paint with rustroleum

ysuleman

Discussion Starter · #7 · 10 d ago

Is that the thing that turns the rust spots like purple and then you just wash it off?

baitbegger44##

· #8 · 10 d ago

yes, but what I used turned it black, did not wash it off, just repainted

I used it on metal poles for deck and metal garage door, finally had to replace garage door

nothing worse than garage door way past its prime

dog_house

· #9 · 10 d ago

I used 1/2 XPS and 1/4” LVP with no plywood at all. The only important thing is that any seams in the plywood are over a raised portion of the van floor.

I think the VanRug is what caused your trouble since it acted as a sponge and held the moisture. Hopefully if something like that happens again the air gaps will allow the moisture dry out.

As long as your foam seams don’t line up with the plywood seams and the plywood butts where the foam is supported the XPS and 1/2” plywood should be rock solid.

ysuleman

Discussion Starter · #10 · 10 d ago

The problem is we have two kids and we are bound to have spills etc, how do I stop the water or juices from going down?

I guess is if it goes down now with the gap it should air out?

diytech

· #11 · 10 d ago (Edited)

I'm not seeing the reason to lay blame on the VanRug. It is no more of a sponge than wood or expanded foam insulation. And then from your photos it was the wood that fed the spores, not the VanRug. That layer of polypropylene may have even prevented things from getting much worse than they did at the actual Van floor. There is plenty of air space in insulation layers, including the VanRug, but any impermeable layer at the top surface will prevent air circulation.

Liquids spills are guaranteed, and sometimes the liquid can be nasty. If the floor is not removable for cleaning underneath, then any spills have the potential to linger for a long time. Over the Winter I accidentally tumped over a full "Dri-Z-Air" on the floor (you definitely don't want calcium chloride in contact with steel very long). Pulling the floor covering, rinsing it out, and cleaning up the metal floor completely took care of the problem.

I don't know why more builders don't bolt their furniture and fixtures directly to the metal van floor, and then loose-lay flooring/carpeting between everything bolted down (and insulate inside fixtures with removeable insulation). That's how aircraft interiors are done.

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ysuleman

Discussion Starter · #12 · 9 d ago

3

So I removed everything and cleaned the floor.

You can get a better picture of the rust. There are spots all over. Should I repaint the entire floor?

Or should I use this on ALL the spots and then just paint over the spots

www.amazon.com

Amazon.com: Corroseal Water-Based Rust Converter Metal Primer, Rust Converter - 1 Gal,82331 : Automotive

Buy Corroseal Water-Based Rust Converter Metal Primer, Rust Converter - 1 Gal,82331: Corrosion & Rust Inhibitors - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

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Murf

· #13 · 9 d ago

I would recommend spraying it down with this stuff. Then paint the whole floor.

I use Piclex 20 on car sheet metal. Some I have stored in a shed for years. This stuff really keeps the rust at bay.

Good luck!
Murf

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

GaryBIS

· #14 · 9 d ago

Hi,
I would do a careful search for leak sources before you put things back together.

Van floors generally run pretty dry and if a spill occurs is dries up OK without mold or rot.

This looks more like it might be something that is chronically leaking? Leaks in the sheet metal walls or roof, water tank or plumbing leaks, ...
You don't want to clean this up just to have it happen again.

In my opinion its way more than you could ever get from condensation.

Gary

ysuleman

Discussion Starter · #15 · 8 d ago

So I soaked the van for a while with the hose all around. There is a leak in the rear doors that I just found out about. Now I have to solve that.

However, I don't think that is the root cause because all the water was in the front and the rot. The water from the rear wouldn't be able to make it to the front due to the carpet.

So now I need to figure out what to do with the rust.

Here is the video of the leak form the back doors - https://1drv.ms/v/s!AnIIH7uGJus7ic0gw274LnyVlIWZog?e=cJenhg

ysuleman

Discussion Starter · #16 · 8 d ago

So conufsed on what to do with the rust:

1. Leave it, and just paint over it
2. Put POR15 on top of the rust spots
3. Put rust convertor on it and then paint it

Any votes?

Jing

· #17 · 8 d ago

ysuleman said:
So conufsed on what to do with the rust:

1. Leave it, and just paint over it
2. Put POR15 on top of the rust spots
3. Put rust convertor on it and then paint it

Any votes?

You're over thinking this, it's not that big of a deal. Use the rust converter, no paint needed. Fix the leak.

Sent from my SM-G781V using Tapatalk

Reactions: 3

FangsDad1976

· #18 · 5 d ago

POR-15 makes a range of rust treatment products. My auto body repair guy uses it to deal with any rust in places that are practically not accessible, for example in the spaces between the skin of a hood or trunk lid and the support bracing on the inside that keeps the shape of the hood/trunk lid.

Stormin Norman

· #19 · 5 d ago

ysuleman said:
Hello,

So I am dealing with a huge issue. I went into my van the other day, we were thinking of taking it on a trip, so I went to make sure everything was good and I saw a small piece of vinyl floor shifted and I pulled it and it was BAD.

The plywood was all wrotten and molded. So I started removing everything and it seems like just the first piece of plywood was FULL of mold and rotten.

I removed the plywood and looked under the The Vanrug and there was water underneath. We haven't used the van in a long time so we have no idea where the water came from.

I know during the freeze, the pump broke so there may have been leakage.

I know we had a few spills about a year ago so could the water still be from that time?

Is this only condensation?

I am not sure how to even start.

The second picture you can see under how much water is there. It seems like when the leak happened the water is stuck under? I am not too sure, if anything even leaked.

O I am so sorry to see this. As my van is used for camping kayaking and water adventures I never went with the plywood floor and so glad I did. As I am allergic to mold.

Reactions: 1

Road2Healing

· #20 · 5 d ago

How long have you had your 1/4” LVP directly on the 1/2” XPS? Is it holding up well? Would you do it again?

Thinking of doing something similar to avoid the wood risk. Perhaps with 1” XPS.

dog_house said:
I used 1/2 XPS and 1/4” LVP with no plywood at all. The only important thing is that any seams in the plywood are over a raised portion of the van floor.

I think the VanRug is what caused your trouble since it acted as a sponge and held the moisture. Hopefully if something like that happens again the air gaps will allow the moisture dry out.

As long as your foam seams don’t line up with the plywood seams and the plywood butts where the foam is supported the XPS and 1/2” plywood should be rock solid.

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