Trailer flooring

I have a 3 year old trailer that the wood floor is already rotted out. Apparently the wood wasn't treated wood as they claimed.

What are some alternative floorings I can use?

It's a 14' landscaper type trailer with the large mesh tailgate and I'm going to be modifying the tailgate so that I can get a little heavier vehicle up in there.

I know I will be hauling some rock in it this summer if that changes anything.

I'd stick with wood.

For the strength to weight ratio, it's hard to beat.

For a car, you need to be able to support more than 500 lbs worth of point load.

The framing on your trailer is going to be spaced so far that light gauge metal won't span and still support the weight.

There are other choices you could make, but they will probably add weight and cost.

I redid mine with treated wood. It wasn't that expensive. Get the self taping long screws. I would drill a pilot hole and drive them in then. Saved a lot on the cordless drills.

Triple stack sheets of marine OSB.....close to 2" thickness should do what you need. Also, with heavy use, even marine OSB will rot......sitting out after use is worse than anything.

2" thickness will probably not fit in the pockets and spacing that was designed for 1 1/2" thick PT wood. Marine plywood is a LOT more expensive than PT framing lumber.

Plastic won't rot. Is there a cheap version of Trex?

How about that recycled plastic wood stuff they use for decks? (TREX?) Does it last? Will it support the weight?

I'm sure it'll be straighter than real wood which might make it easier to install.

the Trex stuff is flexible.. I would just get some treated planks that match the original and go from there.

Place I used to work at had an 8x6 lawncare trailor we would use for bulky tall things that wouldn't fit in the back of the trucks (our bucket lifts) and even after 6 years of constant use and 6 years of sitting now.. the treated wood I put in still looks good

The plastic stuff isn't very strong and has to be supported more closely than treated lumber. I would go with 5/4 6" decking.

Never heard of marine OSB. Marine plywood is expensive and hard to get around here. I wouldn't want to be chunking rocks onto it either.

I've seen that Trex stuff warp from being out in the elements. I have a friend that has a deck made out of it and it's falling apart.

I had to replace a couple of the boards on my trailer, and I just used pressure-treated 2x12s, same size as what was on there. After they cured in the sun some, I repainted the whole deck with a roller and some of that sand stuff that you can add to paint to increase the traction of the resulting surface. That was probably 5-6 years ago. The paint is starting to peel, but the new boards are holding up great.

All my other trailer floors are doing great, it's just this one and every board is rotting. I discovered this when I had to go help someone move and found we couldn't put anything near the front or the rear. The leading edge was rotted for 4-6"

Sounds like treated planks is the way as it will allow water to drain. I wonder how many boards I'll have to go through at HD or Lowes to get straight ones that I can actually fit side by side. That's the part that made me want to look elsewhere and see if I was missing a bet.

I knew Trex wouldn't rot, but I didn't know it needed more support. I guess I can see that.

carguy123 wrote: Sounds like treated planks is the way as it will allow water to drain. I wonder how many boards I'll have to go through at HD or Lowes to get straight ones that I can actually fit side by side. That's the part that made me want to look elsewhere and see if I was missing a bet.

How are they held down? On mine they were captured at each end by angle iron, so I had to cut the old ones in half and lift them out. When I put the new ones in I used two peices for each and bolted them together with steel braces. Anyhow, it seems like on most trailers they are bolted down to the frame, in which case warping wouldn't matter so much, the bolt tension will straighten them out.

you don't have to use two pieces, there is a trick to those capture boards. I've gotten good enough that I can do em by myself: 1) buy wood (try to find green boards) 2) slide one end under the angle on one end of the trailer 3) stack 3 or 4 short scrap 2x4's up under the middle crossmember of the trailer 4) bend the board over the stacked wood, use the ratchet strap to draw it down tight. 5) hammer out the 2x4's and watch it shoot into place under the angle iron on the other end of the trailer.

kicks ass cause you never have to worry about the decking coming loose because of a failed fastener. I'll never build a trailer any other way. I still use the self threading t19 bolts just to keep the boards from rattling around, but thats about all they do. also keep it from warping while it dries.

to the OP: few things work as well as wood. many use steel and find that you can't jack up a vehicle on it as it bends. thick enough that it doesnt' bend and you end up with a super heavy expensive trailer. either way if you haul gravel and etc on it, it will stretch and sag between x members. and it rusts anyway, so its not necessarily gonna be a better solution than treated wood.

personally I've used treated wood and seen it last well over a decade and thats here in the northeast. You can stain it to help preserve it, just like a deck.

They also make this plastic decking that someof the oil and gas companies use, its like a super strong super durable egg crate stuff, but its easily 2-3 times the cost of a wood floor.

wood: quiet, strong, relatively light, easy to replace one or two boards instead of whole floor, easy to cut and drill... its got a lot going for it. its what most commercial flatbeds use as well.

Deck is held on by the capture method. I've never replaced one done that way so I'm glad someone posted about a method to do that. Additionally there is one row of wood/metal screws in the center. I may make them carriage bolts.

There are 4 supports underneath plus the support at both ends.

True to form, when Iooked under the trailer I see that I will be doing a little blasting & repainting as it's got more surface rust than I like for the age. Time to go to Tractor Supply and get me some tractor paint. It has a very durable finish.

I won't be rebuilding the trailer, but by the time I replace the deck, add the supports in the tailgate and repaint it it will be a very full weekend.

andrave wrote: wood: quiet, strong, relatively light, easy to replace one or two boards instead of whole floor, easy to cut and drill... its got a lot going for it. its what most commercial flatbeds use as well.

Indeed. The trucks I used to drive used wood floors inside the box for those simple reasons.

you just had to be diligent about sweeping them out every so often or the dirt would grind into the planks like sandpaper

my trailer had the floor done a couple years before i bought it with treated 2x6's. that was about 10 years ago and it sits outside and hauls all kinds of stuff and it's still solid.

Trex (or equal) will never support the weight.

I used marine plywood and then coated it with bedliner.

Don't worry too much about warped boards. It can be a little challenging to wedge them in there, but they will go in fine and be held straight by their neighbors and the sides of the trailer.

Focus on knot free instead.

Yeah but if you use the capture method and don't fasten the boards at all they can warp so bad they pop up in the middle. You don't want that. its a pain in the butt.

I agree that trex wouldn't be ideal, I've seen it used but only on smaller utility trailers. if you want plastic on a heavy car trailer, you will want to step up the commercial grade plastic decking. and imo its not worth it.

This stuff is called rumber, apparently some new semi truck trailers are starting to use it, especially if they load heavy equipment often: http://www.ncnwest.com/rmi/equip.htm

overkill for your application probably.

also, hardwood boards tend to last longer than pine, but probably don't last twice as long and tend to be twice as much.

andrave wrote: This stuff is called rumber, apparently some new semi truck trailers are starting to use it, especially if they load heavy equipment often: http://www.ncnwest.com/rmi/equip.htm

I like that Rumber stuff, but you're right, even if I could find it, it would be way overkill.

I hadn't thought far enough ahead to worry about getting knot free wood. I was fixated on straight boards so thanks for the tip.

And yes I will fasten down the the boards in the center.

I've never had a problem with knots in my decking... you'll be hard pressed to find pressure treated 2x's without knots, especially if you got with 2x6 or 2x8 or even 2x10's. I did the price comparison at my home depot (lumber prices are different everywhere) and although 2x4's are the cheapest per board, it takes more to cover a trailer. I believe 2x6's and 2x8's were the cheapest per foot of deck covered, can't remember which I have on mine, i think they are 2x8's. If I was doing it again I think i'd go with as wide as I could unless it was prohibitively more expensive. I like the wide boards. Easier to slide a jack on and stuff.

I don't understand the variations in the pine boards at the lumber yards. More than once I've switched sizes because the x6's were all warped and knotty, while the x8's or whatever were great. Look at the wood and adjust the size accordingly.

I disagree about hardwood boards tending to last longer. Some, like one of the oaks, rot away very quickly. Pressure treated pine lasts quite a while. Though that does jingle a caution about corrosion. The new pressure treat calls for using double galvanized or stainless fasteners. Don't know if you might have a long term corrosion problem where the boards lay against the steel of the trailer.

Paint the frame of the trailer and you shouldn't have a problem. The pressure treater lumber will eat up just about anyhardware, I've tried double galvanized and it eventually rusts, and most of the "stainless" sold at home depot and etc starts to rust too... not very high quality. Honestly for me typically my hardware starts to rust long before the boards start to rot.