[VAC] Question about penetrating epoxy

["T. Byrd" <tbyrd@xxxxxxxxx>]

Greetings all,

Now that the electrical in the Overlander is operating, I turned my
attention today to the plumbing. The aluminum shower/toilet combination
was in serious need of sealing. I noticed the floor outside of the
shower was a little spongy, so I took out the shower today to assess the
damage. It's not as bad as it could be, but it's not great either. I
knew that there had been problems in this area due to the copious
amounts of silicone rubber smeared all over the seams in the shower and
toilet stand. I disassembled the shower, pulled up the new sheet vinyl,
and there it was...floor rot, of course. Luckily, it's not spongy enough
to push my finger, or even a pocket knife, all the way through it, but
it is soft, and it looks like the plywood has serious delamination. I've
read the archives, and seeing how others have solved this problem, I'm
going to use penetrating epoxy. However, I have several questions that I
didn't see covered in the hundreds of posts on the subjects.

1. Due to the delamination, I think it's wise to follow the advice about
drilling holes into the floor. I think the holes would be required to
ensure that the epoxy penetrates all layers and has a chance to
thoroughly fill in between the delaminating layers. Does anyone concur
with this analysis? Or is the stuff wet and powerful enough to soak
through all of the layers without the holes?

2. If the holes are required, how many should I drill? I'm thinking that
a matrix pattern would probably be best to ensure good penetration, but
how should I space the matrix? A 2" or 3" grid pattern is my gut
feeling. Is this too large? Too small?

3. Looking up from below (sans belly pan), the delamination goes all the
way to the rusting frame. Again, if holes are required, should I drill
them all the way through the floor, and scab a piece of plywood to the
floor from below? Or should I (try to) drill through all but the last
layer of plywood?

4. Is the epoxy alone enough to restore strength to the floor? Should I
also scab a piece of 1/4" plywood over the repaired floor afterward, or
would this be over engineering the solution?

Since I'm in the middle of this project, and there seems to be a large
number of people who ask about this topic, I'd like to put together a
How-To guide illustrating the process. I'll take the responses I've read
in the archives, the responses I receive from this post, combine them
with pictures of the before, during, and after treatment, and make them
available to anyone (RJ?) with web space to present it. Unless, of
course, something like this already exists. :)

--
Ted Byrd
1958 Overlander