adminMost people are familiar with trailers, which tend to be a temporary housing for an abandoned car. If you have ever taken the time and money to redecorate your own home, it is likely that you will want something similar in your life. To help those looking at changing their homes from drab to fab we have created this guide on how exactly one can do so!
The “cost to redeck a trailer” is the amount of money that it will cost you to redo your trailer. The price will vary depending on the size, material, and work required.
Do you need to redeck your trailer before carrying gravel, mulch, or wood for your next backyard project?
Utility trailers are very adaptable and may be used for a variety of purposes. You name it: hauling a golf cart, lawn equipment, timber, mulching your backyard, demolition materials.
After a time, the decking of your trailer will begin to deteriorate, and you’ll need to replace the boards. If you wait too long and your boards begin to decay, you risk jeopardizing the strength of your trailer deck.
We’ll show you how to redeck your trailer in this post.
Our trailer is a single axle open trailer with a 2006 model number of 510. The pressure-treated timber from 2006 has begun to deteriorate significantly. Although there were no through holes at the time, I opted to redeck it since I didn’t want to push it any farther.
Contents
Materials and tools required
The first step is to determine the amount of timber and the hardware required to attach it to the metal trailer frame.
If your boards are still in good shape, you may measure their width and length, as well as how many there are on the deck, and switch them out one for one.
We have (8) 2x8x10 boards in our case. 1.5 inches x 7.5 inches x 120 inches is the nominal size.
I could hardly see the screw heads that attached the boards to the metal frame since they were so severely corroded.
A self tapping screw designed to go through wood to metal is required to connect wood timber to metal.
Through bolts with washers and nuts were used to attach the side boards. Because the previous ones were heavily corroded, I chose stainless steel.
The bolts were 14 thick and 12 long with a hex head. Now that you know what you’ll need, go to your local lumber shop and get everything you’ll need.
Demonstration of Old Flooring
You’re ready to demo the old boards off your trailer now that you have the timber and hardware. The amount of labor required to detach them from the metal frame will depend on how terrible they are.
With two wrenches, the side boards were easily removed. Spray it with PB Blaster if it’s corroded. In my perspective, it works better than WD-40.
You may attempt to remove any of the screw heads from the wood deck planks if you can see them. I was able to unscrew a few, but the most were stuck, and I had to use my Dewalt impact driver to provide enough power to get them to move.
I ended up making three passes over the boards with my Dewalt cordless circular saw. Look below to confirm the location of the metal bars, and if necessary, write a notation on the wood to indicate their location.
The last thing you want to do when sawing through the wood is strike one of them. The circular saw won’t be able to cut through the first and final boards, but we’ll get to them last.
I was able to simply peel the pieces off now that I had sliced through 6 of the 8 boards. To pry the wood off the screw, I used my huge pry bar and a hammer to reach beneath each little piece. Even if the screw is still connected to the metal rail, the pry bar provides enough leverage to rip the wood off.
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Most of the screws were deteriorated to the point that the wood planks ripped straight up. I did have two parts that would not budge, so I opted to use a drill bit to loosen the wood by drilling around the screw.
The boards eventually came free when I drilled four or five holes around the screws. I pried on the inside of the board all around for the remaining two boards, and they both eventually came free.
Now that you’ve removed all of the wood from the trailer, you’ll need to remove the remaining screw heads from the metal frame.
I tried the angle grinder at first, but it took too long, so I got my hammer and smashed the side of each screw many times, breaking them at the same height as the metal frame.
I smashed it flush with the metal if any of them cracked with a tiny piece sticking up.
You may now clean off your bottom metal frame before reinstalling the new boards.
I cleaned all around the bottom metal with a metal wire brush connected to my drill, giving special attention to any rust. Except for some surface corrosion, dirt, and debris, my metal frame was in decent shape.
I used my blow gun sprayer with my compressor to blast away any residual dirt or dust when I finished with the wire brush.
I sprayed all exposed metal with a flat black Rustoleum spray. Following the application of Rustoleum, the metal frame seemed to be virtually new. After it has dried, you may begin installing the deck planks.
The deck planks will be installed next. My trailer was a little over 120″ long and had an angle iron lip on top and bottom.
I didn’t have to trim any of my 120″ long boards because of this. The lip was almost an inch on each side, which kept the boards firmly on the trailer but made getting the final three in incredibly difficult.
Because I didn’t want to harm the wood boards, the first five boards were simply slipped below the lip by angeling them and then hitting them to the sides with a rubber mallet.
Then I realized I couldn’t go under the lip any longer because I couldn’t angle the boards. I needed to contact a buddy who owned a hydraulic jack. To get each end of the boards under the metal lip, we had to bend them slightly.
The most secure method is to jack up the board from underneath the trailer. Because most jacks don’t go that high on their own, you’ll need to add additional wood to the jack to raise the board high enough to bend it under the lip.
Release the jack once the board is beneath the lip on either end, and the board will drop down. Just make sure the board you place on top of the jack is less than 7″ broad so it doesn’t get caught between the jack and the trailer deck.
Once the final board is in place, take a step back and appreciate your trailer’s new deck boards.
Install the end boards first if your trailer has both side and end boards. Begin from the bottom, checking the diameter of the hole in the metal frame before drilling through the wood board with the same drill bit.
I used my through bolts, washers on both sides, and nuts to attach the bottom boards. You should use a washer on either side to prevent the bolt head or nut from crushing the wood fibers. This process should be repeated for each side board.
The next step is to screw the deck planks to the metal frame underneath them. Except for hydraulic jacking the final three boards, this was the most challenging portion of the process. If there is any gap between your boards, use shims to keep them in place and attempt to make the spacing equal all the way across.
Install the self tapping screw through the wood and into the metal frame after they’re in place. To go through the metal, I utilized my impact driver to provide extra torque.
The screw will easily penetrate through the wood, and you will know when it reaches the metal. To get the screw to go through the metal, I had to throw my whole weight behind the driver.
Unfortunately, since the screw head is phillips, your bit will slide and strip the head if you don’t hold it firmly. After around 30 minutes and just three screws, I decided to predrill a pilot hole in the metal so that my screw would have something to grab onto.
To drill through the metal, I used a smaller titanium drill bit. I purchased multiple bits since they dulled rapidly, but the screw went in much quicker with the predrilled hole. Predrilling took around half an hour, and installing the screws took less than 15 minutes.
You have now completed the re-decking of your trailer. I guess it took 5-6 hours in all, with a total cost of $100. Check out our other posts for additional ideas, such as how to construct a fence and a tiny deck that’s great for a grill!
If you are looking to redo your trailer’s deck, the best place to buy rough oak trailer decking is at a local lumber yard. You can also find it on Amazon or eBay. Reference: where to buy rough oak trailer decking.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to Redeck a trailer?
A: It costs $1,000 to Redeck a trailer.
How do you Redeck a trailer floor?
A: There are a few different methods for redoing the floor. One option is to use rollers, which can be bought at most hardware stores like Home Depot or Lowes and then used as an extension of your vacuum cleaner. Another option is to rent a power washer from a company that rents these out in order to remove the old paint you have already scraped off with your hand tools before painting over it again.
How do you attach wood planks to a trailer?
A: You would need to use a strap wrench and two straps in order to attach the wood planks, or you could use nails if your trailer has holes drilled into it.
Related Tags
- how to attach deck boards to trailer
- how to replace boards on a trailer
- trailer deck boards
- redecking a lowboy trailer
- 2x8x16 trailer decking
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