Hi, New here.

I am refurbing a 91 S & S 2 horse with the DR. So far, we have ripped out the floor and undercoated the frame with Rustoleum. The walls are insulated with a styrofoam and of course they are rotted. The interior steel walls are coming down and we are rewelding in new walls. Do I need to insulate?

Also, I'm debating whether to use galvaneal or galvanized for the interior panels. There are 2 that definitely need to go. the upper 2 (window areas) could probably use new metal too, and the windows need to be replaced as they are busted.

Any words of wisdom? We are in MA, and yes it is a steel trailer. We got a fabulous price on it, its a draft size with a huge DR, and the frame is EXCELLENT. The original floors were 7.5 X 2 tongue and groove oak. We're going with PT wood.

If you have no plans to use the DR as a living quarters, I would not invest in insulating an uninhabited area. I would invest in a roof vent and perhaps an operable window in the DR.

Be careful if you weld in galvanized panels. There are serious health issues with the resulting fumes. Also the welded joints will have to be seperately retreated, to replace the coating that was destroyed in the welding process. You can purchase galvanising in rattle cans at many good hardware stores, which is an easy way to effect touch ups.

On my steel trailers, the bottom areas of the roofs at each bow and sidewall joint, rusted the quickest. I would highly recommend using a rust converter before applying any paint coatings.

Most PT wood is 1 1/2" thick and does not feature tongue and groove joints; your original flooring was 2" and had the interlocking joints. Depending on the spacing of your floor joists, you may experience individual board flexing with the new materials. If this is realised, you may want to install additional joists before the flooring is laid.

There is also the issue of the wolmanized wood treatments against metal structures. A barrier coating should be applied between the two surfaces, and any attaching hardware should be either galvanised or stainless. Bare steel harware will be quickly erroded.

Our steel trailers all had untreated wood floors. The last one we purchased new, and we cleaned and flushed the flooring after each usage. When we sold it, the flooring looked like new, and I would estimate the longevity of the wood to easily surpass two decades.

You can restore your old trailer better than new. It's a rewarding process, and with your welding experience, much less expensive to effect. If you properly prime and protect the steel, it will last for many years, even in MA. BOL

Thanks. My husband restores hot rods, so we have a welder and all the tools we need. I plan on using stainless everything for door handles, bolts, etc etc. Isnt there a tape that I can put on the angle irons before laying the floor down? Will the rustoleum be enough of a barrier or something else in addition to?

Unfortunately, the steel around the windows looks to be on its way out. I was too focused on coating the frame to really get in there and look at it, but will this weekend.

The DR is too small to be a living quarters for sure, but the insulated walls I was referring to was in the horse area. There is about a 1" thick piece of styrofoam between the outer skin and inner. I can get sheet insulation (or whatever you call it, the pink sheets) and replace it.

The exterior has some small areas of surface rust, nothing bad, I may put some silver rustoleum on it in spots (thankfully the trailer is silver). Husband is doing a full paint job next winter, when horse is in training.

I was going to replace the existing wood with 2 x10's of PT, or 2 x8's, whichever fits better. I do not have the total area of the horse floor on me right now, but the T & G was a weird size. Arent 2 x 8's actually 1.5 X 8 or something?

TIA