Replacing decking on 015 Doonan Stretch Step Extendable

TM trailer sales in Jackson,GA.
They are good people, do good work from what I've seen. They can do about anything from welding, electrical, flooring. They also have a ton of chains,hooks, especially big heavy haul stuff. I've dropped off trailers there for some of our customers, I looked around and talked to the people, I was impressed.

 

We did my buddys 32 foot flatbed trailer couple years ago. Pay the shop. Just....pay the shop.

We had ZERO clue what we were doing and it took us almost 5 days with two of us. A couple dozen drill bits. A burned out drill. a broken circular saw, a broken thumb, A hospital visit (2nd degree overheated drill burns hurt btw). And we still ended up paying pretty close to what a professional shop would have charged just on raw material costs, running back and forth and the job was only half as good.

 

Some things are simply spring/fall/ winter jobs
And really probably wants a roof to do it too

 

Now these are the HONEST stories I really appreciate!

 

Like I said, you might have a better time of it than we did. Knowing now what I should have known then I'd be better prepared with stock on hand and tools that actually fit the job.
We also discovered that a tape measure we were using had had the tip cut off and re-riveted back on. Hence it was 1/2 inch off from the other tape we had.
It wasn't really all that hard, just repetitive and painstaking. I can see why a shop charges what they do.
All four trailers came out surprisingly well. We don't talk about the time involved. It does give you a sense of accomplishment.
We have a portable sawmill and we cut the oak and doug fir on our property so we were able to use full dimension boards. Full size lumber is almost impossible to find for a reasonable cost.

 

It’s a miserable job. None of those screws will be coming out. Take a hammer and whack them. And break them off. You will be drilling holes for what seems like days for the new screws. It will take several bits. They make floor clips now. So much easier than floor screws.

In short, it cost a lot to pay someone, but once you do one you will understand. I personally would send it out unless you need to save 3-4 grand in labor

 

Lol at the tape measure. I know somebody that had a Harbor Freight square one time that was just a tad out of square and really caused some consternation until they figured it out.

 

How about when the new guy shows up and his brand new tape is in metric on one side and regular on the other? We chased his mistakes all morning before we figured out what he was doing.

 

Local ‘trailer guys’ $16,000 . Ship lap apitong.

TNT - Villa Ridge, MO - $11,000 Same material.

@Ruthless put me on to a place in Florida - stronger material with lab tests to back it up - lasts twice as long as apitong. Talked to the guy a while , he said their main problem with business was a lack of repeat customers, but they excelled on word of mouth work.

$8k. I could save $695 by tearing it all out myself, or drive some freight down there and write the check.

 

16 is pretty steep. So is 11. Last I checked 1-3/8” apitong was $5 a foot for 5” board and $7 for 7”. That’s been 2 or 3 years though. And you probably just need 1-1/4” wood.

I’m interested in knowing about this other wood. As far as I knew apitong was the best flooring available. If there is something better I would like to know.