Putting wood over steel deck trailer

[FreeWulf]

I'm looking at a potential trailer. It's heavy enough, but it has a steel deck and I'm NOT a fan of steel. Too slippery, loud, etc.

I'm wondering why I couldn't just drill some holes and bolt wood over the top of the steel, at least on the tire track sides.

Would this cause the wood to rot too fast though? I'm in the PNW, so it rains a lot. I can picture the steel trapping water on the underside of the wood and not draining.

 

[cwbyeng1300]

Paint the floor & while it is wet sprinkle some blast sand over it. When it drys you have a non-slip steel floor that will last forever.

 

[workinonit]

Yea, if you screw wood to that metal floor the wood will rot and the floor will rust. It'll last for probably several years before it does. I'm with cw, sand it and use it. I had a metal floor trailer for years with no issues. If it's built right it won't be noisy.

 

[jaxs]

Bedliner

 

[FreeWulf]

Paint the floor & while it is wet sprinkle some blast sand over it. When it drys you have a non-slip steel floor that will last forever.

That's not a bad idea at all. I've done something like that in the past with Fiberglass.

Bedliner

That was my first thought other than wood actually. I'm wondering about in a light color so it doesn't get as hot too. Although white would start to look terrible with dirt getting ground into it.

 

[jaxs]

Khaki/beige/tan color cars look the same when dirty or clean.

 

[dstig1]

Bedliner

+1. Your plan will cause the steel deck to rust out quite quickly. ...And probably rot the wood too as the other poster noted.

 

[ArlyA]

From experience, I'd call sprinkling sand on wet paint worthless since it comes off to easily. They do make a paint that's for making a floor tacky but I've not used it.

 

[Fxfymn413]

There are also strips of non-skid stick on material available.

 

[Lazy Sod]

When I had a new milking parlour put in 50 years ago, the concrete where the cows stood to be milked was floated up to a smooth surface, carborundum dust was sprinkled on and the surface was floated again. It always looked very smooth but it had tremendous grip.