(Not HDT related) Laying Laminate flooring (COMPLETED)

[Brad & Jacolyn]

Good morning everyone,

I know this is not HDT related but we have so much talent and experience on this forum I thought I would throw it out here hoping some have done it. I intend to do this myself. 

  This may get rather long so please bear with me especially if you have done this job before.  I’m in the process of gathering all the information (I hope) so I can put a laminate floor in our 2008 Champagne. Here is what I have found out from NUWA, various forums and watching Youtube. I’m just throwing this stuff out and hoping someone has already done this and will confirm I’m doing things correctly or can warn me if I’m not (I’m always willing to learn new things..

1. I have a floating floor in the kitchen and there is a 99% chance we can’t match it. So we will do the kitchen and the living room.

2. Any material I use should acclimate for 48 – 72 hours before starting to install.

3. The material they use at NUWA says .32” thick on the box and the underlayment is separate. Now according to the internet conversion tables   8MM = .314961“ or 5/16”. 7MM = .275591” or 9/32”.

4. The kitchen floor is under one side of the base cabinets and the stairs and floating on the other end. I intend to loosen the screws holding the base cabinets and the stairs and ease the old stuff out and ease the new stuff back in like it is now. This starts me at the frig slide directly across from the door. I have to start here because the floor runs under the frig slide for about 6” and has a molding against the wall which says floating to me.

5. When I get out as far as the edge of the island (and where the carpet starts I will extend into the living room and when I clear the island I will have to work backwards toward the starting wall and easing the laminate under the island along the side where I removed the carpet.

6. Then complete the room working  towards the door.

I have read ‘Don’t go cheap. You will regret it’ so I’m trying to heed this advice. Now my questions :

1. Do I leave some carpet along the edge of the slides for the slides to ride on? I will put new carpet on the slides so it would cover the edge.  If so how much should I leave?    

2. How do I secure the laminate at the slide edge?

3. Can you recommend a brand that will stand up well or do I just go to Lowes and get some Perrigo? We have 3 small dogs that like to play.

4. What do you do to protect from scratches when the slides are retracted?

5. Back to acclimating for a minute. We spend winters in Texas and it gets a bit humid. I was thinking about waiting until next winter to do this. However, we are spending the summer in UT, OR, WA, MT and across the top of the country and then back down to TX. It is much drier in those areas (at least in UT) and I was wondering if when I install it will make a difference OR if I do it correctly and leave enough space (1/4 – 3/8”) that will take care of the expansion and contraction properly? Really curious about this one.

I guess that is it for now. Please feel free to extend any advice or words of warning.

Thanks.

Brad

[Chad Heiser]

Brad,

 

I have some extra "Planks" of the flooring DRV installs in their units.  I will bring them with me to the WCR so you can see them.  They are flexible, individual planks and I think they would be a lot easier to install than the interlocking type of flooring.  I also have a very good friend who is in the flooring business.  He just redid all the flooring in his motorhome with some type of laminate that looks like wood.  I will talk to him about how he did it and we can discuss it at the WCR. 

[SuiteSuccess]

Chad,

Would you mind sharing the highlights of your discussion with me or in this thread or another? It is a project I'm considering in my DRV at a future date.  My email is ecrcarl@gmail.com if needed.  

[Chad Heiser]

I'll be happy to share, but I won't see my buddy until after Memorial day most likely, so it won't be for a few weeks (we are camping this weekend and then leaving on a cruise to Alaska).  I'll get with him after we get back.  

I will also be replacing a couple of the planks in my floor that my door side slide scratched.  I hope to have my buddy come over and help me with that before the WCR so I should get some first hand knowledge as well.

[lockmup68]

I just did allure vinyl floor planks, all floating, with under layment. Worked good. Shoe mold on the edges. 

[BigTexRex]

Look into a commercial Karndean tile, that's what we used and are very happy with it.  As far as I know, we are the only ones in the RV world that has used this tile.  Only the outside tiles have to be glued...all the rest will lay flat and can be replaced, if needed, by picking it up and laying a new piece down.  You have to see it in person to really appreciate it.  It is one tough tile.  We have full-timed with it for three years and there are no marks or worn spots. 

[Brad & Jacolyn]

Thanks Chad. This gives me another reason to look forward to the WCR (as if I needed more)

 

Brad

[Exile]

Um, every laminate floor i have done- 4? has been a floating floor.  

Do you mean the stuff with a woodish backing(high density fiberboard) or vinly plank?  Both are floated.

some wood engineered (plywood) floors are glued down  

i would be tempted to find planks that can be glued together, so your floor acts as one, instead of separating between your cabinets and the island (assuming island is not fixed) 

each brand has different grades, buy a higher grade for the brand to reduce scuffs.  Busy pattern disguises scuffs and dog fur.  Grooves catch dirt and make them harder to clean.  

If you subject the floor to humidity changes, it will move.  Wet= big, dry=small.  If you lay when all is dry, it will swell later.  Consider this whenyou cut to fit the walls. 

My wife loved the luxury vinyl, and wished we put it in our house, instead of the rental

I superglued it together where i had a problem with it separating, and seemed to work well  

i 

[Chad Heiser]

Just an update, my buddy is going to come by Friday to help swap out some of the floor tiles in my trailer so hopefully I will be able to post more information after that.  I will make sure to take some pictures and ask questions about the process.

[HERO Maker]

Chad, apparently swapping those floor tiles (if you have the long wood looking ones) is very easy.  Taking 6 extra with us tomorrow as we leave Indiana.

[lockmup68]

17 minutes ago, HERO Maker said:

Chad, apparently swapping those floor tiles (if you have the long wood looking ones) is very easy.  Taking 6 extra with us tomorrow as we leave Indiana.

yes, easy to unsnap and unpattern to replace tiles.

[Chad Heiser]

1 hour ago, HERO Maker said:

Chad, apparently swapping those floor tiles (if you have the long wood looking ones) is very easy.  Taking 6 extra with us tomorrow as we leave Indiana.

That's my understanding.  I'll find out for sure on Friday.  I've got a little more than a box of extras.  We bought 5 or 6 (I forget exactly) at the time of purchase as spares.  We had a couple of issues with a broken light lense and the door side slide that scratched a few tiles.  DRV happily sent out a bunch more tiles at no cost to replace the scratched ones.

[Chad Heiser]

No updates to report.  Real (paying) work got in the way of my buddy coming over and helping me on Friday (for free), so we didn't get it done.  We will try again this Friday.  If that doesn't work then I will have to wait until after the WCR.

[NTPA Announcer]

I had our flooring guy lay a good quality Vinyl in the "middle" of the 5-r. We kept the carpeting on the slides and actually re did the OSB stairs and on into the bathroom. We are in and out a lot and in the dirt and mud as well. We love our new floor and it was less we thought. BUT don't scrimp on quality or hiring a professional to do it . Remember you don't hire your plumber to write your will....

[rdickinson]

I used commercial grade tiles in the kitchen and glued them down with epoxy, not the regular flooring adhesive.  The adhesive was recommended by the flooring distributor.   The regular flooring adhesive will curl inside the  cabinets against the wall.  The big swings in temps in Calgary from over 100f to 35 below don't help.

[Brad & Jacolyn]

Bring your stuff with you Chad and we will have a seminar and figure out how to replace your planks. I'm sure we will have lots of opinions. They will get more creative as the evening and cocktails progress. Jen may not agree but you have to live with her and we don't. 

 

Brad

[Brad & Jacolyn]

Well the new floor is in. We decided to go with Vinyl plank flooring from US Floors. I'll try to attach before and after pictures after I resized them. Well no luck so I'll post 2 - 3 posts to show the floor. This is old floor

Edited July 25, 2017 by Brad & Jacolyn

[Brad & Jacolyn]

New floor

[Brad & Jacolyn]

New floor

[Chad Heiser]

Nice Job.

[HERO Maker]

Brad, that is plank flooring?  Looks more like tile?

Nice job.  Congrats!

[Brad & Jacolyn]

Yes Rocky it is plank flooring and it is supposed to look like tile. It came in 12" X 24" planks and all the edges snap together.

 

Brad

[HERO Maker]

9 minutes ago, Brad & Jacolyn said:

Yes Rocky it is plank flooring and it is supposed to look like tile. It came in 12" X 24" planks and all the edges snap together.

 

Brad

Pretty cool!

[Alie&Jim's Carrilite]

Nice!

[Big5er]

Good shot of my nephew in the first picture and I saw my niece on the couch too  

Oh, and the floor looks kinda nice too.