:chased Our little egg has a very stained carpet, with much wear and tear showing. I am thinking of replacing it with linoleum or tiles, as most of our trailer use is here in Michigan on the very beautiful :cool but sandy Lake Michigan shoreline. The sand is hard to get out of the carpet and ends up in the bed:sad . What have others used successfully?

Hi
I used a hardwood flooring.We have no kids so its easy to maintain for my Wife and I.

Patricia, There are quite a few mentions of flooring redos. I just searched (click on Search button near the top of this screen) ''flooring'' and got three pages of hits.

I think the hardest part about changing the flooring in a Casita is getting the old carpet up - which would be necessary if you're putting down linoleum. Could maybe put down wood or Pergo without taking up the old, though.

Anyway, try the search and see if you get anything useful to your situation. (Our search function works great!)

:cblob

OOPS::o I didn't even realize there was a search function here....pardon my ignorance. Yes, we will need to take up the old carpet due to an odor difficulty from spilled oil which didn't get removed as completely as we had thought:red ...Thanks for the help.:cool

:wave Hi, Patricia

I noticed that you have a 1988 Casita, right? I have an '89 so I'm sure ours are similar. I, too, couldn't decide what to do, so I put capet on the raised (non walking) areas and vinyl squares on the floor. I used rugs this winter to make it warmer.

The carpet under my cabinets was in excellent shape, so I removed all of the old molding and used a sharp razor knife to cut it flush.

If you decide on the linoleum, the sheet would probably be better, but if you do use the tiles, I have some hints for you later on.

I'll post the pics here when I find them....now lemme see...which disk is that on?

Hi Pat
Our Trillium originally had the heavy felt style indoor/outdoor carpet. Yep I thought it was a pain trying to sweep it out although it did sweep fairly easy. Sooo we went to tiles.

The tiles are nice, easy to sweep out but I will say I have to sweep about 10 times a day to keep those tiles looking clean. The tiles are cold on your feet, slippery with wet feet, and show every piece of grass, sand etc.

So now we have a almost full size area mat covering the tiles. The mat can be taken out and shaken, and if it gets wet, hung out to dry. Now we have the best of both worlds.

Nancy

>>I didn't even realize

Hey, Patricia, not a problem. If there had just been a hit or two, I would've copied the info over here to make it easy for you. But since there was so much, that wasn't practical.

Good luck with your searching... But, I think Suz is probably your best ''hit'' since your trailers are undoubtedly so similar, and she's already been through it.

FWIW, I've seen her work and it looks good!

Nancy, was it difficult to remove the old carpet from your Trillium?

Maybe I'm mistaken, but it seems like the carpet in my '99 Casita is glued down, which I expect would be hard to remove. I'm working hard to keep it from getting soiled so I never have to replace it. (It was right after we bought our trailer that they started offering linoleum as an option!) :sad

Anyway, my method is like yours: cover it with throw rugs which can be shaken (and/or hosed down) outside.

And, so far, so good. But I'm interested in these flooring redos because I expect I might need the info one day. (I can only be just so careful.)

:cblob

I keep getting booted off line this morning (yeah, I'm still on dial up), so I'll try and hurry.

The carpet is glued down, but if you can cut it off at the cabinets, it's not at all hard to remove. Use it for a template if you decide to cut new carpet.

It's kinda hard to get the effect of the carpet and the tile in the pictures, but I really, really like it and don't regret doing it that way.

I did glue, screw down a piece of thin plywood over the old wood floor, just so I would have a better surface to put the tiles on.

Carpet and Tile Combo


New Molding


Entry

Before I forget it (and I probably will), I'd like to pass on something about the doorway.

For best results remove the threshold plate. Easy to do. Just drill out the rivets and you can re-install it right over it. Makes a much better and neater job. Seal the threshold with silicone (clear or whiite depending on the color of the floor) and it will prevent water from running back under it.

When I laid the thin sub floor, I ran it all the way to the door. With the new tiles on top it. It made the floor a tight fit under the plate. and it had a tendency to buckle the floor in one spot. What I suggest is to sand the wooden floor down into a slight bevel. It will make it fit back together much more nicely.

Once you get into it and run into problems, don't hesitate to ask.

Although it is work, I didn't think it was all that bad and you'll be glad you did it.

Hi Mary
Our Trillium has a fiberglass floor. The carpet was easy to remove, it was the glue on that fiberglass that was near impossible...at least for me.

If we had been putting down carpet again it could have just been glued right over the original glue. We also could have just sanded down the rough spots and put the tile overtop but we got anal at that moment :huh and decided it had to be perfect.

Phil used a scrapper, scraped all that old glue off and lightly sanded the fiberglass. Then it was my turn to lay the tile. I got off easy.

Suz, Love your floor. It looks soooo good with your cupboards.

Nancy

I was in a carpet store with a friend this week and I noticed they had samples of some of the new eco-friendly materials. The Bamboo hardwood floors were beautiful and I have read that they are very hard wearing. I think they install much like Pergo. What caught my eye though was the cork floor tiles.

These are 12 by 12 tiles, less than a quarter of an inch thick like any other stick on tiles. They are lightweight, would feel warmer underfoot than most materials and they are a completely renewable resource. Prices were similar to other materials in the store ($7-9 per sq. foot). They were beautiful and seemed like the lightest weight flooring option I have ever seen (other than paint!:lol ). I don't know if they could be found cheaper elsewhere, this store seemed expensive to me.

My only concern though was that they are not as dent/scuff resistant as I'd like. They are harder than a cork bulletin board, and they have a protective coating so you can mop them, but they do give slightly.

Oh wow! Suz! I don't think I've ever seen a picture of your floor. Beautiful!

Please, please, please don't show my wife, ever! A similar floor would go on the honey-do list as soon as she saw it.

Hey, maybe you could put one in for me!

Maybe heated marble or granite. That's what Suz' floor look like!

I seriously considered installing ceramic tile, my floor of choice, but opted against it due to the weight. I'm installing solid oak hardwood instead. At just under 1/4" thick, it's actually very light. Cork is considered to be a premium flooring material, and as such is pretty pricey. I've never actually seen a cork floor installed, but I understand it holds up better than you might think. Not good with spiked heels, though, for those of you who dress that way while camping...

I don't need to go to nosebleed heights to find an accident waiting for me. therefore I avoid anything with too much of a heel on it. I am more concerned about dropped tools, dog toenails, hiking boots or tracked in sand, etc.

I'd love ceramic, but I need to save the weight for the books and pets and craft junk I think I need.

I did a quick search online and found the tiles for about $3 each (pricey!) and some places have a minimum order of 110 sq. feet. Floating planks come in 18 sq. foot bundles, but cost more per sq. foot.

Anyone know about how many walkable sq. feet is in a 15 foot trailer? (Still haven't picked mine up yet, so I can't measure it.)

>>spiked heels

Funny you should say this, Paul.

I wear a pair of spike heels ever since my wife found a pair that weren't her size in the trailer!

Thanks for the heads about about the corkfloor!

Once the wheels were turning, I had to know how much different flooring options weigh.

I used www.diyflooring.com to calculate all but the ceramic and vinyl tile (which they don't sell) since it gives shipping weight if you put something in the shopping cart. (And they have the cheapest cork tiles I have seen anywhere.)

Here is what I found. Results could vary a lot depending on what brand, thickness, etc.

Ceramic tile 3.9 lbs. sq. ft.

Bamboo 2.34 lbs. per sq. ft.

Hardwood 1.6 lbs. sq. ft.

Snap together Cork tiles 1.6 lbs. sq. ft. (with fiberboard backing)

Vinyl stick on tile .87 lbs. sq. ft.

Carpet .5 lbs. sq. ft. (standard low pile)

Glue on Cork tiles .47 lbs. per sq. ft.

So, it looks like carpet and cork glue-on are the lightest, but hardwood is pretty light. Makes a big difference if you use glue-on tiles over snap-in, but that creates other issues (namely removal one day!). If thickness is an issue vinyl and glue-on cork are the best bet.

You can find cheap cork tiles online that are about the same price as stick on tiles (some as low as $2.49). So, the biggest advantages of cork are in its friendliness to the environment and the fact that it stays warmer underfoot. Carpet is by far the cheapest since remnants are usually available of a size big enough for an egg. Hardwood is so pretty it might just be worth the weight. And, if you have the tow vehicle for it, ceramic is durable and beautiful.

I thought cork would be great. I got slowed down by the minimum order. I also tried to get bamboo panels for closet and cabinet doors. These are not yet readily available. You can get them in Seattle and Augusta, Maine, otherwise the shipping will kill you. I also like real linoleum. It comes in 6foot rolls. I don't know how it holds up with a lot of moisture, but it's all natural (combo of cork and linseed oil) and comes in nice colors. For now we've got indoor outdoor carpet. I think we'll end up with sheet vinyl or maybe splurge on the lino.

Most of our trailers are pretty small when it comes to sq ft. I think you will be surprised at the lack of the cost difference. So what would twice as much be? $50 vs 25? We not talking a grand hall.

Cork is very popular and durable, but since we are talking major traffic pattern here I'd give it a hard look.

Although mine is a no wax, I do keep a matte finish sealer on it. It keeps any cracks from allowing moisture to penetrate.

I really have my doubts about the ceramic tile. Besides the weight of the tile, you would have to use a rigid backer board so that there would be zero (and I do mean absolute zero) flex. One single wrong bounce, one wrong flex and your floor would be ruined.

Don't get me wrong. I adore natural stone, I just don't think it has an application in our trailers. That's why I went with the vinyl slate.

Bamboo: That I think could be really, really cool. Could really get a total feng shui thing going. Light and airy. Lot's of ideas with that one.

If you find what you want and can't seem to get by the minimum order thing, check with some of the builder's surplus stores. If you're patient, you might be surprised what you can come up with.

I was planning to do wood floors in my house, I may just need to save a few scraps and class up my little trailer. Of course decent countertops would probably do a lot more for it than hot shot floors. Ahh the projects go on.

That's a given Chalrie. you fix the floor then you got to do the counter tops because they don't match, then that shows up the old cabinet doors. on and on and on

so now that we have our foor picked out, how do we level that fiberglass floor? mine has so many dips and bumps. didn't show up with carpet, but it will with that lilinoomiumun- linolium - what you said.

We presently have an almost white vinyl flooring in our 16ft Scamp. We sort-of like it and sort-of don't like it. It is light and cheerful, but tends to look a bit ugly unless it has just been scrubbed. So I have been considering something different.

I would love to have a solid hard-wood floor, but I am concerned about expansion due to dampness, i.e., spills or leaks or perhaps high humidity. Has anyone had an experience with wood floors in a trailer that developed a roof leak? How about Pergo?

Well, I decided to go with a remnant of carpeting since it is *free*. It is "cheap landlord beige" carpeting leftover from when my house was carpeted prior to my purchase of said house. I figure it will do the trick for a while and when I get sick of it (and it wears out, since I already know from the house that it will do so rapidly) I'll do something more pricey and charming. I'm just going to cut to fit and not even glue it down.

If you want to do ceramic tile, it's not really a problem, but it isn't installed the same as in a home. First, skip the cement board backer. Don't use regular thinset tile adhesive, either. Use a multi-purpose flooring adhesive, such as Henry's 356, which stays somewhat flexible. Don't use standard grout - use a water-cleanup caulk. Work the caulk into the grout lines, and then sponge over it with a barely damp sponge to remove the excess and smooth the caulk. Oh - user smaller tiles, too - not over 6". This way the floor has plenty of opportunities to flex as needed

I just came across this thread as I was searching for flooring, and I'm curious--has anyone had any issues with expansion/contraction/cracking/buckling of their hardwood floors? We are planning on using our trailer for both winter and summer use (and we live in SW Colorado, so there's a decent amount of temperature difference). I am also fascinated by the bamboo floors (look, price, use of renewable materials) and think I would love to use them, although the Home Depot salesperson told me I absolutely have to nail it down (of course he also thought I was crazy for wanting to install anything but carpet in our trailer--so I'm taking his opinion with a grain of salt! ). I would really like to float the floor in the trailer, since I think that would be better in terms of give/flexing. The bamboo does have the tongue and groove installation (so I wonder if I really HAVE to nail)--has anyone disregarded the advice to nail/glue down a wood floor?

Myself, I used a 3/4 inch plywood (8 ply) over the existing 5/8" plywood for a super strong floor surface. I then used real bolts to bolt through the plywood and onto the frame. The bolts going through the floor of the Burro actually hold the body to the frame. The original screws used were half eaten away. Now I have a very sturdy connection and a new flat, strong (8 ply, 3/4") wood floor.

I use indoor/outdoor carpet over this. I do this because you can get remnants inexpensive and change it out once a year. That way I can really use the trailer without worrying about spilling on the floor, getting dirt/mud, or having the dog sleeping on the floor. For about $15 - $20 a year I can have a new piece of indoor/outdoor carpet.

Sandy,

An engineered bamboo flooring is available which can be floated or nailed. See this website for more info: bamboo hardwoods. We considered using bamboo for our flooring, but it's thicker than synthetic wood panels and would have decreased the inside height of our trailer by about 5/16". We also would have had to buy much more than we needed, so the cost was much higher. It also weighs more.

Like Gary, we installed a new floor in our 1984 Casita a few years ago. We chose a 1/4" thick synthetic oak floating floor and have not had any problems with movement of the snap-together panels. We followed the manufacturer's instructions and placed the flooring over a thin sheet of polyfilm padding that serves to hold the panels in place. We then installed oak moulding around the entire perimeter of the floor to help hold the panels down.

We installed a new 3/4" plywood sub-floor as the base for the oak panels. When we first obtained our trailer, the original plywood was rotted and the carpet was damaged. We removed the old carpet, tore out the entire plywood floor under the walking area, and under most of the cabinets. It was tricky, but we were able to leave the cabinets in place during this process. The floor and carpet were in good shape under the table/bed so we retained them there. We also removed most of the screws that originally went through the original plywood floor and bottom of the fiberglass to secure the trailer to the metal frame. Then we scraped, sanded, and leveled the floor down to bare fiberglass. Not much fun...

The rebuilding of the new floor took several steps. Being ever paranoid about future water damage, we sealed the bare fiberglass floor with waterproof epoxy boat paint. Next we sealed the 3/4" plywood sub-floor with three coats of waterproof spar urathane (top, bottom, and sides). We then installed several odd-shaped pieces of 3/4" plywood sub-floor to fit under the cabinets, laid the main piece of plywood for the walking surface and entry, and then filled any gaps between with plastic wood dough. Like Gary, we installed 8-10 new metal bolts through the plywood / fiberglass floor and the metal trailer frame. These bolts now hold the trailer securely to the frame. We used 1/4" stainless steel bolts with SS fender washers to distribute the pressure, and they were countersunk flush with the surface of the 3/4" plywood sub-floor. We also used SS fender washers and SS nylon lock nuts to tighten the plywood subfloor (and entire egg) to the trailer frame, and sealed everything with waterproof marine goop.

Click to view attachment Click to view attachment

We love our new floating floor, and we found it both inexpensive and easy to install. We haven't had a major accumulation of water on it yet to really test it, but its been very durable so far.

Sandy,
I put birch laminate flooring for Sam's in the Compact last year and have been extremely pleased with it. Looks good and cleans up very well. No visible changes with wear, temperature extremes, or big coffee spills. It was installed over the existing vinyl flooring with a layer of foam sheet underlay. It is not attached at any point except the table pole cups which have wood screws that go through the flooring. Tom Trostel

http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/ViewPhoto?...0373&p=70829465

I will eventually be putting down similar wood flooring myself. Looks great. I wonder what design rule, if any, applies to which way you lay the flooring down in relationship to the door.

I see in both cases here both floors' end grain ends at the door threshold. Note one egg door is on the side, the other is in the back. Is that coincidence? Or is it a wearability thing? Is it better to step with the grain rather than across it when entering a room or do instinctive architectural design commandments apply?

Click to view attachment I've had this flooring in for 2 years and no trouble with warping or such. I chose to install it from front to back, we love it

another option, unless you are absolutely insistant on real wood, is a vinyl strip stick on flooring available at Lowes. I am sorry, I can't remember the brand name! It is standard there, so you should have no trouble finding it on the vinyl flooring aisle

Here is what I did with the Burro, and it has held up VERY well, is easy to clean and still looks great! It is even textured like wood.

It comes in a variety of flavors, I happened to like the honey oak, but they have cherry and darker, as well as lighter stuff.

I have the same brand in my house, 18 inch squares that look like slate. Also have held up well after 4 years. Still looks like new!

I saw Ginas' floor, pre-crash, and decided to do the same thing...quick and easy, not expensive. The brand is Novalis....from Lowes. As you can see, it does come in different colors. It has a texture to it, rather than flat like rolled flooring.I have not dropped anything sharp, nor spilled any large amounts of water, but I do know that it sweeps up very easily. I do keep throw rugs on it, just because it makes the floor a little warmer in winter, and easier to shake out the rug, then just sweep occassionally.

Anyone have any hints for me. My Scamp has the maple interior, beige rat fur, dark brown/tan cushions and tan curtains...I'm SICK of tan/beige/brown. I NEED some color....red, blue, green, yellow...I don't care what COLOR. I'd like to put down linoleum, but everything I've seen is white or tan or brown or gray or yuck green...nothing with a lot of COLOR. I know, I know, I could use throw rugs....anyone remember the linoleum from years ago that had all the multi-colored flecks? That type of thing is what I want, but I appear to be about 30 years out of date.

I have a bunch of that as the original flooring in my house... under 5 more layers of floor. I was not about to take it up. Can you say "Asbestos?"

Have you thought of using a floor paint? It comes in all colors of the rainbow, and the stuf designed for boat decks is very durable.

Actually I have Gina...looking at maybe something like this:
Progressive Epoxy Polymers, Inc.

Armstrong Standard EXCELON Imperial Texture

With 75 colors to choose from, I think you'll find something there. We put Jade Blue/Green in the kitchen of the house (since discontinued) and I have a box & 1/2 left over to do the Fiber Stream with.

This is Home Depot's commercial grade vinyl floor tile.

I love how they have named most of them food names!

Marishino! I vote Marishino!

oooh, I feel a trip to Home Depot coming on...Thanks Frederick.

Wonder if I can find one: grass, dirt and peanut butter and jelly colored

I kinda like the Cantalope one Gina

just ordered the pergo flooring for our amerigo today i realy like the look of the wood and also ordered a 4.2 cubic fridge in stainless steel while i was at it the wife said it is going to look better than our home kitchen,

They have a display; but many colors have to be ordered. They keep only the ugly ones in stock.

I've been considering re-flooring our Burro too, possible with Flor Modular Carpet Tiles...
Flor Modular Carpet Tiles
We considered this company's removable carpet squares for our house, because we breed dogs, but decided on a laminate floor and throw rugs instead. What we like about this system is the squares can be lifted up and washed in the sink. They come in some really great colors and textures, and can be mixed and matched too. Has anyone had experience in using these in their FGRV?

Steve

Wouldn't it be easier to change the curtains than to the floor?

Except I really dislike the carpet and want something easier to take care of when camping.

Probably change the curtains too

Once the curtains go, then you have to update the linens, co-ordinate the pillow shams, .. ugh, not to mention a WHOLE new set of dust ruffles....

Too much work!

use a neutral colour for the dust ruffles, and you'll never change them again.

Donna,

If you decide to change your curtains and would like something more colorful, you might want to consider material from Hawaiian Fabrics. They have a huge assortment of colors and patterns that range from subtle to bold, which would transform your egg into a tropical paradise!

Jeanne

My boler has an all fiberglass molded floor with a textured surface. I geuss some were made that way. I didn't want to attach any adhesive to the original floor, so I opted for a carpet cut to fit. I t fits snugly in place and is easily lifted out and shaken out and cleaned. I used a commercial grade walk-off matt material - tough as nails and really catches the sand - which we have alot of here on Cape Cod! This is apic meant to illustrate my propane detector, but you can see the carpet as well. Happy trails! Alec

Donna, you are never out of date, it's just that you are a trend setter and the rest of the world hasn't caught up with you yet!