OK, I've started working on the Horizon since its been nice weather, although its been snowing the last couple of days. But I'm going to tear out the carpet and put in either laminate or Home Depot has a flooring that looks like laminate but is vinyl. It looks just like wood. Has anyone used this vinyl type from Home Depot ? And if I were to use a laminate, does it hold up OK in wet weather ? Thanks

Tim
I have used the flooring from Home Depot and it was one of the best floors I have ever put in. I have a Compact Jr and it took about 1 1/2 hours from start to finish. Plus this floor will not be damaged by water and since it is a floating floor you can remove it with out any problems. I put laminate flooring in my house and I wish I would of seen this floor first. Click to view attachment
This is a picture of our floor

This post made a big impression on me. I read it after we had already installed laminate flooring in our Casita. Our laminate flooring is beautiful and we haven't had any problems so far, but I'm very careful to wipe up any spills. If we were to do it again, I think we'd go with vinyl.

Jeanne
Click to view attachment

Every thing I have read about laminate flooring, it is very durable, but moisture is a killer. It's ok if you keep the spills wiped up. I have 1000 sq. ft. in my house and never had a problem, but I am careful with spills and wet. I never put it in the kitchen or bathrooms. I would go with the vinyl.

I plan to do cork flooring in my trailer once I get it. If you wish you can use an adhesive that seals the joints. It will add warmth and beauty to the trailer.

Thanks Rick,Jeanne,& Randy I appreciate your feedbacks. I kinda thought this post might go this way, as I was looking at the vinyl [at] Home Depot the other day. I thought man this is just the ticket for a camper. Rick by the way I'm still looking for a compact, but I have to sell one of two campers before I pursue one. I'm thinking after I get the mods done on the Horizon I may sell it, and also my 16' side dinnete Scamp too. But I will have to give that some more thought, if I do keep one I don't know which it will be.Jim I just saw your post, I'd like to see that cork. That should be a very durable floor and weather resistant too.

Tim, you can see cork flooring at a lot of lumber/finishing supply stores, or at any flooring store. It is becoming real popular around here. We install lots of it on basement floors, as it gives an easy way to add a real wood floor, plus the added benefit of it being real warm to the touch (of the feet). It costs around $4-5/sf AD, but you don't really need much, and install just like a laminate or any other engineered wood floor. The finish is a polyurethane, just like vinyl or other wood floors.

Cork is also a renewable source. They just strip the bark off the tree, and it regrows itself back again in 9-10 years.

Jim, Thanks for the info I will check it out.

I installed that laminate vinyl in our bathroom over a year ago and absolutely no problems at all. Even with moisture from shower, etc. Real easy to cut and install and priced reasonable. I think it would be ideal for a trailer floor.

Jim,

Does the cork flooring you know of ever come in a sheet, like vinyl? I ask because in a quick web perusal, I only came up with tiles or "planks." I like the thought of one big sheet in order to not have to think about cracks or seams.

Raya

Raya, it does come in tile or plank shapes like you found, just like any laminate or other engineered wood flooring. It is real wood on a structurally stable engineered base. The joints fit real tight. We have put it in in a bunch of kitchens in customers homes and have had no issue. As mentioned, with some brands you can use a glue/sealant between the pieces when you put them in to achieve a sealed bond. I plan on having a nice mat inside the door and always have a ground mat outside as well. We only wear shoes inside if it they are clean and dry.

I pick up my new trailer in a month (exactly, but who is counting ). I will be installing it almost right away and will take some photos of the installation, and report on how it went.

Jim, I'm going back to Home Depot this weekend, but I will check into the cork today to see who has it in my area. Don, I too think that vinyl would be just the thing for a camper. I found a place that sells both types of floor, so I'll take a look maybe tomorrow.Thanks,Tim

My Vote is for Vinyl too..

When I brought my 'new to me' trailer home, the first thing I did was take out the carpet. Went to Home Depot (I'd already shopped both there and Lowes for the "hardwood look" I wanted) bought the size I needed off the roll, came home - grabbed a piece of plywood (used to cut the vinyl on) used the carpet as a template, and within less than 30 min I had a 'wood look' floor that takes no time to wipe up. Mine lies there (isn't attached) but this summer I might think about putting trim pieces around the edges. For the past year, it looked fine without it.

Laminate would be wonderful, but my husband isn't real handy when it comes to things like that, so I had to have something I could do on my own. I had laminate installed in my home, and the first thing the installer told me was to be careful about 'mopping' the floor due to the possibility of water seeping thru the cracks.

Are you talking about the Traffic Master Allure vinyl laminate? Here are a couple of threads on installing it:

http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/index.ph...7&hl=allure

http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/index.ph...1&hl=allure

We changed to a Glueless Vinyl after our first year, it has been wonderful, it does not require glue, the edges don't curl up, was easy to cut, and realy easy to keep clean, even as it gets wet on rainy or snowy days.

Oh, and it does look like wood, most people think it is laminate when they look at it.

Best part, it was a remnant we picked up cheap from out local End of the Roll.

Do you know the brand, Brenda? I'm looking for something for inside the house. I have to go check out Home Depot and see what's available.

Bobbie

Just to add, if it was a choice between vinyl and a plastic laminate, I would choose the vinyl hands down. The only type of floating floor I would consider myself, is an engineered wood one, to get the beauty and added warmth.

Booker, Yes Traffic Master is what I was looking at Home Depot. Thanks for the link. I'm not too worried about installing as I use to install carpet many years ago, and I've done some hard surface also. BrendaDave, I'm going to go with a floating floor , just so its easier to take out should anyone have to or want to.

I went with vinyl. It may not be as durable as laminate but I worried about spillage. My house has laminate and my cats knocked over the water dish while I was out. Well the laminate lifted and I was not happy. Vinyl isn't that hard to put in - took me about 1.5hrs - not including flooring prep - but my floor was very ugly and needed a lot of work. If your worried about fitting it I came up with a great idea to make a template. I used newspapers taped together. Here is a link to my boler reno project. There are photo's of my floor install.

Boler Reno

Gail

Hi
Just in case you haven't picked up on it, Trafficmaster planks in the light oak was my choice, and I managed to get the full installation in our Dolphin in a day and a half. First time I ever used it and the results were superb. We chose the textured finish and are tickled with it.

Traffic Master Allure - To help people out I think it would be useful if our members could tell us how many boxes it will take to do the install.

In my Trillium 13' I used one box and I was one piece shy because of a bad cut.

I first saw the TrafficMaster Allure vinyl planks in my dentist's office in a dark cognac finish, and I couldn't believe it was vinyl flooring. When we replaced the ceramic tile in my husband's office, we used the Allure in a light maple finish. The Allure was easy to install, cuts with a knife, and looks quite real. It's flexible, and softer and more quiet underfoot than laminate. It cleans up very easily, and unlike laminate, the seams of the planks actually "glue" together, so there's no way for moisture to get under an individual plank. However, it's not glued down to the floor, so when it eventually needs replacing, it will not be the big chore that removing glued-down tile is.... The only downside for me was the strong vinyl smell that hung around his office for a few days after the floor was installed, but airing it out with open windows helped a lot. It would be a great choice for a trailer floor.

Allure...two years in the Road Toad and no problems.
In the Keys this year the sand just sweeps out and cleanup is two "wet-wipes"
Installation was a breeze...about one hour.
Very pleased with the stuff!
Alistair

I put a floating cork floor in our Scamp using some click together laminate I had left over from our kitchen remodel.

I was looking for an easy to clean & warm surface that I could lay over the original carpet to protect it. Cork doesn't feel cold on the feet in the morning and should add some insulation.
(We didn't have any problems with water in the kitchen, but the Girls claws trashed several areas where they did "burn out" on a regular basis. The flooring guys couldn't believe it, but I have the old planks . We replaced the kitchen floor with laminate)

If I were going to pull up the carpet in the Scamp, I might have concidered the Allure.

I just wanted to thank everyone for there comments, they are much appreciated. Well I went to a flooring place and looked at several laminate,and vinyl,cork floor types. They had some solid vinyl flooring that looked very nice and would be one piece, but it had to be ordered. Then I went back to Home Depot and looked at the Allure vinyl again, I almost buckled and got some laminate for .99 a sq. ft. But I came home with the Allure in Oak, and think it will be just fine. I couldn't believe how heavy that stuff is a box.
I also sent my Fantastic Fan that was on the Horizon back to the factory, and they rebuilt mine and sent it back within a week free of charge. They are the best people to deal with, why would you want to buy any other kind of fan. So now I can put the fan back in, and put in the new flooring. Next after those are done will be putting in all new pex pipping. I will try and post some pics on the way. Thanks

All I can tell from the back is that it is made by Tarkett, no other information I can find.

Thanks, I've seen that brand.

I'm tempted to do Trafficmaster myself in the areas that need doing- I need to measure and get an idea of cost and compare to having someone do sheet vinyl (although lately I have not seen sheet vinyl.)

I purchased 2 rolls of cork at RONA , it's packaged in the tile format as we all know . The size i got is 1/8" x 36" x 96" and the cost is just over 40 dollars . One pkg is not quite enough to do the floor in my boler . I also am going to use it on my table . it acts as an insulation on the floor as well as cushion on the table . Plus the beauty of it adds warmth . I may even use it on the door and drawer fronts . Perry Mac Donald Kingston , Ontario .

We put the Trafficmaster Allure from HDepot two and a half years ago and can't say enough about how good a floor it has been and how easy it was to install. You won't go wrong if you go this route.

You'll be happy with the Allure. After putting it in the Trillium, I was so impressed, I ended up putting it in the bathroom we were reno-ing, and decided to go with the Teak colour in our kitchen. Just cleaning up the Trillium for summer outings, and the floor is none the worse for wear thru last summer and the winter.

I'll be putting the traffic master in the coming weeks, but first I have to remove a piece of the flooring by the door. There was a piece of vinyl there but it was a little beat up and so water must have gotten to the sub floor. Its only about 16" x 24", once I get that done I'll be putting in the new stuff. I also got back my fan from Fantasic and I have to put that in also. I've had to put work on the Horizon on hold lately as I have someone coming to buy my Scamp on Thursday. But soon as its gone I'll be back working on the Horizon, and hopefully camping in it sometime in May. We will have to see as I have a lot of work to be done on it.

So the Allure can take freezing temperatures that a trailer might endure outdoors in the winter?

Fran, considering Trafficmaster Allure

Hi Fran,

Gord just reported some problems he had with the Allure plank fooring he installed in his Boler. The link to his post is here.

Jeanne

Thanks, Jeanne, for the update on Gord's experience. I thought the low temps here in winter might be a problem. I am going to put in sheet vinyl, no seams.

Fran
Bellingham,WA

We just replaced the carpet in our Scamp 16". After considerable deliberation I choose
very thick cushion back vinyl called "Earthscapes-easy fit, acoustics plus". Easy to install and to clean. If there is a joint is impossible to guarantee it is water tight. I checked out the HD vinyl wood grain tile with adhesive joints and didn't trust it-especially in cool weather.
Seemless is best.

Jerry

Home Depot has Traffic Master Demension flooring. It is great. Easy to install, waterproof and flexible.... try it, also is pretty good price... Casita Owner Enee

Interesting thread.... My wife and I just finished installing laminate in our 13ft Trillium. We had seriously looked at the Allure based on positive threads here last year, but after talking with the Home Depot flooring people decided against it. Although it seems to work very well in homes, with minimal temp fluctuation, they could not advise putting it into a trailer for exactly the same reasons that Gord mentioned in his thread. In our neck of the woods, the temperature extremes will go from -40C to +40C ( and we live here why?) - they advised the flooring would not stand up to those swings - seams would fail and the flooring could even break/shatter if we had to go into the trailer during the winter.

We used a 7mm laminate over a foam cushion - feels great on the feet and we're hoping it will stand up well. The instructions said to "just click and lock" but I glued the seams to be on the safe side (and for as much moisture repellancy as possible). It looks fantastic and did not add a great deal of weight. I was able to use just one box and had a plank left over, which I am keeping should any repairs be necessary - spent about a day on install , but half of that was removing the old and extremely ugly lino the previous owner had installed (and silicone sealed on all the edges - UGLY job to remove!!!). Another day was spent finishing and installing the oak moulding we used for baseboards (hooray for miter saws!). Time will tell on the durability.


For all of the above reasons, we plan to use laminate in our 5500 also - still has the original and very worn carpet that came with the trailer.

it may be too late to put my two cents in but i will anyway....... Cork is fabulous! i did my whole trailer for 20$ from a habitat for humanity store. it only took 2 boxes. it's light, insulates, and smooth so it cleans up easily. i hated the textured floor, it looked dirty all the time and was way too much yellow. the pic doesnt show a lot of the floor but i am too lazy to dig out the disks.

Thanks Cyndi, I did go with the vinyl from Homedepot. In fact I did a few mods to my Horizon Trailer and after I get back from camping I'll post them along with some pics. I'm taking it out this morning for a 5 day camp out to the Adirondacks. I did think about using cork and if insulation was a factor, I would have. But my Horizon is well insulated, in fact under the floor it has 1 1/2" of foam. Got to to finish packin. Thanks,Tim

We have a 17' Casita Liberty and would really like to replace that grubby carpet with a clean vinyl floor. When looking at how the carpeting was installed, all the edge strips are put down with pop rivets. How has everyone tacked down their new floor?

Also, we wondered what we'll find as a sub-floor underneath the original carpeting. Is there any stripping of adhesives or other work required to get a good sub-floor for the new vinyl floor?

Thanks, guys.

Jack & Marilynn Pryor
Troup TX

Thanks, Perry. For some reason I didn't see this when you first posted it. Too bad it's not a little bit wider, but 3' x 8' at least means there wouldn't be a whole bunch of seams.

If you have it in the Boler, I'd love to see what it looks like

Raya

Oh, pretty please? I can only see just the tiniest bit of flooring in your photo, and I'd love to see what it really looks like.

Too much yellow? How could that be (Hee - I love those gold/yellow Bolers.)

Raya

the inside was way too much with the floor, seats, and the cupboards. luckily there was ensolite or it would have been 100% yellow. here's the finished floor.

Yeah, I was teasing about "How could there be too much yellow?" because it's rather amazing just how yellow those gold bolers are. Classic late 70's! They really should have made some in that poppy red/orange color of all those free-standing trumpet shaped fireplaces

Thanks so much for digging up those photos. I'll have to check out the Re-Store (never been there, as a nearby one just opened recently, but a friend shops at her local one pretty often).

Can you tell a bit about what that molding is you used around the edges, and how you affixed it?

Thanks again,
Raya

i used corner bead (?) i think that's what it's called- opposite of cove molding. i stuck it on with contact cement on both the molding and trailer sides and i filled the gaps with caulking. it seemed to have a few gaps here and there, maybe b/c of the curve of the trailer. i love restore, it is perfect for bolers b/c of how much inventing we need to do. they have so many supplies.

Thanks, Cyndi

I have found that the laminate flooring works well if two coats of liquid industrial grade floor wax is applied after installation. This will permanently fill and seal the tiny spaces between the "boards".
Clean-up is also easy since you can restore the shine any time by putting a couple of caps of the wax in a bucket of water and wipe the floor with the solution.
One thing...... the wax is tough stuff and the initial application should be to a CLEAN surface to avoid the suspension of dirt or debris in the coating.