New flooring in Patriot

[ShirleyA]

I have a 2003 Patriot. It has the factory carpet on the floor. I would like to put down vinyl or laminate flooring. What is under that carpet?
What have some of you done and what do you recommend?
I travel with dogs, so I thought different flooring might be better for us.

Thank you.

[Robin G]

Fiberglass, if it's like my 07........ To my understanding all Casitas have fiberglass inside and out! With wood in between..

[Raz]

Hi Shirley and welcome to the forum. We also have carpet on fiberglass. Ours is held in place with snaps and can be removed. This let's us remove it and shake it out or vacuum from time to time. Our last trailer had linoleum which was easily brushed out. I prefer the carpet but I suspect the dog would prefer the cool linoleum on a hot summer night. Take care, Raz

[ShirleyA]

Thanks. Having the carpet was nice at Thanksgiving time when it was cold....Hmmmm maybe I will leave well enough alone for now. And Raz, as for the dogs, I don't think they care. They just love camping.

[cpaharley2008]

Shirley,
I'm sure underneath your carpet is a unfinished wooden underlayment. You can remove the carpet, paint or coat the underlayment if it is rough and put down a laminate floor. I did one in my Egg Camper. A lot easier to keep clean. In the winter, you buy some remnants and put down for warmth. Cost of materials was less than $100.

[fusedlight]

That's what we're thinking of doing with our 16' Scamp. Right now I'm pulling off the "cat" fur that someone put in. Think not-quite shag carpeting covering a lot of fiberglass surfaces. The flooring would work well with the oak veneer I'm going to put up.

[ShirleyA]

That is a beautiful floor Jim. I would love to get that done. Thanks for the photos.

[Owen Lindsay]

Because of the higher humidity inside the trailer, you might have problems develop with some of the laminates and engineered woods available. Have you considered the Trafficmaster Allure vinyl plank flooring available from Home Depot? We put it in the Dolphin in a light oak color and were very pleased with the results. It is a heavy traffic / commercial type of flooring, that is quite easy to cut and use. Looks luxurious with minimum effort and skill required. Good luck with that!

[cpaharley2008]

These floors are floating floors in that they are not nailed to the subfloor. There is a space around the perimeter covered by molding that allows the floor to contract and expand with the weather. A tube of matching caulk handles the other side of the install.

[Bobbie Mayer]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

These floors are floating floors in that they are not nailed to the subfloor. There is a space around the perimeter covered by molding that allows the floor to contract and expand with the weather. A tube of matching caulk handles the other side of the install.

I'm hijacking here because I'm maybe finally going to install the Allure I've had for several years. I have carpet cut to fit the floor space now, no edging, it just sits on the old linoleum. I'm thinking of hauling it out, laying out the Allure on it and cutting/glueing the pieces to fit the same pattern, and sliding it back in. (It's a straight shot in the Campster- that's how I clean the carpet- pull out, clean, shove back.) But as, unlike the carpet, it won't breathe, I'll need to edge with something. And I don't quite follow what you said here. What do you mean "the other side of the install?" Can I just caulk the edges?

[cpaharley2008]

I used molding on one side and caulk on the opposite, you can probably use caulk or molding on both, but the molding may need to be nailed and thus that side becomes fixed. I installed each piece separately, they click and lock into one another, trying to install one long piece won't work. Piece by piece would allow for any irregularities in dimensions, which does occur.The molding covers/hides the spacing around the perimeter on one side, that allowing for expansion. The caulking will eliminate any tiny difference on the opposite side. Here are some pictures from a second trailer I did.

[Bobbie Mayer]

I have the glued kind. It would stay together in one piece once put together, I think. The floor is just about 2 ft by 10 ft and almost a rectangle but slightly narrower in the front (dinette) than in the galley.

[cpaharley2008]

Are you saying glue to the floor or glued to one another? Not familiar with the latter

[Bobbie Mayer]

The cheap Allure has glue strips for the planks to attach to one another, not to the floor. So I'd use my carpet as template, lay the Allure out on it and put it together, then slide it in (narrower part is up front.) I just pulled out the carpet and the linoleum, which once was textured, is worn smooth, so that shouldn't be an issue. And this doesn't have to last forever- if I like the vinyl floor I can always put in a better one later.

Although that Allure may not be any good anymore after sitting in my garage for several summers in Fresno.. we'll see. I might as well try it as if it doesn't work I'm no worse off.

[Bobbie Mayer]

[ShirleyA]

Hi again....based on a suggestion in an earlier post, I did go look at the Allure.
In the specs, the technical info said "not for extreems in temp". I decided not to use that for flooring because I think from winter in colorado to a closed up trailer in summer could certainly be considered extreems in temperature.....just FYI.

[Marinab]

Originally Posted by ShirleyA

Hi again....based on a suggestion in an earlier post, I did go look at the Allure.
In the specs, the technical info said "not for extreems in temp". I decided not to use that for flooring because I think from winter in colorado to a closed up trailer in summer could certainly be considered extreems in temperature.....just FYI.

Hi Shirley, I put the Allure in my last trailer and it worked great. I'm up in Canada and had no problems with heat or cold damaging the floor. I put 1/4" moulding around the edges to finish it off. Yes it was nailed in but worked very well. Marina

[ShirleyA]

It does look beautiful! The "temperature extreems" qualifyer could let them off the hook in many scenarios....I'm sure that's why they did it. Good to know that it works so beautifully.
Thanks.

[Bobbie Mayer]

I do hope to get mine done soon. I'm inspired looking at the finished pictures. Shirley, does the Ultra have the same temperature extremes warning? I thought that was due to the glue.

[Bryan L.]

I did cork in my Scamp.

Thread here.