carpet vs laminate

[Al & Donna]

Hi everyone! I'm thinking of putting down a wood laminate floor in the camper instead of a piece of carpet. Seems like size wise it's a lot easier to wipe up after a rainy weekend than try to vacumn it when we get home. Any one have wood flooring in their 13'? How difficult was it? Any suggestions or pics would be appreciated!! Thanks !

[Bob Cupp]

I put in a vinyl floor to make clear up easier. I can mop the floor with a wash cloth in about 30 seconds. I can sweep it from outside the door with a hand held duster that I keep next to the front cushion. I camp in areas with alot of sand and I want to keep it easy to clean. I also use my camper for winter camping and the carpet would be frozen solid and would not dry as quickly as the vinyl. The vinyl floor gets very slipper when wet though.

[Anne H]

I have vinyl - so easy to clean up (especially with 2 large dogs that refuse to wipe their feet before getting in the trailer).

It is a little cold on bare feet, and the dogs sometimes slide on it. But with the scratches they put in my wood floors at home, I'm still glad I have the vinyl.

[Al Stansell]

I have a piece of heavy-duty commercial carpet, over which I put a couple cotton rag-rugs. I like to use the Boler in winter, and the floor is definetely the coldest part of the trailer. The carpet at least affords a bit of insulation. It is easy to pull out, give a shake and beat with a broom, and small enough to vacuum in a jiffy. The rag-rugs collect most of the filth, and they go right in the washing machine. I do travel with dogs, and they prefer the comfort of carpeting as well, I imagine. I will concede that the wood and vinyl floors are more attractive, but for all around comfort, I go with carpeting. As I mentioned in a previous post, I hope to eventually equip the Boler with a radiant heat system. I will pull out the carpet and apply vinyl tile if I can pull it off! Cheers, Alec

[Benny K]

I used a cheap snap together laminate over the fiberglass floor in our 13' Boler....seems to be OK....still haven`t finished off the base boards to close off the gap around the perimeter....caulked the gap, just so that the laminate wouldn`t slide around during travel....easy to clean and is very durable....not too good if water gets on it and isn`t wiped up immediately....if this happens it`ll tend to swell at the joints.....the laminate was very cheap...about 10 bucks.....it was discontinued and was being cleared out.. ...You can see it on our web shots site....Benny

[james kent]

We bought a 6x10 remnant of a good quality carpet for about $20.00. Cut it to fit over the fiberglass floor and the only fastening is the metal strip at the door edge. This means no tripping on a loose edge. It's easy to clean and soooo warm and comfortable to step on on a cold morning.. The remainder we cut to fit in the lower storage areas. It does seem to insulate somewhat and I like to think it takes some of the bounce out when travelling. I do know that stored items don't seem to move about as much when on the road.
Jim

[Tom Trostel]

I have faux maple laminant from Sam's Club. Love it.
Tom Trostel

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

[Christi V.]

Go for the Laminate!! Easy to keep clean.. carpet gets to dirty and smelly after awhile...

[Donna D.]

I have carpet and as soon as I finally decide what "smooth" surface I want..that stuff is going to get yanked out! When I go camping, every blade of grass, twig, dirt and mud seems to find its way to the carpet. I want to be able to clean it quickly with a damp cloth. Besides my daughter always seems to drop her P&B sandwich...P&B side down on the carpet

As far as hard surfaces being cold...that's why I bring slippers. When I get up in the middle of the night, slip them..good to go. The carpet is sooo yucky after a couple of days, I wouldn't want to walk around on it barefoot. I suppose I could always drag a vacuum cleaner along....nah

[Chester Taje]

I installed laminate in my 17ft Boler.I really like it.Easy to clean and looks good.

[jack smith]

I have Pergo in my house.... areas in the kitchen are swelling at the seams, as it is IMPOSSIBLE not to get some water on the floor. Plus, the stuff is fairly heavy. I personally would advocate vinyl... with some throw rugs that you can shake out or throw away. JMHO

Or... maybe some real wood *bamboo* stuff that they sell at Costco. Sure wish I'd have gone with that instead of the Pergo!

[Lance MacArthur]

We have snap together laminate in our 13' Boler.

The good -- easy to keep clean, looks nice.

The bad -- gets pretty cold when its cold outside. We have a couple of throw rugs to walk on then, but they slip around a lot. As mentioned, it will swell at the joints if it gets wet.

A new project -- when I get back from our current trip, I'll pull up the floor and install electric radiant heating underneath. This can work under a laminate floor with a cheap switch or a more expensive thermostat.

I hadn't really noticed that we can have 80 degrees day temp and 30 at night. A really quiet heater would be nice!

[Christi V.]

I forgot to say .... if your rugs slip on the laminate floor put those rubber waffle rug holders under the throw rugs.. that helps alot.... Walmart has them.

[Frederick L. Simson]

The Fiber Stream has carpet on the floor... which was installed before the walls and cabinetry were put in. The manufacturer did not have to cut and fit it that way, but I'll have to remove most of the interior to get it out. Has anyone added insulation below the floor? I too would rather have a colorful vinyl that can be spilled upon.

[Sandra Lair]

We ripped out the lovely original gold shag carpet from our 82 Scamp & installed carpet tiles. Even though it may be a little more trouble to clean, I really prefer carpet under my feet. When we're camping, I just sweep it every day and vacuum when we get home. The best part is that we have extra tiles if one gets stained or damaged.
Sandra

[Owen Lindsay]

I have just torn out our shag as well, and was all set to put in laminate. Then I was told that moisture was not laminate's best friend. The flooring expert at Home Depot suggested that I check out an oak plank tile called trafficmaster which comes in a 36" by 4" tile. It comes in hickory or light oak color and is so easy to work with. I am not a gifted handyman by any stretch of imagination but I found the installation was very easy. You cut it with a utility knife and a straightedge. I will post pictures of the finished results as soon as i unpack the rig in the coming weeks.

[Benny K]

Apparently if you use a laminate in a kitchen, you should glue it together with a wood glue and this seals the floor .......it isn`t supposed to swell like an unglued one....usually it takes a fair amount of water to swell the unglued ones anyway......damp mop usually doesn`t affect it at all......worst thing are leaking dishwashers that leak under the floor and attack it from underneath and you don`t notice the leak until it`s too late....something like a stickie trailer, LOL.......Benny

[colin k]

I put laminate in the boler last year because it was cheap. Laminate stores always have specials on and you can pick it up for a song. I would'nt recommend it in a trailer. If you get it wet you have to immediately wipe it up. We were able to keep everything under control over the summer. BUT. After leaving the boler sit over the winter i decided to check in on the old boler and to my surprise the whole floor swelled from winter condensation. It seems to be fine now though. After this summer i may rip it out and put in vinyl. Too much hassle to try and keep it perfect. Summer camping is supposed to be about relaxing and not worrying about your floor swelling up.

[lynneh]

We bought our Scamp used and were delighted to find out that the original owner went with vinyl instead of carpet.

We bought some by-the-foot carpet runner from Home Depot and put it down between the gaucho and the dinette. It was inexpensive and feels nice and warm underfoot. As an added plus, we can just roll it up and store it away if we prefer the coolness of vinyl during the hot summer months.

--Lynne

[Greg A]

In Phoenix if you spill on your laminate floor, no problem. By the time you bend down to wipe it up it's evaporated.

I'm going with Cherry laminate as soon as I can find some that is being discounted.