Flooring

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: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?

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

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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

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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

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: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?

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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

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>>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!

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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

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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
<img src=http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/uploads/3ece1ad422565CarpetTile Combo-edit.JPG/>

New Molding
<img src=http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/uploads/3ece1b2d5d773New Molding-edit.JPG/>

Entry
<img src=http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/uploads/3ece1b815f5f9entry-edit.JPG/>

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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.

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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

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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.

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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!

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

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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...

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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.)

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>>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!

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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.

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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.

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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.