how to do flooring trim in fiberglass campers?

[knighth001]

So I've had my Uhaul for 2 weeks and have been fixing and replacing and painting....have had a blast. Now I'm turning my attention to the floor. I've done research and red about types of flooring to put in and I'm planning to put in Allure Ultra planks. (instead of the green faux turf stuff in there now)

So my question is this, how do you do the edges?

If I was putting this down in the house I'd use quarter-round molding on the edges with a nail/brad gun. I read somewhere that to do that in a bathroom and seal it, you should leave a quarter inch around the sides and put some sealant down and then glue the quarter-round on top to make it watertight. But do I want it water tight? if it sweats or somehow water gets underneath it, will that cause problems later?

I know several folks have done the flooring here and I've tried to look at some of the pics but I can't see well enough how you guys did the edges or if some of you even used a molding edge. (though your floors do look good!)

If I can wrap up this flooring, I'll be ready to take her out on her maiden voyage soon. Yippee!

[Thomas G.]

I like to keep things light, so I just put down sheet vinyl with Velcro glued to the perimeter of the floor and the underside of the sheet vinyl. If it gets wet, I can remove the sheet vinyl easily.

[TaniaD]

Originally Posted by Thomas G.

I like to keep things light, so I just put down sheet vinyl with Velcro glued to the perimeter of the floor and the underside of the sheet vinyl. If it gets wet, I can remove the sheet vinyl easily.

Tom, that is a great way to do it. I was reading this aloud to my hubby and he goes ,"WOW! What a great idea!" I turned to him and said, "Yes, but I want the Allure wood floors like we talked about" You almost lost me that Tom!
Sean I am very interested in hearing replies to this thread. That has been my exact question in my mind. I too have chosen the Allure planks as they are virtually waterproof (notice I said virtually, not completely). As I write, this we are trying to put the shell back on the frame. Some tricky maneuvering is happening.

[Roy in TO]

I did the Allure in my Trillium. When all finished it is essentially a single sheet. If you plan it right (nothing less than 1/2 width) you will get maximum benifit.

One trick was to lay a strip of the waxpaper on the seam as you cut to fit, line up your piece then carefully pull out the paper. If you cut it carefully enough you should not need anything to seal the edges. The weight will hold the floor down and it can always be pulled up because it is not glued down.

[Dennis Clinton]

Remember-the Allure needs space to expand, especially in a trailer. I plan to paint the subfloor brown first, then lay the Allure, leaving the required gap around the edges.

[Roy in TO]

Yep,
I tempered the package and laid it on a real hot day, so it can shrink when cold. You have to consider that for most trailers we are typically laying sections that are less in area than the average home vestibule or stair landing.

[mmeyer]

I laid our in July, scribed he edges with a compass to get the contour right , cut on the inside of thescribe to give a little play and caulked the
edge with an antique white caulk. used a rubber caulk tool to get a good looking finish. finished the threshold with an aluminum transition piece that matched.picts attached.

[cpaharley2008]

I painted the subfloor, started from one side and cut the last piece which will be covered by the molding. You can nail the trim on one side and caulk the other with matching caulk to allow expansion/contraction. Here I did it in my last camper. Note, do not use in bathroom where it will get wet, but if a dry bath I caulked and then left it alone. Notice in the bathroom I ran a piece across to "lock in" the loose pieces. Then I used walnut caulk.

[cpaharley2008]

2 more- bath is finished with trim caulked/glued on left side, notice in the first picture trip on one side and caulk on the other side, makes a neat presentation.

[dylanear]

I just put in my Allure. I had quarter round for the purpose, but just laid mine down and I ended up with a very accurate fit and it feels solid, planted in place with nothing technically holding it down. I liked the clean look felt good, so I just left it at that. Wasn't thinking about thermal expansion. It has seen high temps and I've noticed no issues. But perhaps in cold it'll contract and slide around. We shall see, if I need to add edge trim I can do that. Temps would have to get very hot to expand it more than it's seem, the workshop's definitely seem high 90s since the floor went in.

I'm hoping with the very small area of a 13' Scamp, expansion and contraction will be minimal.

[mmeyer]

Forgot to mention that I leveled the seam that runs down the center of the UHaul before laying the allure. Don't want a dip running down the center

[knighth001]

Originally Posted by mmeyer

Forgot to mention that I leveled the seam that runs down the center of the UHaul before laying the allure. Don't want a dip running down the center

Good point. I'll look at that. I was already wondering about how to handle the area where the dining table post goes. I was wondering if I was going to have to do some fancy cutting and leveling there.

I'm planning on using the ultra stuff that locks together rather than the ones that glue together because it felt hardier to me. not sure how much of a difference that's going to make.

I think I'll try it without the trim and see how it looks.

Time to count square footage and figure out which direction to lay the boards....

[mmeyer]

It took 1 box plus 1 strip for the VT , I miscut one so I still had plenty to spare.

[Hambone]

most of your floating floors call for a 1/4 expansion gap in a room size house ( say 12x12) and if using for stair treads they are glue or brad nailed down so expansion/contraction should be minimal in trailer....I used regular laminate in my trailer and it has seen 120 degree temperature swings, I didnt put trim around edges just butted it up to cabinets and screwed through it at threshold, so far no problems

[Marinab]

I put the Allure in my last trailer and it didn't move at all. I also used !/4 inch round to finish it off. Looked good and was still lasting 2 years later.

[knighth001]

So I finally got my flooring in. I decided to wait till next summer during the heat to decide about trim.

[David B.]

Originally Posted by Thomas G.

I like to keep things light, so I just put down sheet vinyl with Velcro glued to the perimeter of the floor and the underside of the sheet vinyl. If it gets wet, I can remove the sheet vinyl easily.

I had painted my floor with a reflective roof coating prior to laying down my floor, and when the water tank leaked, I was able to remove and reinstall without problems.

[Greg A]

Very nice Sean. The durability and ease of cleaning of the Allure is hard to beat.