Allure floor by trafficmaster

[cpaharley2008]

I did two trailers, one lengthwise and the other cross wise. The Crosswise was a better fit and less waste. Joining two of these 36" long sections lengthwise does not give a good tight solid joint as the shorter crosswise method does does. The shorter pieces stayed tight, the longer pieces would separate a little occasionally with temperature/humidity swings. Not enough to come apart, but the joint became visible. If installed correct, you will not see any joints.

[Jared J]

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

I would do it at a 45° angle, leading towards the main area from the door.


Sounds like it was down real good. Is this common with Scamp?

Did you try an oscillating multi-tool? They work wonders scraping up stuff that is glued down hard. The only issue I have found was when the going got tough, the glue heated up a bit, and got sticky.

Yep, glue was tougher than the wood, it just wanted to head into the floor. I dunno what glue they used, but I've never seen anything like it. It was tougher than some aircraft epoxy.

Tapping it with a chisel just resulted in lifting a layer of wood, also. Evil stuff. Respirator, and 3 hours of work to level out the floor in the scamp. I used a floor scraper to take the carpet pad off first. Have to be careful not to hit glue globs too hard, it'll rip up the wood.

[Steve and Rosemary]

Jared's post about the glue worries me; our scamp has carpet in some places and then cheap, cheap, cheap vinyl flooring elsewhere. I can't remember, but I think the vinyl might be on top of the carpet. Oh well, sounds like the hardest part, as with most projects, is going to be the prep work.

As far as the direction of planks goes, here's what I have:

Nancy says to do this, right?

Front
|||||
|||||
Back

Jim says to do this, right?

Front
//////
/////
Back

And cpaharley says to do this, right?

Front
-----
-----
Back

I would add photos but I don't know how. Do I need to upload photos first to be able to include them in these posts?

[Jared J]

45* would be to much of a pain to make it worth it in a camper, to me.

I think harley might have a good point about going that direction. I did mine the other way, and it is a pain to get your cuts square enough. It also wanted to lift more on those ends. If mine was going the other direction, and then had trim on it, maybe it would have worked.

[Jared J]

For photos, you can use the paper clip to the right of the smiley face in the reply box.

You can also upload them to youtube, etc., and then copy/paste the image link.

I do the youtube route, personal preference.

[Steve and Rosemary]

Testing these photos.

The first thought is the 45 degree angle. It might be a pain to do all of this, waste would be higher, but it might make the area look bigger. Long edges might also have a tendency to peel up.

Another option is to do it "lengthwise" like the other photo. Problems with this is that the edges are prone to coming up, right? Another thought would be to go 90 degrees from this which would make everything stick together better. Does it matter that I'm planning on using some kind of trim?

[Jared J]

I should point out again, mine wasn't allure. It was the $.99 lowes stuff, so the ends on the allure could be just fine...

[Glenn Baglo]

I have Allure in my kitchen. They look like one-foot-square tiles so, it doesn't matter which way you go ( except that you want to reduce the number of cuts ). If your pattern is supposed to look like wood planks, then you need to care about the direction. For all my planning, I still ended up with small narrow pieces at the door to a bathroom. Too wide to cover with a transition and so narrow that the tiles don't want to stay in place.
For such a small area, I'd go with roll vinyl. Make a pattern with paper and cut the one-piece vinyl to shape.

[FTTRV]

I removed the carpet out of a U-Haul CT13 I owned and installed a laminate wood floor. Installed a sub floor first, to have a good base to install the laminate. Laminate was glued down with liquid nails.

[Steve and Rosemary]

I think Allure is supposed to be pretty good looking for the price; people have given it good reviews for the trailers and for their homes. I've also considered doing "roll" vinyl instead of the floating Allure planks but the planks just seemed easier to install. I'd really like to SEE some of these things in person but that might not be possible -- I'm chomping at the bit to update the floor even though it's only 9F degrees out there right now!

FTTRV, thanks for posting that picture -- it looks great!

[knighth001]

I did mine side-to-side. Mine were planks not tiles and they lock together not glued. It was pretty easy to install. If you install it now leave it in your home for 24 hours before installing so its at a little warmer temp. Remember when summer comes it may expand some.

[Dennis Clinton]

Steve and Rosemary: Don't you love this Utah weather? 3 degrees right now in Saratoga Springs.

Oh, I haven't done the trailer yet, but will use Allure(like my kitchen). I like the bamboo look, and will run it cross ways.

[knighth001]

So btw. There are 2 different Allure products (at least at my Home Depot there was) The basic Allure and the Allure Ultra. Difference from what I recall is that the Allure glues/sticks together and is water resistant; Allure Ultra snaps together and is waterproof (and more expensive). I went with the ultra for the waterproof. (and the color my wife picked out was in Ultra). I like that it snaps together too. easier to take up and put back down should I need to replace frame bolts or something.

[Steve and Rosemary]

Thanks for the info, Sean. I was wondering about the price difference. Out of curiousity, what color did you decide on? I have only looked online and the colors I like all say "online only". Did they have a sample book or anything?

It might be a little warmer in Salt Lake, but not much. I don't mind the cold but ghe toxic are really bothers me. Yuck!

[knighth001]

Originally Posted by Steve and Rosemary

Thanks for the info, Sean. I was wondering about the price difference. Out of curiousity, what color did you decide on? I have only looked online and the colors I like all say "online only". Did they have a sample book or anything?

It might be a little warmer in Salt Lake, but not much. I don't mind the cold but ghe toxic are really bothers me. Yuck!

they have samples and some colors in the brochures. They had samples for ones they had there plus some special order. of course the one my wife picked out was special order so I had to wait a week on it to get to the store. She picked out Durban Oak as the color. It's a bit on the grayish side. But we brought several sample squares home to look at in the trailer before she decided.

[jimmied]

Originally Posted by knighth001

So btw. There are 2 different Allure products (at least at my Home Depot there was) The basic Allure and the Allure Ultra. Difference from what I recall is that the Allure glues/sticks together and is water resistant; Allure Ultra snaps together and is waterproof (and more expensive). I went with the ultra for the waterproof. (and the color my wife picked out was in Ultra). I like that it snaps together too. easier to take up and put back down should I need to replace frame bolts or something.

Very interesting thread. I have never heard about this product, but was planning on putting down vinyl floor sheeting, flooring in one piece. Is Alurre less expensive and easier to install than vinyl sheeting (flooring) and what is the advantage. I have put down laminate flooring in our house and it looks great, although a lot of work. Comments, please.

[Ruth G]

The allure snaps together and is not glued down to the floor. It seems incredibly hard to get the carpet up. The allure is a floating floor, why not put it on top of the carpet? If I get the waterproof one, it won't leak thru to the carpet. The carpet is smooth, seems easier to place the allure on top of it.

Just fishing around for thoughts. I had thought about going lengthwise, have a front bathroom in the scamp. Now rethinking, maybe easier to go crosswise.

I'm open to all ideas. thanks for the advice.

I'm dreaming of warmer weather and camping again.

Ruth

[knighth001]

Originally Posted by Ruth G

The allure is a floating floor, why not put it on top of the carpet? If I get the waterproof one, it won't leak thru to the carpet. The carpet is smooth, seems easier to place the allure on top of it.

Ruth

having a waterproof material and waterproofing your floor are two different things. If you don't seal it all the way around, water could seep in around the edges. I have not sealed mine; I haven't even put quarter-round molding on mine yet. it was a bit cool in early Nov when I installed it and I wanted to wait till I see how it expands in the Georgia summer heat before I do anything else.

Since there's not much around on installing it in fiberglass campers, I thought a bit outside of the box and did some googling before I installed mine about installing it in bathrooms up against fiberglass tubs/showers. I ran across this thread which had some interesting information on how an installer would do it in a bathroom to seal the edges against water seeping.

Allure flooring against bathtub - Talk to us! Join the DIY Conversation Now...

I'm not sure if I'll totally seal mine or not but quarter-round molding will wait till July to judge the heat and expansion.

As for installing in over carpet, I'd recommend against it as I have earlier in this thread. I think several folks in this thread have commented on why you shouldn't install on top the carpet.

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by jimmied

Very interesting thread. I have never heard about this product, but was planning on putting down vinyl floor sheeting, flooring in one piece. Is Alurre less expensive and easier to install than vinyl sheeting (flooring) and what is the advantage. I have put down laminate flooring in our house and it looks great, although a lot of work. Comments, please.

Nothing at all wrong with sheet vinyl, and if you are at all comfortable doing it (it really is not that hard), then I think it would be a by far superior product. I think the allure of Allure (pun intended) is that it is meant to be easy to use, thus marketed at the BORG to DIY's.

Originally Posted by Ruth G

The allure snaps together and is not glued down to the floor. It seems incredibly hard to get the carpet up. The allure is a floating floor, why not put it on top of the carpet? If I get the waterproof one, it won't leak thru to the carpet. The carpet is smooth, seems easier to place the allure on top of it.

I'm dreaming of warmer weather and camping again.

Ruth

Though not familiar with the Allure product, I am very familiar with sheet vinyl flooring, and the issue is that it would flex a lot more because of the give of the carpeting, something it is not intended to do.

I went to the Allure website and looked at the following installation instructions. LINK Note their comments in bold about carpets.

6. Subfloor Preparation
Allure can be laid over virtually any subfloor including wood, concrete, vinyl, linoleum, and ceramic tiles. The subfloor needs to be solid, without cracks, dips, and bulges, and clean of dust and debris. If there’s excessive moisture in a concrete floor, you will probably need to use floor sealer to protect Allure and avoid mold growth. Allure cannot be installed over carpets. Radiant heated floors may make Allure produce an odor.

And Ruth, no dreaming of summer yet, there is still WAY too much winter yet to enjoy. I have hardly got any skiing in yet.

[Steve and Rosemary]

So now we really have to figure out how to get the carpet in a Scamp up! I still like the idea of the allure but only because I like how good it looks. It seems like you guys like the ultra, right? It seems kind of expensive though. My husband said oak flooring was on sale for 2 dollars and change per sqft. Would that work? Too heavy? Too stiff? Just another wrench to throw into the mix since I've actually done oak floors before.
Sean, did you have to put a subfloor down or was it not that sensitive to imperfections?
Oh, and I like that durban color. Did they make you buy the samples?