Replacing Carpet - 2002 Classic??

[Steve Heywood]

I know this has been discussed before.
How involved is replacing the factory carpet with something else of a similar thickness? Will I have to remove cabinetry and/or furnishings in order to remove the carpet? Any tricks to ease installation/removal? Pitfalls???

Thanks,

[TomW]

If you want a clean job you will need to pull out anything presently sitting on the carpet. If you do not, you will need to install some sort of moulding to hide where the old carpet was cut out.

You said "something else of similar thickness". You might consider something of greater thickness if you do not want to install additional moulding. The added thickness will hide the transition.

Tom

[Safari Tim]

In my '71 the carpet was put in after the fixtures. So it was laid with just standard tack strips.

Very easy to pull out and remove or in your case reuse the tack strips. You will just have to look closely at your installation to determine if the carpet was laid first or after the fixtures.

I did leave a 2" x 6" peice of the original gold shag carpet in the closet for nastalgia ;-)

[TomW]

Tim makes a good point. My response was based on what I found in my '67 Overlander. I just now noticed you posted this thread in the 2002 Classic forum.

I guess you will need to identify what year Airstream you need advice for before you get applicable suggestions.

Tom

[Steve Heywood]

Originally Posted by TomW

Tim makes a good point. My response was based on what I found in my '67 Overlander. I just now noticed you posted this thread in the 2002 Classic forum.

I guess you will need to identify what year Airstream you need advice for before you get applicable suggestions.

Tom

I picked the 02 Classic forum (had to chose SOMETHING) since I'm searching for a 96-03 Excella or Classic. I'm considering a 97 30' Excella which is the exact floorplan I want and of course has a blue interior which is the one color I really don't like. My wife is an expert seamstress and will sew slipcovers to cover whatever we don't has reupholstered. That leaves the blue carpet. My first thought is to remove the carpet and replace it with something like cork.

[Condoluminum]

I think Airstream was using tack strips to lay carpet from late 80's on.. When we replaced ours (1988 model), carpet ran under couch approx half way, but was installed after cabinets and rear bed. Separate pieces ran up under toilet and side of shower threshold (side bath..). There are several threads regarding installation of hardwood or composite or bamboo or cork flooring (or even linoleum..) here on forums.. Wood offers advantage of durability and easy to clean, plus a little noisier.. Can be challenging to find professional installers wanting to do narrow and difficult job, and many have done themselves....

Carpeting too thick can interfere with slide-out drawer under front couch, or other sliding cabinetry, if you're not careful.

John McG

[Anon]

Originally Posted by JBMcG

I think Airstream was using tack strips to lay carpet from late 80's on.. When we replaced ours (1988 model), carpet ran under couch approx half way, but was installed after cabinets and rear bed. Separate pieces ran up under toilet and side of shower threshold (side bath..). There are several threads regarding installation of hardwood or composite or bamboo or cork flooring (or even linoleum..) here on forums.. Wood offers advantage of durability and easy to clean, plus a little noisier.. Can be challenging to find professional installers wanting to do narrow and difficult job, and many have done themselves....

Carpeting too thick can interfere with slide-out drawer under front couch, or other sliding cabinetry, if you're not careful.

John McG

I just ran across this thread after a search on carpet replacement.
I have tack strips in my 1977. You have to be careful of the pad and carpet thinkness for the pocket doors too. The accordian door on mine is cut high enough that I won't have a problem with that even if the carpet is 3 inches tall!

[wayner1239]

My 92 Sovereign had no tack strips - just lots of staples. I had to use a box cutter and cut the carpet around the cabinets. It took a lot of blades. As mentioned in an earlier post, I had to make some molding to hide the cracks but I believe that would have been necessary regardless of the carpet. The reason I had to make the molding is because I needed various thicknesses. There was only about a 3/16" space under some of the cabinet doors that opened downwards.
We love the laminate.
Wayne

[Bob Thompson]

I recently replaced the carpet in my '97 Excella and it was a serious amount of work. I didn't take everything out, but that would have probably been easier. First, let me explain, when Airstream builds the Excella, they install the carpet, then install everything on top of it including walls, shower, cabinets, etc.. I first trimmed the carpet to the face of the cabinets, wall, etc., removed the carpet and pad. This trimming didn't leave a very stable looking condition, so I opened up cabinets etc. as best I could and pulled/tore out the remaining carpet and pad. This was no small task! This also, left the cabinets hanging from the walls and the walls hanging from the ceiling of the trailer. I then used shims to raise the dangling cabinets and walls back up into there normal position. This left a gap of about 5/8" between the floor and bottoms of walls and cabinets.

I did a combination of things to support the walls and cabinets. Some places, I made wood blocking and put it between cabinet bottoms and the floor plywood. Other places I use strips of 1-1/2" aluminum angle. I would put the aluminum angle at the non-public side of the wall or cabinet, screw it to the floor, then used 1/2" screws every 4" or so to screw into the back of the cabinet or wall being supported.

With all the walls and cabinets supported and all the old carpet out, except for under the refrigerator, I put down floor leveling compound so irregularities wouldn't telegraph thru the vinyl flooring, sanded it smooth then installed new foam backed sheet vinyl. This sheet vinyl uses a "non-glue down" installation
so I put double stick tape along the edges and at the one seam I had.

Next, I reinstalled things like the bed and front desk, then purchased about 25 lf of prefinished 3/4" oak corner round shoe mold. and installed that on top the sheet vinyl to hide visible gaps at cabinets and walls and to give it that nice trimmed out feeling. The vinyl is way easier to care for than carpet, it is way lighter in weight than wood or Pergo, and it doesn't suffer from the expansion/contraction/cracking problems of wood or Pergo. Pergo is heavy. Go to Home Depot and try to pick up a box of it!

Total weight savings of sheet vinyl instead of carpet and pad, probably around 100 pounds.

[Anon]

Looks good, Bob.
I just finished ripping out the old carpet in the Minuet.
I have an aluminum floor in my trailer so putting down anything other than carpeting is not a good idea. The floor flexes and it also starts to sage a little.
I pulled up the old tack strips and I am not sure what I am going to use to hold the carpet down to the floor. I have considered using heavy duty Velcro (TM) on both the back of the carpet and on the floor.
What has everyone else used for your carpet? I am looking for ideas.

[Janet H]

Originally Posted by pattersontoo

.... I pulled up the old tack strips and I am not sure what I am going to use to hold the carpet down to the floor. I have considered using heavy duty Velcro (TM) on both the back of the carpet and on the floor.
What has everyone else used for your carpet? I am looking for ideas.

We left the tack strip in but I think it doesn't matter. We replaced the old carpet with a single piece of Berber carpet (stiff back), cut to size. It just stays in place - as there is no place for it to move to. It is firmly wedged in by the "furniture". When it gets too dirty to clean - we will use the old chunk as a template, cut a new one and swap them.

Small trailers are cool - you can buy remnants for cheap!

[Anon]

I saved the old piece of carpet so I can cut a template. My tack strips were nasty. One of the previous owners had been very nasty to the flooring. The tack strips had "stuff" on them! EEEWWWW! I pulled them out because of that.
I might put tack strips back down.
Janet-did you guys have that little piece of carpet stuck to the front of the toilet riser too? If you do, how did you reattach it? Did you reglue it?

[Janet H]

Nope - no vertical carpet. Can't help.
If you don't want to replace vertical section with carpet - for obvious reasons, and there is adhesive on tank surround - you might consider putting a piece of vinyl flooring or something similar to cover up old glue - at least you could clean it....

[Anon]

I think I am going to have to put carpet on it again. It does not go all the way up the side of the surround. I could probably get away with vinyl flooring.
There is a plastic channel that is at the top of where the carpet went. I go to pull that off and there are going to be a ton of little holes that I will have to fill in.

[nickcrowhurst]

This talk of using the old carpet as a template takes me back all of two weeks. We decided to replace the 30 year old carpet in our sailing yacht. We built the wooden 6 ton yacht in the 70's, and the carpet had been there ever since. It was an office style carpet with no pile, and it was the same color and texture on top and underneath. The carpet was cut in a complicated asymetric shape to fit round the floors and ribs and lockers in the cabin, like the Airstream carpet, only more so. I obtained some special waterproof carpet with no pile, and brought the old carpet home from the yacht. I laid the old carpet on the new, cut very carefully round the old carpet with a scalpel, and took the new carpet off to the yacht to fit it.
I offer an abundance of Karma to the first person to post why my day then went rapidly downhill. I'm not the first to have ,done this (my brother has confessed -is it genetic?), and I won't be the last. You have been warned. Nick.

[InsideOut]

Originally Posted by nickcrowhurst

I offer an abundance of Karma to the first person to post why my day then went rapidly downhill. I'm not the first to have ,done this (my brother has confessed -is it genetic?), and I won't be the last. You have been warned. Nick.

I'll bet it was a mirror image of what you wanted because the old carpet was placed face-to-face with the new. Argh!

Shari

[fireflyinva]

I've had sucess cutting vinyl flooring by spreading out a big sheet of felt on the floor, cutting it to fit, then using it as a template. And yes, as Shari mentions--mark which side is up!

Mary

[nickcrowhurst]

Originally Posted by InsideOut

I'll bet it was a mirror image of what you wanted because the old carpet was placed face-to-face with the new. Argh!

Shari

Yes, and with a forum name like "InsideOut", who better to guess the truth! Nick.

[Anon]

Originally Posted by nickcrowhurst

Yes, and with a forum name like "InsideOut", who better to guess the truth! Nick.

HeeHee!
I almost did the same thing! I caught myself though.
Mine has fit rather well and I am still trimming it here and there to make it look REALLY good. My wife says I am being to anal about it; that it looks good enough. I want to be able to point to it at the rally this August and say, "look what I can do!".

[InsideOut]

Originally Posted by nickcrowhurst

Yes, and with a forum name like "InsideOut", who better to guess the truth! Nick.

It happens all the time!!!! Don't be too hard on yourself ~

Shari