Installing Hardwood Floors

[mystereons41]

I am thinking about installing solid hardwood flooring in the Airstream we’re renovating. It seems a lot of people are doing floating floors. However many solid floating floors are heavy. I found a hardwood flooring that’s only 5/16” but the installation method is staple/nail down. I’m worried about expansion problems with stapling it to the subfloor. Does anyone have any success/failure stories with nailing solid hardwood flooring to the subfloor?

[Flht2k]

Originally Posted by mystereons41

I am thinking about installing solid hardwood flooring in the Airstream we’re renovating. It seems a lot of people are doing floating floors. However many solid floating floors are heavy. I found a hardwood flooring that’s only 5/16” but the installation method is staple/nail down. I’m worried about expansion problems with stapling it to the subfloor. Does anyone have any success/failure stories with nailing solid hardwood flooring to the subfloor?

I have a floating floor, excellent quality, but after 8 months, the floor started to lift, not sure why, it comes and goes, but I would still recommend a floating floor , I would just leave an 1/8 inch along edges for expansion

[Peter B]

I did install the 5/16 hardwood in our airstream and it has held up very well for 10 years. The only issue is I only used glue and should have also nailed it. We have drastic temp chance up north here and in a couple spot the glue has released and you can hear it when you walk on it. About to change it out this spring to 3/8 engineered wood, glue and nail this time and with the slightly thicker wood it will be more durable and less dent resistant. Originally the airstream came with 3/4 tongue and grove.

[skyguyscott]

Wood looks nice, but I think it's generally not the best choice for any sort of travel trailer for all the reasons you know:

• Suseptible to mold and rot over time
• Absorbs spills and moisture, and camping is almost always a damp environment
• Heavier than other alternatives
• Requires more upkeep than other alternatives
• Thermal expansion issues lead to gaps and buckles in floor, regardless if floating, or worse, nailed down.

So, other than looks, it's appeal escapes me. Alternatives?

AS itself has long used one-piece vinyl for a variety of reasons: Cheap, durable, relatively lightweight, low labor costs to install at factory, where it is laid down on top of the subfloor before the shell is attached and interior fixtures installed. After market makes this option unviable unless you are doing a shell-off restoration.

Vinyl plank flooring is a popular choice in either faux wood or faux stone options. It is available in a wide range of qualities, thickness, colors and patterns, is fairly durable, fairly lightweight and fairly easy to install.

Carpet is chosen by some, but besides being relatively cheap and easy, and feeling nice and warm after initial install, quickly gathers dirt and moisture and I wouldn't recommend it for that application.

Bamboo is another option some swear by; it's lighter weight than wood and a more sustainable product.

Others really like cork flooring; lightweight, softer than wood but easier to clean than capet, easy to install, easy to patch, and remarkably durable considering.

Some have taken a different approach and filled, painted and poly-sealed the subfloor directly, this option being cheap, easy, very lightweight and quite durable if coated with high quality polyurethane. Those that have gone this route have been quite creative with the flooring, painting maps or laying down picture collages, pennies, or doing something unique and charming to make the trailer their own.

I decided on a high quality, 3/4" thick puzzle mat material that has worked great. The formulation I purchased is very thermally stable with little expansion or contraction over the seasons. It is exceptionally lightweight, embarrassingly easy to install, looks great, impervious to water, easily cleaned (I can even remove a square at a time and hose it down, if needed) even replaceable piece by piece if damaged, and incredibly cheap, having spent less than $50 to do the entire trailer.

There are plenty of options out there and available, search the forums and you can even see pictures of what others are doing and have done. Good Luck!

[Peter B]

One thing we have never experienced in 10 years is moving or buckling of the hardwood being engineered wood. Or even any type of rot or mould and we have it in the bathroom as well. I guess the secret to a wood floor is proper installation, to glue either the tongue or the grove during install. This will help water proof it. And it also can be installed that way over any type of sub-straight making it a floating floor. Glue and nailing (must do both)will provide support to the subfloor as well. Being a 5/16 thick wood floor it is half the weight of any GOOD QUALITY vinyl flooring, just lift a box of it.
However. As mentioned, Hardwood flooring does require more care as you would not want people with gravel in there shoes walking across it and we tend to cleaning more because it feels more like a home and not a trailer, and warmer on the feet than plastic flooring. One important thing is buy wood that is local, North American local, If you go that route. I install thousands of square feet and anything over sea is always questionable so a couple extra dollars for local wood with be the difference in replacing it sooner than never.
Cheers