allure trafficMASTER - Page 5

Maryw164 · 04-25-2009, 02:56 AM

It's called Novalis. We installed it in our house, because we have 3 dogs and needed something easy to clean and durable. Its great stuff, we've had it for about 4-5 years now and just needs swiffering or when I want to do a good clean I use my Hoover Floormate. We are going to be installing it in our AS soon also. We hate the carpet it has now. We have it in the golden oak color. Here is the companys site to see the options: NOVALIS. Lowes has a few options off the shelf, and the others can be special ordered. The off the shelf planks (4" x 36") run $0.98? each/sq.ft. I believe this is the same stuff that alot of Wal-mart stores have used in their stores (the 6" planks). It is very durable and looks just like wood at fraction of the price. In the house we used luan as an under-layment (primed), because our sub-floor had particle board over the floor joists, and it wouldn't adhere well the particle board according to the manufacturer info. In the AS we plan on just sanding the seams on our plywood subfloor, fill the bolt holes, then prime the plywood for good adhesion. I'll have to update after we complete the project within the next few weeks. Here's a pic of the house floor. The 1st one is the best image for the color, the second one shows the full hallway view.

Hope this helps.

Mary

utee94 · 04-25-2009, 09:46 AM

Thanks Mary, I think it looks great in your house. After making my above post a couple of months ago, I did some more research on it, and found a pretty long thread about the Novalis product on the GardenWeb forums. The heavy majority of people who had installed it had very positive things to say, many of them having lived with it for several years as you have.

Like the Allure, I think it is well suited for an Airstream application. I went and picked up a couple of samples to see how it looks in the front half of my trailer, and I really like it.

Please do check back in with pictures once you have completed your trailer installation.

-Marcus

kdenault · 05-02-2009, 09:16 PM

I've been considering the use of Allure Trafficmaster in my AS MH. After doing an internet search, I found some interesting information. Apparently, Allure Trafficmaster CANNOT be installed in situations which are not climate controlled. In an environment which drops below 65 degrees, reports indicate that Trafficmaster seperates at that seams. The glue strips do not hold in situations with dramatic temperature swings.

I'm not sure about Novalis. If this is a complete glue down application versus a glue-together application like Trafficmaster--it may tolerate the temperature swings better. Not sure.

In other reports, folks have recommended Metro Floor from Konnecto-I think this is full glue-down application.

If anyone has tried Trafficmaster or Novalis in an AS, how are the results? Any problems with the temperature swings?

Kathleen

66Overlander · 05-02-2009, 10:29 PM

We put down Allure last year fully knowing that they did not recommend it for trailers. We figured that if it didn't work well, we could always change it out in a few years.

The Allure was great for the first camping season, but I will confirm that when we visited the trailer during the winter, a lot of seams opened up due to the cold weather and shrinkage. They have mostly closed up now that it is getting warm again, but we did discover a buckling issue as it warmed back up. We had a fairly heavy chair on the floor and while the flooring could "pull" it when it got cold, it couldn't "push" it back when it started getting warm causing the floor to buckle. I removed the chair and put some weight (just a few throw rugs) over the buckled area. I guess when we get ready for the first trip of the year in a couple of weeks we'll remove the rugs and see if the buckle is gone (at least for this season).

Would we put down Allure in a trailer again? Probably not

Will we be living with it as is for a few years? Yes.

We do love the look and with the underlayment we put down it is nice to walk on, even in bare feet.

I will suggest that is you live in an area that does not freeze in the winter, Allure may not experience the same issues we have seen up here in the north, but it will shill shrink and grow a little with any temperature change. Leave a little room around the edges for this unless you are laying it at 100+F temperatures.

HiHoAgRV · 05-07-2009, 09:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 66Overlander

We...., Allure may not experience the same issues we have seen up here in the north, but it will shill shrink and grow a little with any temperature change. Leave a little room around the edges for this unless you are laying it at 100+F temperatures.

I can give a report, I too have noticed a large gap grow on then end joints this past winter. I haven't seen it decrease as the weather has warmed.

I guess we will wait for the real 90 degree 90% humidity to see if the gaps close

It's still 100% better than carpet or real wood (I've had both)

Ganglin · 05-02-2009, 10:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kdenault

"snip" In an environment which drops below 65 degrees, reports indicate that Trafficmaster seperates at that seams. The glue strips do not hold in situations with dramatic temperature swings."snip"
Kathleen

The installation instructions indicate 15 degrees to 95 degrees as the temperature range for using the product....?

Maryw164 · 05-06-2009, 01:00 AM

Checkout this new thread on peel & stick:

Peel & Stick?

kdenault · 05-08-2009, 09:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ganglin

The installation instructions indicate 15 degrees to 95 degrees as the temperature range for using the product....?

Ganglin,
The box of Novalis said something about it not being guaranteed at temperatures below 55 degrees and above 85. I may've misread it but--this does not seem as if it would be a good application in a trailer living in the Northeast??

Kathleen

Airslide · 05-07-2009, 11:14 PM

We installed our Traffic master in August of 08 with very warm temps. During the winter I was more than concerned that there were several large gaps. I left room on the edges for this as they told me it might happen a bit but it actually fluctuates alot! Overall im happy with it and i like the texture. We will just have to see how it holds up. I worry about dirt and stuff in the seams and then when it closes back up it might damage it. Who knows. Wont be the end of the world if i have to change it out again some day just not some day soon..

Vinnie

Bowmans · 09-28-2009, 08:04 PM

Question on the molding used with floating flooring... In normal household applications, quarter-round is nailed through to the wall joist. In an AS, where the floor hits aluminum trim or an aluminum wall, how did you all attach the molding? I know that if you attach it to the floor, it is no longer floating floor. Did you use like gorilla glue or some adhesive?

HiHoAgRV · 09-28-2009, 08:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bowmans

Question on the molding used with floating flooring... In normal household applications, quarter-round is nailed through to the wall joist. In an AS, where the floor hits aluminum trim or an aluminum wall, how did you all attach the molding? I know that if you attach it to the floor, it is no longer floating floor. Did you use like gorilla glue or some adhesive?

I nailed it to the floor, right thru the flooring. I figure as much as the whole trailer flexes and moves, worrying about a big chunk of vinyl being 'over constrained' is not that big of a deal in the big scheme of things...

66Overlander · 09-28-2009, 10:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bowmans

Question on the molding used with floating flooring... In normal household applications, quarter-round is nailed through to the wall joist. In an AS, where the floor hits aluminum trim or an aluminum wall, how did you all attach the molding? I know that if you attach it to the floor, it is no longer floating floor. Did you use like gorilla glue or some adhesive?

In my case all molding was nailed to the cabinets (after pre-drilling nail holes, since we used tiny brads and were going into hard oak) with one exception. Without pre-drilling the tiny brads would just bend.

Most of the molding is pre-finished stuff we got from Home Depot (or Lowes?). While is was maybe 3/4" tall, but was only about 1/4" thick. The color match was good for our cabinets, so we used as much as we could to reduce the amount of staining and urethaning we needed to do. In a few places this molding was not large enough to cover the gap between the cabinet and floor and we went with a larger oak molding that we finished to match the rest of the cabinets. All of this was nailed in place.

The one exception was a piece of yet larger oak baseboard that the PO had put in the bathroom by gluing it to the wall. Since we had to remove it to install the flooring and since it ripped the wallpaper when we did so, we felt encouraged to reuse that piece to cover up the wallpaper damage even though we would have otherwise gone with the smaller molding to match the rest of the trailer. We refinished the piece and I then installed it with screws from behind the wall (which was accessible under one of the twin beds).

I guess you could call the threshold piece at the entry door another exception. I made a new threshold and then installed it by screwing it to the floor through over sized holes in the flooring (to let it float). I have seen others that actually installed this piece by screwing it to the door frame rather than the floor.