bamboo flooring in airstream

[dwb5f]

Getting ready to install an engineered bamboo floor in an airstream travel trailer.

Question: What is the recommended method to install a wood floor in an airstream trailer.

• The floor will be quite small say 7’ x 8’ at the largest open area and other typically small areas like 5’ x 3’.
• The trailer will be exposed to temperature extremes like 32 degrees to 120 degrees.
• I would like to use a combination plastic vapor barrier and pad like found at Lowes….is this recommended?
• Do I need to do the loose laid or glue this floor down.
• Can I use smaller gaps at the edges with such small areas to cover?

Any other recommendations would be appreciated.

[HowieE]

Don't glue it down.
Remove as much cabinetry as you can and install the flooring over this are.
Where you have to screw down the cabinets drill a 3/4 in. clearance hole through the floor and screw down through these holes. This will allow the floor to float. After 3 years I have seen no evidence of floating but the manufactures want that margin of safety.
The barrier I used was supplied by Armstrong.

[HowieE]

For some reason the picture did not post.

[rovercamper]

Hey Howie, what type of molding did you use around the borders? There doesn't look to be many straight lines in these trailers - like around the door, with all the little ins & outs. Wondering what works best.

[HowieE]

Another nice thing about removing as many of the cabinets as possible is you loose a lot of cutting and fitting. I did not remove the kitchen cabinet so that became the starting point working along that edge and filling to both sides.

I used 1/4 round prefinished molding that closely matched the floor color. Total molding was about 6 feet, just a long piece along the toe kick of the kitchen cabinet, 18 in. along the edge of that cabinet by the door and 3 in. from that cabinet to the door frame. No picture of the molding areas. Under the stove there is an air access for the furnace and I just extended the flooring into that area a couple of inches no molding as the edge just disappears there. My trailer has a velvet wainscot on a backer board in the living room and that covered the exposed edges of the 1/4 in. setback required for a floating floor so no molding there.