Cork Floor

[Gene]

If you have to put underlayment in first in a floating floor, if water gets to the underlayment (at door, sinks, leaks running down wall), it will wick throughout the trailer over time and you may not know it. You can seal the edges with caulk, but probably still need a space at the edge of the floor beyond the caulk. You can probably get away with less of a space because it is a small area.

There's no perfect floor as is evident from the threads on floors.

Gene

[chowman2011]

Yes, A variety of options and requirements for flooring of various types!

Gene, potential moisture has crossed My mind...

Another thought for utilizing the cork primarily on the traffic areas; and something else under some of the framework(bedroom area and front couch).then sealing could be done from inside the framework to keep any potential moisture from the cork floor area...Thoughts???

Seems, on average, the click/lock cork flooring is 26 lbs for approx. 27 sq. ft.
Weight comes to mind also...why add the extra weight if it is an unseen area???

Any thoughts???

[truckasaurus]

Disclosure. I just wanted to mention that with the stick down tile floor prep will be more important. I installed my subfloor so I know it'll pass and I used to install hardwood and do custom stair work in one of my past business so I'm hoping to be OK with cutting the cork. I'm really not expecting much movement from the tile but worst case it'll form a great underlayment for something else later on! I can't recall how much it weighs but I bought nearly 200 sq ft and I can easily carry it under 1 arm; it's light. The click down weighs a lot but will certainly cover over a less than perfect floor with ease.

[chowman2011]

Based on rough estimates of floor area...seems to be a maximum of 50 square feet in debate as to have cork flooring.

Roughly speaking, that equates to about 50 pounds...

Yet there would be more consistency, thermal barrier and sound deadening with the cork floor throughout(minus under kitchen area cabinets of course)....

Have to get a better visual on this as I rebuild the bedroom area lower framing(cabinets) and take it from there. As for the rest of the floor area--no debate, cork flooring it is.

[Gene]

Water is a problem if it gets under the floor—the subfloor is wood and can rot or get mold. If you use a floor with something that can absorb water, it can swell and have to be replaced. Anything can develop mold—the underside of a floor, underlayment, subfloor.

So, sealing the joints may be important if water can get through them, and sealing the edges to prevent water from getting underneath. If a floor is glued down and sealed at the edges, it seems more likely water will not get underneath from the edges. Having no underlayment reduces the chance of water being wicked and retained underneath. A vapor barrier may reduce transmission of water, or maybe using a marine paint on the subfloor seals and provides a vapor barrier.

Is the click/lock cork made of a layer of cork on top of a hard surfaced material such as compressed wood fiber and glue? If so, it is a laminate and I would think it could swell if it gets wet. To me the ease of installation is not enough of a factor to use something compared to the threat of water problems.

There's a reason vinyl is popular—relatively low price, easy to clean, unaffected by water, easy to trim. The negative is cutting a sheet to fit the twists and turns of an RV floor—that takes professional experience. I wouldn't try it even though I've done tile, wood, and laminate floors. Airstream cops out by just laying a sheet across the entire trailer floor hoping the warranty claims won't be so high as to cost more than they save by not hiring someone who can cut vinyl. Vinyl tiles are a possible solution, but getting seams tight and having them stay tight is also something that not everyone can do—this is true of strip flooring, laminate that doesn't have locks and many of flooring materials.

Lots of issues with all types of floors. This is why I am avoiding solving the buckled vinyl issue—the most visible buckle is getting lower now that temps are up and we are walking on it.

Of course, you could expose the subfloor and paint it.

Gene

[chowman2011]

Here is a link that shows the bedroom area; and its realtion to the future cork flooring to go in My Silver Streak....

It is Post #11:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f417...ish-77204.html

Some of the details and aspects to address are listed there also...

Regardless...the main areas will have the locking cork floor and this is a site I am lookin at:

Discount Cork Flooring | Bamboo Flooring | Handscraped Hardwood Floors | Cork Floor Tile

Enjoy and Cheers!!
Christopher

[FreshAir]

Originally Posted by chowman2011

Fresh Air,

I am interested in the cork flooring You put in! This sounds like the type of flooring I would like to install in My 77 Silver Streak 'Refurbish'.

Not really inclined for a adhesive/glue down type; and I had wobdered if this type of cork flooring was available...Wa-La !!

Info on sources for this flooring would be much appreciated!!

Thanks,
Christopher

Lumber Liquidators is where I got my floor supplies. What questions do you still have that were not answered in the link to my installation that I posted a few posts back?
Neil

[Globie64]

Originally Posted by chowman2011

Here is a link that shows the bedroom area; and its realtion to the future cork flooring to go in My Silver Streak....

It is Post #11:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f417...ish-77204.html

Some of the details and aspects to address are listed there also...

Regardless...the main areas will have the locking cork floor and this is a site I am lookin at:

Discount Cork Flooring | Bamboo Flooring | Handscraped Hardwood Floors | Cork Floor Tile

Enjoy and Cheers!!
Christopher

You would want to seal the cork, and we've been using Bona Traffic for ours, and for bamboo floors that get a lot of traffic. That would help resist water from the top. My concern is that if you totally seal the top of the floor, won't you get moisture from underneath, from within the belly pan, which is trapped inside the plywood- where you put the "vapor barrier" is important.

[polarlyse]

Christopher, you asked where to purchase cork floating floor. I just bought 2 boxes at Worldwide Flooring. I'm sure there are other retailers. I just repaired a section of subfloor in our '85 Excella. Previous owner had installed cork floating floor. I had to pull up the area of the floor forward of the stove to make the repairs. Some of the pieces of floor are re-usable but others were damaged from the water leak and that's what I picked up today. I was able to match the floor by pattern and color. I'll find out when I put it in how much fading occurred and can't help that much. So we'll see.
\

[desertair27]

I've been reading everyone's post on cork flooring and decided to pull the trigger on some floating cork flooring from Lowe's.Seem's like quality stuff and it came with a 25 year warranty and cost $2.99 a sq ft.It is a special order item although it only took 4 days to get in.I still need to order and install the matching trim.
My wife's loving and I'm pretty happy with it so far.

[FreshAir]

We love our floating cork floor. I have to keep reminding myself that the soft floor is NOT sub floor rot!
Neil

[Vintage1987]

Looks sharp!!!