Do I re-carpet or not

[Marshman51]

My wife and I have recently purchased a 2003 30' Classic and we are starting our camping career at age of 58. I have just retired from the retail flooring business I have owned for the past 38 years so I know a little about flooring. The off white carpet in our Classic has spots that I have tryed to remove and can not get them out. As most people know the old carpet is under the cabnets beds and everthing. My concern is resale value and if I might hurt the resale if I would put new carpet in our Classic. The only way I see to put new carpet in it is to cut the old out from around the cabnets leaving the orginal carpet under them and installing new carpet in these areas. What do you think???? I can put new carpet in and it will be professionally installed but will it hurt resale some day when I go to sell it if I take it out of orginal condition. I am thinking of installing carpet tile with release sensitive adhesive and that way if a tile or two get dirty or stained simply pull the old one out and put a new one in. Please give me some feed back about putting new flooring in my Classic. Thanks Jim Elliott

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Hi, Welcome to the forum.

Remove the carpet and replace it with a nice vinyl or wood floor; Some people also prefer cork. Fix it for your enjoyment and don't worry about resale. If you don't remove items to replace the carpet, how are you going to professionally install new carpet, with tack strips? Most of my trailer has a vinyl floor except the bedroom and when it gets bad, it's coming out. We use, and like, a few throw rugs, when they get bad, throw them away. If you are really worried about resale, I think the next owner would rather appreciate a nice wood floor over a carpet. [my opinion]

[dwightdi]

Carpet or hard surface material is your first choice you have to make and that is dependent on how you intend to use the unit. If you are real campers and like state parks or campgrounds without wall to wall asphalt then hard surface is your choice. If you just want to go to destination RV resorts and live in the unit, carpets are OK. Most units are at some point refloored. It should not effect your resale although it might effect the number of people who would find it a tractive and meeting their needs. The important thing is it needs to be done neatly and properly installed.

[Roadrunner]

Ditto what Bob and Dwight said. When we bought our "78" we did not like the carpet that had been put down. Out it went, along with the tac strips and many staples the PO used to hold it down. We are going with the Allure natural bamboo laminate. The hard surfaces are much easier to clean and give you a better idea if/or when a leak occurs. Carpet will hide the leaks...ask me how I know. In the end, install what you want and don't worry about resale. These trailers hold their price and I would guess most new owners want to make changes to suit their personal tastes. Welcome to the Forums and enjoy your Airstream. You might also want to listen to the VAP podcasts. Lots of great information here and there.

Bob
TAC PA-5
WBCCI - 4871

[wheel interested]

If I had my druthers I would remove the carpeting and install cork or a colored flooring, possibly wood but I like color for contrast. Remove the couch to lay the carpet and then leave the rest of the furniture, would be my opinion. Ideally there would be an attractive hard flooring surface that is easy to clean and will withstand time without showing wear and a bound contour carpet over it, possibly in easy to manage sections, giving optimum flexibility and easy to clean and replace carpeting pieces. I do like the look and feel of clean carpeting.

[Aage]

Hello and welcome to airforums.com, Jim! You asked your question on the right site: there's tons of info here.

It occurred to me that it's probably the high-traffic areas in your TT (travel trailer) that are showing wear and stains, and perhaps in less-travelled places were there might have been an "accident".

If this is the case, have you given any thought to cutting our squares, say 12"X12", of the existing carpet, and plugging in squares of something new, in a contrasting colour?

As a pro, you know that it's inevitable that the traffic through your TT will wear down a path, but it may not look odd (if you do it well), in a colour that compliments the existing one. If you have off-white (beige?), what about coffee-coloured pieces to patch in? Or a darker chocolate, even?

I dunno, it was just a crazy thought I had reading your piece.

OTOH, lots of folks on here are putting in varieties of wood-look flooring, laminates, snap-together vinyl tiles, even real wood, and one sees that in the newer Airstreams, so I don't see how that could degrade your TT's value in any way.

And if you decide to re-carpet (my choice, I like the soft, warm feeling especially in the morning), I would agree that the best job will require raising most of the built-ins. Folks that put down hard surfaces often don't though, and may add a bit of trim to hide the floor to wall transitions.

Good luck with your project, and POST PICTURES, we LOVE them!

[Splitrock]

I don't know anybody who'd pay more for spotted carpet. Away with it!

[Lily&Me]

Our first RV had carpet, which was impossible to keep clean with grandbabies grinding raisins into it, a Brittany Spaniel shedding everywhere, food spilled, etc. Our Interstate has cork-like flooring, and it is a breeze to keep clean. We couldn't be happier.

If you want to keep the carpet, try cleaning it with a strong solution of OxyClean and water. Just scrub it in and let it sit a day or two, then rinse thoroughly (several times) with warm water. It will get anything out of anything, including chocolate-laced vomit from said Brittany Spaniel---on the indoor, cream-colored carpet. We use a mild OxyClean solution to clean our indoor carpet a couple of times a year, keeps it looking brand new.

Maggie

[moosetags]

First off, welcome to the Forums. We're glad to have you with us.

I think that carpet in an RV that really goes camping is not a good idea. It only really looks good when the RV is brand new. Get rid of the carpet and replace it with some kind of nice looking hard flooring.

As far as resale goes. Nice looking hard flooring is much more desirable than dingy carpet.

Brian

[tkasten]

Last winter while renovating/updating our vintage 65 Safari we choose carpet. It is very warm feeling and works well with the original red mahogany cabinets. We boondock most of the time so shoes come off. Use what you like and enjoy.

[Kevin245]

I wouldn't consider a change in flooring a major change that detracts from the rig's value. Many Rv'ers prefer hard floor surfaces for ease of cleaning. We have vinyl tiles in the front and bath are with a small section of carpet under the dinette and by the bed.

Your idea of carpet tiles sounds like a good choice.

Install the flooring of your choice and enjoy yourselves.

Let us know what you decide.

Kevin

[maxandgeorgia]

You asked, so...get rid of carpet as fast as you can and, as mentioned in many posts, find a hard surface flooring you love and put it down. Easily cleanable. Looks great. Carefree compared to carpet in a camping situation. Best wishes!

[Skater]

I'd recommend a hard floor, too. My rig had carpet in it when I bought it, and I never quite realized how dirty it really was until I pulled it out. Ugh!

I replaced it with vinyl tile, and honestly it has been one of the better things I've done to the camper. I thought I'd miss the insulation during winter camping, but it wasn't a problem. When it comes time to replace the camper, all else being equal, I'd favor the hard floor over carpet, but carpet wouldn't put me off the sale if the camper is otherwise what I'm looking for.

I may be somewhat biased, too, since I have a cat with digestive issues. Hard floors are much easier to clean up.

[AZ-JH]

Out with the carpet in favor of a quality floor. IMO, a reason RV makers and home builders use carpet is to save money.

[Cantrell]

Carpet is unsanitary in any circumstance and especially in a camping trailer. While it may feel warm and fuzzy in the morning, it harbors dirt, mites, and other unmentionalble creatures that are impossible to remove with routine cleaning.
If you want proof, put a white towel down in a traffic area of your home and see what it looks like in a week.
Go with something hard and easy to keep resonably clean.