I recently picked up linoleum clik-type squares to put in my Tradewind. It is real linoleum backed with a plastic matrice which allows for an easy clik-together installation. It has all the advantages of linoleum, but should be much easier to install. I wont be installing it until I finish repairing the sub-loor but I bet someone else here has already used this product and can chime in.
It is also a "floating floor" which is the way to go from what I gather. (as opposed to securing the floor to the plywood sub-floor)
I learned of the problem in my kitchen, where the previous home owner put down laminate flooring. The side door to the yard is in this room and between me and my two Labradors a fair bit of water gets brought in on our feet when it's rainy (they don't call it the 'wet coast' for nothing). Even with diligent cleaning and drying, it wasn't long before the MDF backing started to swell and cause the joints to come apart.
I'm glad my own experience has been helpful to others.
Not bitter at all. The old shack is being torn down in about a month's time to make way for my new home. If I had paid for the floor and installed it, then I'd be bitter!
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Cameron & the Labradors
Kai & Samm
North Vancouver, BC
Canada
Not bitter at all. The old shack is being torn down in about a month's time to make way for my new home. If I had paid for the floor and installed it, then I'd be bitter!
I recently picked up linoleum clik-type squares to put in my Tradewind. It is real linoleum backed with a plastic matrice which allows ...
That looks interesting. Note that under 'good to know' it says "Recommended for all rooms in the home except high humidity areas." It looks like these would not work in the AS for anyone who stays primarily in the SE since we are high humidity much of the year.
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In nature, light creates the color. In the picture, color creates the light. --- Hans Hofmann
We used cork tile, gluedown, in our Silver Streak (write-up in Vintage Kin); we love the look, it is very quiet (nearly as much as the plush pile it replaced) and is cool to the touch in summer, warm in winter. No problem in bath or kitchen (we're careful anyway). You will note that in the "frameless" Airstream -- by comparison to the Silver Streak or Avion -- it is recommended that the floor joints will "telegraph" through sheet flooring, that we should line up the tiles with the joints . . well, even my frame-chassis Silver Streak is prone to some -- not much -- telegraphing of the joints. It is almost not noticeable.
As to humidity, we found conflicting advice from the manufacturers and decided to roll the dice. We live in a high humidity area (Texas Gulf Coast), and have not yet found it a problem for the flooring.
We would have used Marmoleum but found no color scheme that suited us and we weren't willing to wait on custom tiles.
The cork tiles (veneer) weren't cheap. But it looks very good and we do not ever expect to have to replace it (some commercial cork floors have been in use for over 80 years in this country: hospitals and libraries).
Great discussion...I need some final assistance after ripping out the shag... We travel back and forth between San Diego and Pensacola. Carpet is out due to sand and moisture. These finallists are Marmoleum, Konecto, Bamboo, Cork. Some additional factors - the floor is not quite flat but not bad enough to make me want to level, 1 or 2 dogs usually go with us, lots of kids. What do you think? EE
Guys,
Here's an option you might look at. I'm redoing my floor and had decided on a click together laminate, in fact I bought it . I was in Lowes about a week ago and stumbled onto something so good I decided to scrap the laminate idea. It is "no glue vinyl" You basically cut it and lay it down. It is very pliable and has a thin cushion backing. You use a special two sided tape to secure it around door opennings, under things you might want to scoot, etc. It comes in several patterns including "wood floor" and looks great. It weighs about 1/4 of what the laminate weighs (40lbs vs 220lbs for my 31'). It has a 10 year residential warrantee, and it costs just under $1/sq ft! Aside from all those pluses, if you ever need to lift it up to access the floor you can. Trailer flexing has zero effect on it since it is basically loose. It comes in 12 ft wide rolls and you buy it by the running foot. One suggestion: the tile and stone patterns look the same no matter which way you turn them so it is easier to use the pieces and you waste less. If you buy the wood floor pattern like I did, you have to lay it all one way which means more waste. Also, you have to cut each room from one piece since you can't really splice it. It's not often that a cheap options is also a good one, but this stuff is easy to install and basically has no downside that I can see. There are no seams for moisture to seep through either since it is one piece. It feels warm under foot too. To make the edge trimming easier for me, I also used a rubber baseboard molding. They advise leaving 1/4" gap around the edges for expansion so the baseboard hides the gap. The stuff is forgiving of floors with seams that aren't perfectly flat because the cushy backing comforms to some extent. Since the stuff lays out flat, I cut runners from the scrap, so now I have matching runners for high traffic areas that are like place mats. For me, this stuff is the holy grail of flooring for trailers
Our heads are spinning!!! We are about to consider cleaning the original yellow shag carpet (in excelllent shape) in our 1976 Argosy and keeping it after reading of all the controversy surround virtually EVERY flooring choice!
Can anyone give us a simplified overview of the pros and cons of each option?
Cork, without a doubt. Its in our kitchen at home and in the '88 excella. Its easy to install, cheap, and looks terrific. It has held up well with 2 labrador retrievers and all of the muck and mud from our travels. Go to cork.com and look at the different looks. We like it so much that we are planning on putting it in our second '05 AS that we keep in the lower 48.
I put a floating cork floor in two months ago. I used a very thin fiber underlay that I got from Lumber Liquidators. The floating cork is a "click-it" style in 3'x1' planks. Looks great. Easy to maintain with a swiffer. Soft underfoot. After looking at the offerings from Lumber Liquidators, I bought it from iFloor. They will send you free samples to help decide which to choose. I honestly can't imagine glueing the floor down, so I think the floating floor is the best option. Very easy to install. The hardest part was to decide whether to install lengthwise or crosswise......
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. I was in Lowes about a week ago and stumbled onto something so good I decided to scrap the laminate idea. It is "no glue vinyl" You basically cut it and lay it down. It is very pliable and has a thin cushion backing. You use a special two sided tape to secure it around door opennings, under things you might want to scoot, etc. It comes in several patterns including "wood floor" and looks great. It weighs about 1/4 of what the laminate weighs (40lbs vs 220lbs for my 31'). It has a 10 year residential warrantee, and it costs just under $1/sq ft! Aside from all those pluses, if you ever need to lift it up to access the floor you can. Trailer flexing has zero effect on it since it is basically loose. It comes in 12 ft wide rolls and you buy it by the running foot. One suggestion: the tile and stone patterns look the same no matter which way you turn them so it is easier to use the pieces and you waste less. If you buy the wood floor pattern like I did, you have to lay it all one way which means more waste. Also, you have to cut each room from one piece since you can't really splice it. It's not often that a cheap options is also a good one, but this stuff is easy to install and basically has no downside that I can see. There are no seams for moisture to seep through either since it is one piece. It feels warm under foot too. To make the edge trimming easier for me, I also used a rubber baseboard molding. They advise leaving 1/4" gap around the edges for expansion so the baseboard hides the gap. The stuff is forgiving of floors with seams that aren't perfectly flat because the cushy backing comforms to some extent. Since the stuff lays out flat, I cut runners from the scrap, so now I have matching runners for high traffic areas that are like place mats. For me, this stuff is the holy grail of flooring for trailers 
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