My boyfriend and I just finished installing new maple wood floors in our 31 foot '74 Sovereign and we're starting the think about the finishing touches. In particular, I'm wondering how the moldings will work. I've heard you can buy strips of molding pre-scored for the round corners, but haven't actually seen any. Any suggestions?
I'm also concerned about the floors and molding shifting when driving. Are there any molding installation techniques to ease the stress on the wood? I assume we'll be nailing the molding down to the top wood flooring or down to the base board and filling in the space between the molding and the wall will some kind of filler/sealant.
One of the requirements in trailer is to leave some "wiggle-room" for flooring to accomodate trailer frame flexing, which is not so much problem in house.. Floor may shift forwards, so leaving smaller gap or putting in shims may be good idea..
Several sources of flex moldings which can be stained to come close to matching your floor... Search Google for "flexible floor molding" and see the results... One source is: Trimster - Flex Trim Flexible Molding Catalog
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Condoluminum
In Theory, there's no difference between Theory and Practice, but in Practice, there is usually a difference...
You might look into a flexible polyurethane sealant. I would say SikaFlex, but even though it IS flexible, I believe that the durometer of the cured product will still be a little stiff to accept the expansion of the wood.
You might check with a marine store as I believe that 3M has a product that will do the job.
OH! and welcome to the Forums.....................NICE JOB on the floor!!!
Kween,
Welcome aboard! Hey, looks good. I've been contemplating what direction to go with my 73'. Our old girl is a refugee from a deer lease, thus I have a long way to go. If you wander up through the big city of Bertram stop on by. Hard to miss us...right behind the train depot!
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Catmando
"There’s not much in life we can’t over-analyze”
Oooh....flex trim! That looks perfect. It's pretty expensive though. Maybe a combination of real wood trim for most of the edges and flex trim for the round corners would work? Has anyone seen that or have any insight here? If I stained both styles the same color, maybe I could pull that off.
Hey, Kween
The Floor looks great. My wife and I are considering putting a wood floor in our A/S. I have researched the forums and asked our local RV service questions but I am still not confident enough to tackle it. I understand it needs to be a "floating" floor for the TT movement but I see nails in your upclose shots. I have been told that the molding needs to have approx 1/16 gap between it and the floor to allow for movement also. I do not understand how to attach the molding to the wall of the TT where there are no cabinets. I have been told that the couch would need to be taken out and the floor put down under it. Also what type of flooring did you use, locking or glued together. My wife likes the look of your Maple Hardwood.
Hi Mike. I just learned that non-floating floors are a no-no, so I don't have much to say about that. We may have screwed up, time will tell.
The maple is 3/4 inch thick and the boards lock together and are nailed down. What disaster can we expect because it's non-floating? Will the boards pull up from the base?
We placed to the wood on top of the plywood base, we did NOT take the couch out. We paid 2 guys $2/foot^2, which came out to $200 labor. They spent about 14 hours! It's a really beautiful job. We got the wood from lumber liquidators for $1.50/foot^2, it was regularly $8. So, the cost has been about $420 for lumber and labor. We're doing to the stain and finish ourselves. Unless you have lots of time and appropriate tools and the expertise, I'd recommend paying someone to do it.
I have heard the floating floor opinion as well. I'm not sure I buy it. But then again I can be hard headed. Just ask my wife.
If you nail down your floor, especially a tongue and groove floor, it seems as though you would only be increasing the structural stability.
Anyone out there who has had personal experience/problems with a nail-down floor?
Maybe I should move to Missouri...
Dave
I am a trim carpenter for a living, and I installed a 3/4"x 2.5" wide oak floor in the back of my panel van. I first installed a plywood floor that floated on the steel, then nailed (stapled) through the tongues of the planks down to the subfloor.
The floor went down in 02, and has held up great. only a couple of areas that have opened up, more likely to be from temperature than movement as wood does move around alot depending on moisture content. I think that by you guys nailing it down to the factory floor, it will just make some noise as it gets older (creaking etc), but nothing major. No worries.
Just keep the poly on to protect from water and you should get many years from it.
Welcome to the exalted ranks of the field engineer's division of Guinea Pigs International. In good time you will have the dubious honor and priviledge of substituting actual experience for rife conjecture
One strategy you might employ would be to attach the moldings to the walls, but not to the floor. Just leave a tiny gap to let things adjust. Great looking floor!
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"Not all who are lost are wondering" say Bill & Heidi
'78 Excella 500,"The Silver Pullit". vacuum over hydraulic disc brakes, center bath, rear twin. '67 Travelall 1200 B 4X4 WBCCI 3737
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