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[wannaroam]

Cameron
Wouldn't that be the same with any laminate?

[cameront120]

Originally Posted by wannaroam

Cameron
Wouldn't that be the same with any laminate?

Yes. I'm not a fan of them in my climate. If you read the fine print of laminate warranties, they usually say something about moisture. The previous owner of my house put laminate on the floor of the back door/kitchen area and after 4 years, it is in horrible shape. The seems are clearly distorted from moisture ingress. I'm no slob, but with the dogs and my gardening, we're in and out of there a lot with wet feet. Even being dilligent with the mop to wipe up excess water right away, hasn't really helped. I'm not really worried about it because I'm tearing this house down and rebuilding. However, if I had installed this product and saw it's short life span, I'd be a bit miffed.

[REDNAX]

As a result of the discussions here (and some info elsewhere) my wife and I are having cork floors installed (commerical tiles, gluedown, with urethane coating). We are dealing with a wholesaler known to us here in Dallas, but otherwise would have gone through iFloor to purchase APC tiles of the same grade. The cost difference was not great per square foot, but the knowledgeability of the sales staff and installers is not comparable.

We will be living and working from this trailer the next few years.

Institutional-quality cork is not inexpensive, nor is the floor prep necessary, so I recommend reading the installation guidelines most all distributors give via PDF on their websites. Essentially, excellent leveling (from 1/8" per 10' to 1/8" per 6' depending on the site.) and the use of ARDEX [i]Feather Finish[i]. Curiously, some funny contradictions on how to acclimate the cork at the worksite among the different sites. Our installer said not to worry over it, a trailer is not a climate-controlled site. The actual installation is straightforward.

We especially like the fact that some 75 and 100 year old floors are in use today; churches, libraries and hospitals. Anti-microbial properties, as well as resistant to fire and pests.

Between moisture introduced via skin leaks or via "accidents" we are rolling the dice that the gluedown will work best for us in our 34' 1983 [i]Silver Streak[i]. The trailer is due to go into a shop for assorted repairs here shortly, and the removal of the current [ugh] carpeting will hopefully reveal no real problems evident besides that already known. I'm curious to see what thickness the plywood sub-floor is after reading of some differences on the various AS years.

We're glad to be working with a high-end installer used to unusual installations and I'll try to figure out how to post photo's for those interested.

As to "theme", the outside of our trailer features the usual SS gold trim. Only, in contrast to the earlier 60's and 70's trailers, the windows are black-tinted and there are several narrow, though prominently featured, black trim bands. That, along with the medium-dark wood trim of the interior is our guideline for new furniture, fixtures and soft-goods. A dark-brown leather Italian sofa awaits disassembly, and I have been researching higher-end marine 12V lighting fixtures in both gold/brass finish as well as brushed chrome (which the kitchen has a bit of). Once the floor is in we'll begin to investigate curtain and bedding materials, and possibly new countertops. This trailer is truly in excellent condition, cosmetically and mechanically, so we'll give things time to gel. We want consistency inside and out (new awning material is on the list; black/gold if I can find it, we've already seen another trailer with it), and the continuation of browns, with black/gold accents inside with highlights given by rugs, etc.

If I had an Airstream, I might consider the use of different exterior accent colors (than stock) to achieve the same effect. But, then, I really love those late '70's red/white/blue (Bicentennial?) Airstreams I've seen. Met a man in Corpus Christi (John) from Carlsbad, NM as he was polishing out the tanks on his 1978 model. Still original down to the (now replaced) carpet. A beautiful AS!

This site has been a big help with this orphan trailer, thanks!!!

[SharonIvey]

bump

My New Year's resolution is to upgrade our interior and I've been revisiting these threads.

Please add your interior pictures. I'm going to take some of my existing interior to get ideas of how to incorporate those items that were improved by the previous owner.

Thanks for assisting with my resolution.

Sharon

[safari57]

I used laminate. My take is that it's likely good for 3 to 5 years (I'm just coming into my 5th year). It still looks not bad, but my thought was that by the end of the 5th year I'd need a change anyways just to feel like I was doing something with the interior that had a visual impact. If I had to do it in the first two years I'd of been disappointed but not surprised, so getting this much time out of it is a bonus.

I'd never consider using it in my home. I've seen some beautiful installations and some of them are several years old now and get heavy by careful use and still look good. But in a home I'm a big fan of real hardwood flooring.

I'll probably go with laminate again, just a different color and wood grain pattern for a different look.

Barry

[Silver Threads]

We also used laminate. It was fairly easy to install, or so it looked while John was laying it . It is scratch resistant and cleans up in a breeze! Here are a few picture. We still have to add the molding, or whatever that stuff is called that goes around the edge, . Good luck on your restore!

[Kajtek1]

Pardon me if posting non-Airstream pictures is out of line here, but I installed marble in my bus conversion. It is popular believe, that marble is heavy, while comparing to carpet, padding and sand the padding accumulate the difference is minimal. We loved the marble entrance on those beaches in Baja, where we could put a water pan at the door and walk in with wet feet into the bathroom. Just seconds to sweep all the dirt outside. I am seriously considering marble in my present Safari remodeling. If it adds 75 lb to the weight, so what?

[ckelly617]

I just gotta tell all of you who posted pictures, I love them all!! I love seeing everyones' different styles. It gives me ideas! ideas! ideas!! I'll be asking all kinds of questions once we get started on our baby.

[juel]

Me too. So many different ideas. Aren't these trailers fun? Here's my attempts in the new 1976 Sovereign. Dyed the curtains and got new bedding and then built in a new frig to replace the Dometic that couldn't be fixed.

[ckelly617]

Juel - You dyed your curtains? I was thinking of doing the same thing. The ones that are in there are all plain beige and they need a trip to the washing machine. I just want to do a solid color black, dark blue, etc. So your look like they came out good. Did you use RIT?

[ShikariJones]

Here in CanadaI have seen a new cushion floor/lino type product that mimics cork perfectly.It has a springy feel to it and does not conduct cold.Used it in a kitchen reno recently--everyone took it for real cork.Another neat thing is that a dropped glass will bounce instrad of breaking.It is a Euro product.In homes,you can lay it in a room straight over an existing floor and it wont budge--in fact--most europeans take this floor with them when they move!Sorry to say I can't recall its name but it may have been "Fibrefloor".I'm sure a floor company would know it.Great stuff and something Iwill surely use to reno an airstream.

[safari57]

Hey ShikariJones of Lethbridge - my wife's and my hometown. Welcome to the forum.

Barry (and Donna)

[ShikariJones]

Thanx for the welcome.We must have switched places!I am from BC[Island] but was driven out a year ago by the gloomy rainy weather looking for more sunshine.Sure found it here!
Miss the coast tho--especially the dungeness crab feasts!

[safari57]

We have heard of several folks who have done the same as yourself. We just couldn't handle the wind any longer after 38 years of it. Nice place to live though and relatively affordable.

Barry