1953 21' flying cloud

[A-Merry-Can]

i definitely like the idea of real wood vs that laminate stuff. i've been in trailers with both (ours has the laminate), and you just can't beat the feeling of the real stuff. can't waitt o see the pics of it! good show!

jp

[3Ms75Argosy]

I bet you're at the same weight as if you'd put in Pergo or the like. The particle board backer on the laminates is HeAVY! I compared packages of bamboo (for example) full thickness flooring and the laminates - I think the bamboo might even be lighter .

I'd not worry about it - looks great! I think my only fear would be the poly splitting between boards with vibration... but then you'll have the vintage look.
looks great!
Marc

[t.gray]

Originally Posted by 3Ms75Argosy

I'd not worry about it - looks great! I think my only fear would be the poly splitting between boards with vibration... but then you'll have the vintage look.
looks great!
Marc

Ah...I feel much better - love the vintage look - fine with me if some splitting happens. Although no plans for the road in my future just a short haul into the woods where I plan to spend the winter (if I ever finish). Well thanks for the advice.
Theresa

[t.gray]

Finished the floor and liking it – really warms the space. Starting on a place for the woodstove to set – I’ve built a couple of different tables, one with an old green drawer, one also a low ornate table, but I like the simplicity of this already built table. I’ll need to place a metal heat shield in between the table and stove, which I think will add a nice contemporary kind of feel. With interior spaces I tend to lean on the sparse side with old elements, but I want to make sure I have plenty of storage with a sparse feel and also a hip looking place too. Soon the woodstove will be working - hopefully real soon with winter hanging close.
Thanks for looking.
theresa

[safari57]

You have done wonders with your '53. It's gorgeous.

Barry

[jcferguson]

Originally Posted by t.gray

Finished the floor and liking it – really warms the space.

I’ll need to place a metal heat shield in between the table and stove, which I think will add a nice contemporary kind of feel. With interior spaces I tend to lean on the sparse side with old elements, but I want to make sure I have plenty of storage with a sparse feel and also a hip looking place too. Soon the woodstove will be working - hopefully real soon with winter hanging close.
Thanks for looking.
theresa

Looks fantastic Theresa, I'm envious of that floor. For the heat shield I used three layers of the drop-ceiling material under the metal (you could have an hvac place fabricate a piece with bent sides to cover the insulation), then used long bolts to secure the stove through the metal and insulation to the table below.

Wish I had that floor!

Carlos

[A-Merry-Can]

ditto! i really like the real wood. i was planning on a tile floor in my '59... but i think you may have converted me! plus, i bet it's as solid as a rock when you walk on it. i have the fake wood in our trade wind, and i really don't care for it much. would one think wood walls, and wood floor would be too much wood? (i sound like Dr Seuss!)

looks beautiful!

jp

[safari57]

JP.

Personally I prefer lots of wood but it's a personal taste thing. My wife is okay with it but I suspect if it were just her making the decision she would have a mix. I find wood to be very peaceful to look at and to be surrounded by, with a light mixture of polished aluminum and chrome. My friends have almost no wood in their interior - for them it's all about bright whites and pastels and colors. When I'm in their trailer I feel like I'm out of place but they love it. I'll take wood any day over the options - do I have an old log cabin complex perhaps?

Barry

[A-Merry-Can]

i hear ya. i live in a log cabin, though... log walls, log roof, wood floor, and wood furnishings... sometimes it gets to be too much. wood looks awesome with aluminum, though!


jp

[flyfshr]

Nothing like shiney aluminum and nicely finished wood with rich, deep coloring. I love my mahogeny. Makes the trailer's mood so relaxing and comforting.

Brad
FF

[safari57]

Originally Posted by A-Merry-Can

i hear ya. i live in a log cabin, though... log walls, log roof, wood floor, and wood furnishings... sometimes it gets to be too much. wood looks awesome with aluminum, though!


jp

JP - It sounds like you have a wonderful home. The only area in our home that has much wood is my den which my wife finds "dark" even though it has big windows. I still remember a Scotty trailer my parents had that was all knotty pine. I loved that trailer. It will be neat to see how Theresa moves forward with her AS. She's shown great taste (and patience) and I suspect there will be an idea or two along the way for me to consider.

Barry

[t.gray]

Originally Posted by safari57

JP.

I'll take wood any day over the options - do I have an old log cabin complex perhaps?

Barry

For now I live in a log home and find it calming. Hoping to recreate the same feel in my airstream for my move this Spring. I do love the wood floor - really do - it feels grounding and compliments the aluminum beautifully. So Barry I too have a log cabin complex - nothing like it.
theresa

[A-Merry-Can]

i'm definitely interested in the real wood floor program. what thickness was the wood you used? i am a bit concerned with weight in my Traveller. she's just a tiny thing! i may have to run up to Dalton and see what the shops up there are selling. the good thing about these little trailers is you don't need much at all... 100 sq feet would do it nicely!

jp

[t.gray]

Originally Posted by A-Merry-Can

i'm definitely interested in the real wood floor program. what thickness was the wood you used? i am a bit concerned with weight in my Traveller. she's just a tiny thing! i may have to run up to Dalton and see what the shops up there are selling. the good thing about these little trailers is you don't need much at all... 100 sq feet would do it nicely!

jp

The floor boards are regular flooring which I'm not sure about the thickness maybe 1". My plan was to run them through a planer to pull some of the weight but I found myself too anxious and just went forward and laid the flooring as is. Although, because it's reclaimed wood it had a thick layer of poly which I sanded after - for amount it was 150 sq feet or less and a bit of leftover - I do love the floor but the weight does concern me in case I take it out on the road. But my plan for now is just a place to move into in the spring overlooking the Kalamazoo River through the trees.
Good luck on your floor.
theresa

[jcferguson]

If the weights on this page are accurate:

http://www.reade.com/Particle_Briefings/spec_gra2.html

and you chose cherry (for example) and planed it to 1/2".... 100 square feet of flooring divided by 24 (square feet of flooring per cubic foot of wood) - multiply this by your weight per cubic foot of 34, you get something like 150 lbs. Oak is heavier. Thinner wood would reduce weight but I wonder how thin you can go to still have some kind of integrity there - I think regular (stuff that is made now) flooring wood is 5/8 or 3/4" and is thicker so it can be sanded up to a few times - older stuff is probably thicker yet (as Theresa says), up to 1"

anybody know what pergo weights per square foot? Cork is pretty light but I will have to weigh a piece...

Carlos

[A-Merry-Can]

i think i'm going to look for something in the 1/2" range. i know there's a lot of those pre-finished choices out there now. thick enough to be real wood, and add a little structure to the floor, but thin enough to not add a ton. i'm going to definitely snoop around the stores this weekend and see what i can come up with.

jp

[muddy_hollow]

How stable is wood flooring in a trailer? My question would be around would you get gaps or caps? These little spaces are intersting since their temp swings are much different than a house, also humidity. I've wondered why Airstream never offered this as an option in the past, to the best of my knowledge.

carlos - do you have any epansion or contraction issues with your remod?

[jcferguson]

Originally Posted by muddy_hollow

How stable is wood flooring in a trailer? My question would be around would you get gaps or caps? These little spaces are intersting since their temp swings are much different than a house, also humidity. I've wondered why Airstream never offered this as an option in the past, to the best of my knowledge.

carlos - do you have any epansion or contraction issues with your remod?

I have cork on my floor, which has not had any expansion issues. I would think the wood floor would be fine long term in an airstream - I think gaps will appear and disappear, but wood floors in old structures in europe must have had the same kind of temp. swings and seem to be in pretty good shape... The nice thing about wood is that it looks good when it is worn, I don't think pergo (or cork for that matter) wear as well.

Carlos

[safari57]

Originally Posted by muddy_hollow

How stable is wood flooring in a trailer? My question would be around would you get gaps or caps? These little spaces are intersting since their temp swings are much different than a house, also humidity. I've wondered why Airstream never offered this as an option in the past, to the best of my knowledge.

carlos - do you have any epansion or contraction issues with your remod?

Muddy-Hollow

Over the years I've seen many RV's with wood flooring. Other than a few creaks/groans and some almost attractive wear patterns they stand up extremely well. In my view there's an agelessness about them, and a feeling of permanence and quality, that's hard to replicate with most other floor coverings. The only bad wood floor that I have seen was due directly to poor preparation and installation. I believe how you use the trailer will also have an impact. If you are camped at the beach with a lot of sand being dragged in I'm not sure what that would do to it and I suspect it could get a bit tough to clean out of some types of installations where there's gaps, but I don't think that this is anything a portable vacuum wouldn't address.

Barry

[muddy_hollow]

The reason I asked the question about wood floors is that I am in the midst of re-doing my 56 caravanner. I briefly thought of a wood floor and then dismissed it because I thought it would add to much weight and not do well with the temp and humidity issues. I was leaning towards either a laminate or marmoleum floor. I wonder how bamboo would hold up?

Doug