New hardwood and tile almost done

[ddruker]

I just finished installing new hardwood flooring in the bulk of the trailer, and tile on the bathroom floor.

The hardwood flooring was Harmonics from Costco in Cherry. It was on sale for about $20 per box, and my 27 foot trailer required six boxes. It was very easy to install, but required lots of trips to the table saw for precision cutting. I decided to install it cross-wise across the trailer, so nearly every piece had to be cut to fit. But I think it turned out great.

One thing I didn't like was that the cherry floor color was a little too close to the color of the oak factory cabinets, so I installed some 1" by 1/8" anodized finish aluminum bar held in place with stainless steel screws as baseboard. This turned out great and I liked the fact that you can bend the aluminum bar around curves in the trailer - it's much easier to work with than wood. I needed three eight foot sections of Aluminum bar to complete the job - they were about $15 each.

In the bathroom, I remove the existing yucky flooring down to bare plywood. I was happy to see no signs of water damage. First I screwed down a piece of stainless steel tile edging to make sure I would have a clean edge between the hardwood and the tile. Then I glued down a thick vinyl shower membrane from home depot to make sure the plywood stays dry. Then I used lightweight flexible mastic to lay down some cool black and white retro tiles - also from the home depot, and I finished the whole thing off with epoxy-based grout. Total cost of materials was about $65.

The last step, for tomorrow, will be to glue and caulk in 2" by 6" white tile for baseboards in the bathroom.

I'm very happy with the results - looks a ton better than the stock crappy blue carpeting.

[PhilipKS]

Looks very nice! I like the aluminum molding. I was wondering about the piece of art on the night stand, until I saw the flange in the bath...

Good work! I like it!

[ASwifey]

Looks great! You did a very good job matching the wood floor with the wood paneling.

[Airslide]

I really like the aluminum moulding idea. Thanks for the pictures and congrats on the nice job. Really looks great.

Vinnie

[crazeevw]

Where did you find your aluminum moldings? Makes the job very professional looking in my opinion.
Thanks, Derek

[Marufaru]

How is your bathroom tile holding up? I hear it is not a recommended material if the trailer is to travel a lot. Cracking?

[ddruker]

The aluminum is from Orchard Supply Hardware, but they also have it at Home Depot and Lowes. It's just 1/8" thick by 1" wide Aluminum Bar with an anodized finished. It's in the building materials section of the store, where they stock many different kinds of metal sheets, rods and bars. About $15 per eight foot piece. I was careful to look through the pieces and avoid those that were scratched up.

On the floor cracking - I'll post an update after coming back from Yosemite next week and let you know how it held up. I'm hopeful that the combination of small tiles and flexible, lightweight mastic and grout will prove to be a winner. If not, there are for sure silicone based adhesives and caulks that will not crack, but are more of a pain to install.

[Wayward]

Very nice! I especially like the edging design idea - perfect.

What membrane did you use? I am wondering if it is like NobelSeal TS, something I have used before on problem tile jobs. Tile mastic/mortar sticks to it on both sides, and it is very thin.
Sheet Membranes for Waterproofing, Crack Isolation and Sound Isolation

[Wayward]

Interesting toilet placement in the top photo. Frees up space in the bathroom I'll bet. Did you put a holding tank in the center vanity?

[Air Cruiser]

Great job! I especially like the tile in the bathroom.

It seems a little strange; your AS looks so similar to our '99 25'r, but I can see where some of the extra length goes -- you have more space in your bathroom. We, too, had the yucky blue carpet and removed it, and installed a light-weight sheet goods which we love and is so easy to care for.

Deb

[mansaj]

Definitely looks like a quality job!

It's been about a year since the original post. I'm interested in hearing how the tile is doing.

[bmark]

Me too !

[outbackbob]

Awesome! Looks great! I think the tile is a kool idea, I hope this works out.

[outbackbob]

How did you get the carpet out so nicely? It looks like it would be challenging.

[ddruker]

Hi all,

A year later it looks like new. We have about 6000 miles of travel since then, so it feels to me like a success. No cracking or loose tiles at all.

Very easy to clean, which I also appreciate.

[ddruker]

Bob, the carpet and pad come up easily. A sharp razor knife will undercut the carpet at the cabinet edges, I also used a needle nose pliers to push straggling edges back under the cabinets.

[mansaj]

Originally Posted by ddruker

Hi all,

In the bathroom, I remove the existing yucky flooring down to bare plywood. I was happy to see no signs of water damage. First I screwed down a piece of stainless steel tile edging to make sure I would have a clean edge between the hardwood and the tile. Then I glued down a thick vinyl shower membrane from home depot to make sure the plywood stays dry. Then I used lightweight flexible mastic to lay down some cool black and white retro tiles - also from the home depot, and I finished the whole thing off with epoxy-based grout. Total cost of materials was about $65.

Do you happen to recall what products or specs of the products you used for these items?

1) glue for the membrane
2) shower membrane
3) lightweight flexible mastic
4) epoxy-based grout


Thanks!

[ddruker]

I bought everything at home depot.

Glue for the membrane = Liquid nails
Membrane = 40 Mil PVC gray shower floor membrane, sold by the foot, cut from a four or five foot wide roll.
Mastic to glue down the tiles = AcrylPro Ceramic Tile Adhesive
Epoxy grout = CEG-Lite Commercial 2-part Epoxy Grout