Flooring advice

[rebel beck]

Now that I'm leak free for the moment and have all the new sealer applied to the outside I'm ready to turn my attention back to the inside. The po had put in white carpet and it's gotta go with an eight year old and two dogs it's just not working for us. I have looked at the laminate verses the pergo and then just thought about going back with a darker carpet. The past owner had put a small amount of laminate as you walk in the door and it looks okay but I also have to think about the dogs and there claws. I would like every body's opinion on this before I make a decision. What are the pros and cons of a wood floor, what if you get another leak? Let me see some pictures to.

[Zeppelinium]

Becky, see my photos in "Sovereign Redux". I choose the cheaper pergo-like stuff, but bamboo is available for not too much more at Costco. I hear bamboo is indestructible. There are lots of threads on flooring--many comments about how excellent cork is, and also indestructible.

I think pergo-like stuff is pretty tough, but you will occassionally chip off little bits from corners or edges as you're installing, which make for a less than perfect job or will drive you to about 20% waste. But after it's installed, I haven't noticed much damage. Maybe a small (1/8") dent when something really heavy with a point is dropped.

On the down side, pergo and bamboo are not light. I don't know about cork. I'm only worried about the weight in the 31' Sovereign, since it will add about 100 lbs aft of the axles.

In order to handle damage and water spills, my floors (in three Airstreams) are installed in sections (forward living, kitchen, aft, and in one case the bathroom is separate) so I can remove one area without having to start at one end to get the middle.

[rebel beck]

Very good advice I never thought about the sections. I saw some bamboo at our salvage yard the other day it looked great. My husband and I both liked it very hard for us both to agree on something.

[Frank S]

Hi rebel beck--I am going to install 20" square commercial grade carpet squares (have material but haven't had an opportunity to install--have installed in a basement). They have rubber backing, and tough short pile. I will install them without glue, so they can be moved around to adjust for wear. They are a little pricey, but you don't need many of them. They are very easy to install with just a tape measure, straight edge, and utility blade knife. They are comfortable to walk on, easy to clean, and resist stains. Your dogs will not like wood or pergo, as they will slide all over the place, and carpet is more comfortable to lay down on. Our bath has vinyl sheet.--Frank S

[rebel beck]

Carpet squares something I have not thought about should have the first trailer we looked at had them and they looked good also but the trailer was just to small for us.
Zep I like how you ran the flooring across, but as stated above the wood flooring and my dogs I worry about but it sure makes a trailer look PLUSH.
I really want this decision to be the right one when we first got the trailer I had the gaucho recovered and now I wish I had waited and researched some more on the retro materials I just had it done in a solid.

[bhayden]

I'm leaning toward cork with a "floating" system like Pergo uses. I really dislike carpet for the types of activies we do; mtn biking and skiing. Plus, living in the Pacific NW moisture is pretty much a constant. That said, thee rubber carpet tiles are a great system. They stay put when down but are easy to pull up. They insulate the floor and provide a no skid finish which is nice for the dogs and humans in ski boots .

Not sure what type of dogs you have but if they're like my mom's lab it sheds so much hair I can't believe it's not bald! A smooth floor is MUCH easier to clean up the dog hair and dirt with a Swiffer than trying to vacuum. Oh yeah, the lab goes THRU every mud puddle it finds

For "cush" I'm thinking cheap throw rugs. Easy to take out after a trip and "beat to death" or just toss if they're too far gone. With the rubbery net underlay they stay put just fine.

I really like the idea of a removable system, either carpet squares or floating floor. I just know as soon as I put down a glue down system like Linolium I've have a repair issue that requires cutting

-Bernie

[Streamin 65]

Hi Becky,
We chose to go with this http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...081&lpage=none It's a pecan laminate flooring made by Armstrong and availiable from Lowes. Installation was easy, you'll need a saw to cut the pieces to legnth and they just snap together. Took an hour or two to do the whole kitchen and living room. Keep in mind, the flooring cannot be installed tightly to the walls, so you'll have to buy or make your own shoe moulding to go around the perimeter of the floor. I just made some 1/4" x 1/2" shoe moulding out of Walnut. So far, it still looks great! With two dogs, a teenager and two adults tracking in all kinds of gravel and dirt, the floor has NO scratches and it cleans up easily. Until recently, our trailer had many leaks as well. Some didn't even show up until after I installed the floor. Water has not hurt it at all, however, I always went out after it rained and mopped up the mess. The skylight in the living room leaked the worst, and it just got replaced today (after the rainstorm we just had). Most better grade laminate flooring is coated with aluminum oxide, which is a very hard coating and will hold up a long time, whereas most real wood flooring is still coated with polyurethane which is not as hard of a coating and can be scratched by large paws or gravel stuck in your shoes. I posted a pic of our floor below.
BTW - I was just reading your post with the thong. Made me laugh! Seems you can't get your hubby to work on your trailer? Just the opposite here, the wife can't get me to stop! However, her in the thong may persuade me to take a break from the trailer for a little while Take care! --dave

[joewinfield]

Hi Rebel Beck. We went with bamboo for our motorhome and we travel with four dogs. The look and toughness of the bamboo sold us. I know each pound is important but the bamboo is on the lighter side and, anyway, it's not as heavy as the marble we removed from of our motorhome. Good luck on your selection and installation. joe

[GreatPumpkin]

I definitely like the look of the maple pattern "Pergo" we used, but very strongly considered the bamboo. I've seen a few forum members pictures and just love the way it looks. It isn't much more expensive than what we used, but it is amusing how much it costs considering that bamboo is technically a grass (weed!)

Laying your flooring running side to side vs lengthwise like we did would be much easier. I didn't think it would look ok so I chose the harder route. After looking at some other members photos I can see it still looks great the other way.

[ALANSD]

That laminate looks great Dave...we had cork in our AS Moho and it was easy to put down, very light and held up great under kids and dogs. I might do that in our newly acquired Sovereign.

[Happycampers]

Hello Beck...This a laminate. Here is a pic of the flooring we put in our Argosy that we sold.. we like it so much we are putting it in our other Argosy also.. pricey at $5.99 a square foot but it stands up well with our 2 dogs .. Hubby left a piece outside to see how it would stand up to weather... guess what it looks the same as what is in the trailer.. no separation at all..and that has been outside for 18 months in our Canadian weather... Annie

[enduroryda]

Hi Beck,

Finished up doing our floor a week ago and covered the couch in the same weekend. Ours is a pergo type laminate made by Shaw's called Versalock. This stuff is heavy duty and really rugged. I'm happy we went with the lighter oak color as it brightens everything up. My couch was done up with extra upholstery fabric I had lying around. I decided to try to wing it and I never stopped. It is all snapped on from the back and sides so I can take it off when it needs cleaning...that's the best part. What a difference it has made ..good luck with you decision Ann

[blackboat]

As far as the durability of laminate floors, our house has some sort of off-brand pergo type stuff. It's held up far better than I thought it would, though it doesn't like heavy point loads. 8 months of a rescued english setter have left some scratches if you look at it just right, but overall I'm impressed. We're not exactly clean freaks and don't baby stuff.

The AS will be getting a maple looking laminate to offset the walnut cabinets. I figure if the other stuff has survived in the house, in our main traffic area, the trailer will wear it just fine. No carpet to vacuum, etc. Works better for us.

Rob

[rebel beck]

After seeing all these great post I think Laminate has the thumbs up. Although the carpet squares come in a very close 2nd. Will show pictures when we get started and finished. Thanks for all the great advice.

[Holzarbeiter]

This is 4x4 tumbled limestone and laminate heart pine flooring. The limestone is at the entry and in the center bath, it is set with epoxy thinset on top of hardi backer that was also set with epoxy and grout was epoxy as well.
The flooring is a laminate t&g floor that needs to be stapled and or glued down, this is real heart pine laminated to a plywood backer and prefinished, very light and fairly durable. I layed the floor sideways verses longways since I was worried about buckeling do to movement during travel. I used construction adhesive and stables for the installation.
This work was done 2 years and 3000 miles ago and has held up well considering 2 kids and 2 dogs, there are some light scratches and a few minor dings in the heart pine but I can always lightly sand and recoat the floor.
The reason and best part that I used this type of flooring is that I love the warmth of the materials and that they where free . If you are flexible and don't mind hunting for a bargain take a look at salvage and discount lumber yards as well as habitat for humanity home stores, you will be amased at what you can find.

[rebel beck]

How creative love the floor. Wish I had thought about the pine, my grandmothers house was sold last year and the person that bought it plowed it and there was some of the prettiest floors in that house if I had thought I would have salvaged the floors.

[Globie64]

I'm curious to hear how the cork holds up, since it is such a great texture. I was going to use it in my globie- I had abuse tested samples with dogs, wine, moisture etc. I found a cork-looking vinyl, backed with fiberglass, at the local floor place (I don't have the mfr. in front of me) but I think that's the way we're going. The big thing with the cork would be the moisture, not from leaks, but just that the AS is more subject to changes in moisture in the air. I'm an Architect, and I experiment with a material to see how much it takes to destroy it before I try to get a client to try something new...

It is great to see what others are doing, to see how all these different materials look in place. Thanks!

Peter