Best way to install plank flooring

[strangepod]

About to install vinyl plank flooring (NuCore with cork backing) and would like to know how people have done it before. How have you found is the best way to install including dealing with the curves etc.
MY thought was to run it front/back parallel with the left/right sides of the camper.
Thoughts/ideas/ suggestions..


Thanks
John

[strangepod]

One thing I didn't mention is this is going down on a fully gutted, new subfloor in the trailer.

So should I do it like this or wait until I have the interior installed due to the 'floating' floor?


John

[Atomic_13]

From experience, I suggest waiting to install the floor until after the base cabinetry is in. You’ll avoid trapping the floor under a cabinet and use less product which saves money and weight.

I also do not suggest installing it in the direction of trailer travel unless you’ve found a product that has very little expansion / contraction. Lastly, painting and other tasks that may damage the floor (dropped tools, etc) are not a concern with your existing subfloor.

Of course, those using marmoleum or similar would certainly install it prior to the cabinetry.

[GeocamperAS]

I did not use NuCore but did install vinyl plank. I installed base cabinets before the floor. Then on a warm sunny day with the trailer closed up, I opened the door to find the expansion so great the floor was buckled so bad it snapped apart in some places. Took it out and replaced with a wood laminate.

[Bill M.]

Long axis of planks parallel with length of trailer. Not under cabinets.

[strangepod]

Thanks - now thinking about it I would agree that since this is a floating floor there should be no cabinets etc on it.


John

[mkcurtiss]

Good advice here....do it last, and allow room for expansion along edges.....always install lengthwise with the trailer....

[megan]

I just earned myself genius status by making a template for the curves out of a clear shower curtain and a sharpie. I pushed a piece of the shower curtain along the wall and into the curve and then traced along the curve at the floor with the sharpie. Once cut out, it works in both corners and and can be transferred easily to the flooring pieces with a grease pencil or dry erase marker.

[Blossom]

Awesome M for sharing this cool tip!

[Mount'n Man]

We just finished installing COREtec Plus (the higher end stuff, not the Lowe's brand) in our '06 Safari. The old sheet vinyl had finally pulled away from the edges and buckled enough to warrant the new floor covering. The new flooring is supposedly heat/cold stable and not susceptible to expansion... we'll see. I trimmed the old vinyl at the cabinetry rather than gut the trailer. Honestly, the hardest thing was figuring the layout to have mostly whole pieces at the edges.

Once I started, I had sheets of Kraft paper cut to the size of the tiles to make templates of the more complicated shapes. The vinyl tiles cut very easily with a jigsaw equipped with a laminate blade. I cut the tiles around the kitchen area to fit very close, leaving the ¼" expansion gap around the outer straight perimeter. I caulked the kitchen edges to make sure spills didn't get under the tiles, and milled some hardwood moldings to cover the expansion gaps. Moldings were attached to the vertical surfaces with automotive emblem adhesive tape so there was no fastener damage to the walls or floor. The new threshold was attached using original screws.

Do yourself a favor and purchase the steel installation tool to seat the seams...

(Hopefully the pictures load in the correct orientation [emoji849])

[rodsterinfl]

Looks great. I did mine a few years back but I don't like my expansion gap moulding much. I do not know how to mill wood like you.

[Mount'n Man]

Originally Posted by rodsterinfl

Looks great. I did mine a few years back but I don't like my expansion gap moulding much. I do not know how to mill wood like you.

Thanks. Trickiest one was the molding that went around the outer aluminum wall. Curved with a compound back angle and I needed to cover the hole from the old woofer wires that I pushed back in the wall. Two layers of ⅜" bendable plywood, glued against a jig, milled to profile, Bondo'ed, sanded, and painted to match the commercially available moldings for that particular flooring style. These trailers are a labor of love!