Interior Floor Replacement

[lthomasamber]

Five years ago, we decided to remove the old carpeting in the 2002 Classic that we purchased used and replace with a more durable covering. We decided on vinyl hydrocork floating planks.

All was well for the first couple of years. We have periodically had to "bump" some planks back into place where the click-lock has separated but it was very limited.

This year however we have noticed considerable separation both lengthwise and width. Any suggestions as to why? Could it be the change in temperature from sitting over the winter in our Vermont weather? We were under the impression that this stuff was more stable and not subject to changes in temperature.

Looking for advice as to whether we should attempt to repair, screw it down, or replace with something that will hold up.

We are going to pull it up since it is so widespread and check the subfloor to make sure there are no issues there.

Thanks for any help!

[TouringDan]

I agree with your decision to replace the floor covering and see what kind of shape the plywood underneath is in. We put down cork click and lock 9 years ago and it has done very well. It has gotten wet in a few places and we have replaced the damaged pieces. Photos are in the project thread- Dan’s 66 Tradewind Improvements.

Lots of new floating floor coverings have come out in the last 5 years. Hopefully others will chime in with some good recommendations.

Dan

[lthomasamber]

Thanks Dan for your comment. Glad to hear that your cork flooring is working out after 9 years.

Update on progress - my husband decided to first see if he could bump all the flooring back together (I thought he was going to remove it first to just double-check all is well with sub-floor - husband/wife miscommunication ) He was successful so we are now thinking of just top screwing it in place with flush screws of similar color at the lengthwise joints and leave the ends under baseboard, treads and sofa to expand/contract. It's an experiment - not sure it will work - but if not he's not put a lot of time into it. With the area rugs I use, the screws will hopefully not be that noticeable.

He's convinced it was the cold temperatures and drastic changes in temperatures exhibited this winter. It's the first time we've had the trailer parked all winter long in Vermont. It is high-quality vinyl/cork click lock and was sold to us by a flooring place that recommended it for our climate saying it would not expand/contract much when stored. We brought two extra pieces that are stored in our garage indoors to see how much they expanded and they immediately starting expanding, ultimately to the degree we are experiencing contraction in the trailer. So, we can definitively attest to the fact that this stuff does move around with temperature extremes.

If the "screwing in place" experiment does not work, we will move to replacement. Cork is our next consideration. Did you glue it down? Or is it floating?

Thanks for your input. Much appreciated. Lynn

[lthomasamber]

Dan - just took a look at your thread on putting down the cork flooring - thanks for that link. I love the way it looks. If our project does not work out, we will definitely consider cork especially given that it is more environmentally friendly than some other options.

Lynn

[Minno]

We did cork flooring about 8 or so years ago. We have not experienced any significant expansion/contraction that we've noticed. Our trailer is outdoors under open air shelter all winter (and we definitely have winter in Minnesota). The only issue we've had is when a window leaked, and we found a year later that while the floor top dried, underneath it did not. We ended up replacing a couple pieces of flooring due to mold. Something to consider. Other than that, we love love love the cork floor. It's warm in cold weather.

We put the floor in before building out the interior.


Kay

[InsideOut]

I'm afraid screwing down the existing flooring will just cause it to split or buckle when the temperatures change.

• Vinyl flooring is gonna expand/contract with the weather temps.
• Wood flooring will expand/contract with humidity changes.

We've found cork & real linoleum (not sheet vinyl) to be much more stable in the extreme changes our trailers experience.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Shari

[lthomasamber]

We appreciate all the help we received on this forum and I appreciate the response to our flooring problem.

Based on the most recent comments, we are going to forget the idea to screw down the vinyl click/lock and investigate the materials mentioned - cork and marmoleum.

For those putting down the cork, if you feel comfortable recommending a particular brand, that would be awesome.

I'll repost with some pictures when we complete the project

Lynn

[Minno]

We put down Lisbon Cork, Ltd 1 x 3ft engineered floor tiles that we bought at Lumber Liquidators (now LL Flooring). They are floating click lock tiles. A member of our Club liked our floor so much, he put the same in his trailer. We get many compliments, and it's easy to care for.


Kay