Last week, I finished the laminate floor in our coach. Cost for materials was about $300 (not considering some damaged flooring I got for free), purchased at regular price at Lowe's. Cost would have been a bit lower for a smaller pattern - the pattern repeated at 13" so there was some waste in matching. The one piece where the kitchen goes into the hallway took me four tries to get it right. I did all of the work myself, used a jigsaw for the cuts, and took maybe 16-18 hours including removing chairs, old carpet pad and tack strips, cleanup, etc. The worst part was the bedroom - My shoulders are wider than the walkway!
We looked a lot at wood and wood-look floor, but could not find a color that would complement the existing wood.
oldMattB
We are happy with the results.
That looks GREAT!! I compliment myself on the fact that the tile you chose looks very much like what we put in our '93 ... for the very same reason that the "total wood look" was just overpowering. I think tile like that just makes all the beautiful wood cabinetry "pop", and the tile is a complete breeze to keep clean. The whole interior is brighter. Congrats on a really fine job!!
^.^d ^.^d
OldMattB,
Great job!
I have some questions about your installation:
1. Did you glue the laminate down, or is it floating?
2. Did you glue the joints?
3. What did you do at the walls and fixed cabinet edges? Did you use any base molding or quarter round?
4. How did you attach the laminate to the "doghouse?"
Thanks,
Trent
Funny, your motor home is at a different angle than most. Do things fall off the table??
John :P :P
Hi oldmattb,
That looks real nice!!
Raymond
@All Thanks!
@ John The new floor was too slick for the dogs to walk on without sliding. We turned the coach slightly so they can now walk on the window curtains. We just have to remember to keep the windows closed on the lower side.
@ Trent I could not find a consistent narrative regarding attachment. (I have been hearing the word "narrative" on the news shows, and have been dying to find a place to use it.) The flooring is glued to flooring with typical flooring glue in the snap seams. I had visions of hitting a bump and all of the flooring becoming airborne and unsnapping. I used the deluxe padding throughout - the vapor barrier is of no use, but the thick felt should reduce the road noise. I also attached the first strip of flooring to the subfloor with finishing nails, and in a few places where I worried the floor might shift, or when I installed a small piece. In a couple of places, the flooring is attached to the subfloor with construction adhesive, where it would have been difficult to nail, for example the small piece between the sofa and the doghouse.
The doghouse pieces and those of the wheel well cover behind the front chair are nailed with finish nails, the holes were drilled in the flooring to avoid cracking. They are also held in place by dabs of construction adhesive, and the anodized aluminum trim strips used to cover the raw edges.
I caulked around the perimeter with caulk that matched the tile, and used the caulk to fill in a small gap in the flooring underneath the dining table. The caulk filled the gaps, may provide some insulation, and gently holds the flooring in place. I used a fake wood 1/4 round to cover the straight wall edges, and I left the rounded corners exposed - it looks nice, and it would be tough to effectively cover the rounded corners with the trim. I used the fake wood trim just to save about $100 - I could not tell the difference from two feet away.
In short, I used a combination of methods to secure the flooring, choosing what seemed best for a particular spot.
oldMattB
Matt, your floor looks great! I own a coach very similiar to yours, or I mean it would be very similiar to yours if only I had your talents!
I'm reading these old renovation posts trying to get the knowledge and courage to do a few upgrades to mine. I think I'd like to make a ride over to Coldspring to put a handshake on you someday when you return to Texas.
Glen
Thanks! none of the floor was difficult, exceot the one piece where the kitchen turns to hallway. with matching the seams, and the odd contours of the sides, it took me several tries to get it right. just jump in and do it!
Oldmattb
Matt,
Congrats! A really great job. Flooring is on our list, and I think the laminate look is definitely the way to go, since we already have lots of wood, which, as Carol points out, might be overpowering. Not looking forward to removing/replacing all the furniture in the front, though.
Can't talk for other coaches. chair has three bolts, recliner has four screws. folding table has about six screws. i left the sofa in place and slid the ends under the edge. we left the carpet under the driver and shotgun seats.
Oldmattb
Good tip on the sofa, but we would want to replace carpet under pilot and nav seats as well as under the massive custom desk we have on the passenger side, so it will be a major project. We don't mind major projects as long as the weather is good :)) . Luckily, the bathroom is already done, and the design department says leave the bedroom in carpet.
What I loved about the tile job that we accomplished in our coach was that it was laid on a diagonal instead of right angle. This was a '93 U225, 96" wide and, of course, no slide. Visually, it expanded the inside of the coach dramatically. Cleverly, we knew our limitations in the floor department and had Mike and David at FOT Remodel install the tile for us. He is a GREAT tile guy and we were really happy with the finished job. We are hopeless with that kind of stuff. We DO, however, like to watch Dave K & Nancy work on their coach and just feed them dinner at the end of the day so they keep entertaining us. It is always fun to watch someone ELSE demolish the inside of their house and go a bit crazy!
Good tip on diagonal tile. i considered that, but the planks are about 1 foot by 4 foot, which would dramatically increase the material cost, fitting and mistakes! small tiles would not be a big deal.
Oldmattb
That looks fantastic, it's one of my future projects for sure
Steve
I put a floating "snap together" floor in our 36' DP SOB coach. I also renewed the few bits of carpet that on race covers, step well cover, trim, etc. It looked good. I don't know how it performed. We bought the U295 and the only time we drove the SOB with the new floor was to MOT to put it on consignment. With the spiffy new floor, it sold within a week. :D
We want a hard surface floor in the U295. We plan to save up our "coach bucks" and have the work done at FOT. Replacing the flooring in the U295 is a much bigger job, and the coach is more of a "keeper" than the SOB.
Oldmattb's work looks good!
That looks awesome! ^.^d
i was surprised that this old thread came back to life. thanks for all the compliments. we are really happy with the floor - it looks good and is easy to clean.
Oldmattb
Matt,
Yes, it probably came back to life cause it is spring time and you know how we get after the hibernation. I am in the process of putting down engineered flooring. I personally cannot get enough wood. I am a former furniture/cabinet maker, so I am putting down engineering walnut flooring with a 12 mm wear surface. I will put down some runners over top of the flooring. Then I plan on tiling the bathroom, and new carpet in the bedroom and under the pilot and co-pilot area. Real nice job on the flooring. I plan on doing the steps very similar. The aluminum trim at the top; on the miters, do they match well? I was planning on tig welding the miters to keep toes from catching on them. Yeah picky, but dang that would hurt. I have to repair some subfloor first and then it is fun time. Will be this weekend or next. I will try to send pics when finished.
Curtis