New floor in our U320

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New floor in our U320

March 10, 2011, 02:42:17 pm

For several months now we have been working toward installing a laminate floor in our coach. With several pets the carpet was no longer practical. You've all read and seen enough tear outs, so I'll just show two photos prior to installing the new floating floor. At this point I was hoping I had not gotten myself in over my head. When you see the next few photos you will understand why I have had this project on my mind for over two years. I am very pleased with the finished look.

Re: New floor in our U320

Reply #1 – March 10, 2011, 02:52:08 pm

Quote from: Gary Omel – March 10, 2011, 02:42:17 pm

For several months now we have been working toward installing a laminate floor in our coach. With several pets the carpet was no longer practical.

When you see the next few photos you will understand why I have had this project on my mind for over two years. I am very pleased with the finished look.

All I can say is "Wow!" Outstanding job and you should definitely be pleased and proud of the finished project.

Michelle

Re: New floor in our U320

Reply #2 – March 10, 2011, 03:13:26 pm

Nice job Gary!!

Did you need to do anything special with the slideout?

Re: New floor in our U320

Reply #3 – March 10, 2011, 03:20:53 pm

Gary, that look great, how long did it take you, and how many staples were in the pad.

Re: New floor in our U320

Reply #4 – March 10, 2011, 03:43:28 pm

Gary,
You sure did a great job on your flooring.

How big is the front TV and did you do that too?

Thanks,

Re: New floor in our U320

Reply #5 – March 10, 2011, 05:09:32 pm

Gary, Gary B gave me the run down on the issues with the floor, glad to see you finished it.

Re: New floor in our U320

Reply #6 – March 10, 2011, 07:53:39 pm

Been there done that lol Looks great!!!!

Re: New floor in our U320

Reply #7 – March 10, 2011, 08:19:55 pm

John, I put down a sub floor to get the proper clearance for the sliders. When we get to Tn., I am going to attempt to build roller assemblys and eliminate the teflon gliders.
Jimmy, Sandy pulled all the staples. She lost count.
Brad, Yes I did do the TV conversion. It is a 40" Toshiba. Also, when we were in Calif.,I made the overhead storage in the slide room.

Re: New floor in our U320

Reply #8 – March 11, 2011, 10:38:30 am

Folks, Don't let Gary O fool you. He talks as though this was a routine job, Having been there I can tell you that this was a MAJOR MAJOR Undertaking that was possible only because Gary O does not have the word impossible in his vocabulary. I had great qualms about how this was going to turn out ( I did not let him know this ) and applaud his expertise and attention to detail.
Good job Gary, See you in Perry.
Gary B

Re: New floor in our U320

Reply #9 – March 11, 2011, 03:39:27 pm

Very well done, very nice.

Re: New floor in our U320

Reply #10 – March 11, 2011, 07:20:52 pm

Gary B,,,Thanks for the kind words. There was a brief time,during this project,that I wondered if we would ever be able to drive the coach again. The Florida house is now shut down ( today ) and we leave for Perry tomorrow. See you all there.

Re: New floor in our U320

Reply #11 – March 11, 2011, 07:24:44 pm

I would have to agree with Gary B's comments. Looks good Gary O. Have fun in Perry and drive carefully. Wish I could be there.

Grace and Peace, Mark

Re: New floor in our U320

Reply #12 – March 11, 2011, 09:37:23 pm

Gary, it looks really good. One of my concerns in going to hard surface has been noise. Did you use any sound deadening underlayment?
Have you noticed any change in road noise, vibration or increased wind noise?

Thanks for sharing your experience.

Re: New floor in our U320

Reply #13 – March 12, 2011, 07:27:15 am

Gary, you have a slide and I do too. I was talking with David Flanigan and he stated that the first generation slides ride on skids and grit would eventually scratch and gouge the floor. When I put in my tile floor as a result, I am thinking of leaving about 20 inches of carpet to allow the slide out to roll on that. Have you seen any issues with scratching or marks. Of course now that it is installed is a poor time to ask.

Re: New floor in our U320

Reply #14 – March 12, 2011, 01:23:19 pm

I have a 2000 with a slide, installed tile two years ago, no scratches yet.

Re: New floor in our U320

Reply #15 – March 12, 2011, 05:56:31 pm

Thanks Tim. I have seen it both ways. Interesting.

Re: New floor in our U320

Reply #16 – March 12, 2011, 07:13:29 pm

Tim,
Who installed your tile? Would you say that you open and close the slide less than 12 times a year? We hope to do replace carpet with tile in 2012.

Thanks.
George

Re: New floor in our U320

Reply #17 – March 12, 2011, 10:00:57 pm

Kent, The first trip was today from central Fl. to Perry Ga. There was no change in road noise. I did use the high end sound deadening under lay.
John, Mark Harvey and other people recommended I not remove the carpet because of the slide runners. We were going to leave the carpet , but because of the floor plan, we wanted the long look you see when you enter the coach with the reflection on the cross closet mirrors. We do clean each time we run the slide to prevent damage. After FMCA , when I'm home in the shop , in tn, I plan to build a set of rollers to replace the sliders. The down side is having to remove every thing in the slide room to get to the floor. Belive me , I put a lot of thought and planning in this before I ripped out the final piece of carpet. The plan is almost complete but all the pieces haven't been found yet. Tile was considered but rejected because the area is over 200 sq'. That was too much weight.

Re: New floor in our U320

Reply #18 – March 12, 2011, 10:11:51 pm

George,
MOT Installed the tile. The slide never closes 6 months of the year while Mom is in it in FL. Then I probably open and close the slide 30 times in the other six months

Re: New floor in our U320

Reply #19 – March 13, 2011, 10:17:28 am

Tile is going to be more resistant to scratching than laminate. It sounds like Gary's roller idea will work well with his laminate. I would consider rollers with a urethane contact surface. An alternate or additional idea would be wiper brushes or felt that would surround the rollers - keeping sand and dirt from under the rollers.

Re: New floor in our U320

Reply #20 – March 13, 2011, 10:27:04 am

Depending on the roller used, it too can leave markings on the surface after continued use. What about using teflon tape to cover the existing slide runners? Perhaps this method can be used as a way to test this theory, and if it does not work then try to find rollers made of a similar "teflon like" material.

Re: New floor in our U320

Reply #21 – March 13, 2011, 12:21:42 pm

I thought about tile but the weight of the first gen slides would crack it over time. FT had a coach in with just that so no ceramic tile would hold up well. Time will tell though.

Re: New floor in our U320

Reply #22 – March 13, 2011, 01:17:22 pm

Quote from: John Sichenze – March 13, 2011, 12:21:42 pm

I thought about tile but the weight of the first gen slides would crack it over time. FT had a coach in with just that so no ceramic tile would hold up well. Time will tell though.

We are thinking of using Duraceramic. I believe that the factory has used this in the past. As full-timers I really think we'd be willing to accept some light roller marks over the impossibility of keeping the carpet clean.

Perfection is available in the sticks and bricks abode as I recall

Re: New floor in our U320

Reply #23 – March 13, 2011, 01:33:44 pm

I talked with David Flannigan, he will be putting down a vinyl that looks like ceramic and will put in silicone grout lines instead of grout for flexing issues. I have tile in my coach and have had three crack now so I will not put in pure ceramic tile again. It is Duraceramic so I think we are talking about the same thing.

Re: New floor in our U320

Reply #24 – March 13, 2011, 01:44:39 pm

We consulted with Flannigan at FOT in January regarding flooring. He recommended commercial grade vinyl tile. My understanding is that Duraceramic is such a product. He showed us a couple of other commercial grade vinyl tile products that were in the shop at the time. I don't remember the specific brands. We do not have any slides, so there are no concerns with respect to a slide.

He recommended staying with carpet flooring in the bedroom because of the sound deadening materials specific to that area.

The vinyl tile can be laid with siliconized grout in a gap between tiles, or the tiles can be butted together with no grout. One can choose the material and pattern to meet preferences. He suggested laying the tile on the diagonal as his preference for appearance.

He quoted prices for various renewals, such as flooring, entertainment center rebuild, drawer modifications, and headboard change for the bed. We were pleased to be able to pay the bills for the mechanical work, and have deferred the interior updates. Replacing most of the carpet with a hard surfaced material is high on our list of improvements.

I put a new floor covering in our previous SOB coach. I used a floating floor by Armstrong from Home Depot. I was pleased with the look. I don't know how it will hold up, as we bought the FT and sold the SOB immediately after I completed the replacement of the floor. In the FT, I want the floor to be done right, so I will hire someone else to do it.

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