Yet another carpet removal and vinyl floor installation.

November 25, 2020, 12:28:00 am

It has been long time since my last post regarding my 1991 GV. I have been working on it whenever I got time. The last major task is to remove the carpet, replace with vinyl floor.

Apparently, after 30 years of the use, the carpet becomes the biggest source of odor. No mater how hard I clean it, the odor is still there. I asked professional carpet guy, he told me that the carpet is not worth to be cleaned. It just needs to be replaced. After all, it is 30 year old. Also due to the age, the sofa also has strong smell. So it is time to do something about the sofa.

I know there are many people already done this. It seems like pretty daunting task. My first reaction is to call around to get some idea of the cost. I am in Houston area, the cost to replace carpet with floor is at least $1000, the cost to re-upholstery the sofa is $2000 plus. That hurts. So I want to save some money by DIY. After reading quite a few posts. It seems like doable.

Removing old carpe is relatively easy. It only takes about 4 hours to remove the carpet and the underlying material. The smell is pretty strong. After the carpet is removed, the odor inside the coach is much better.
Old underlying material, smelly

Carpet and under layer removed

To my surprise, there is only one spot with rotten wood right behind the driver seat. The wood subfloor seems pretty decent in other area. So clean the rotten woods off, replace with 1/2 board. fill with some wood filler. Sand flat. Then start the floor installation.

I use Home depot Lifeproof Sterling Oak 8.7 in. W x 47.6 in. L Luxury Vinyl Plank Flooring. For some reason, I initially want to use glue down floor, but the salemens at homedepot said it is not a good idea to use glue down floor in RV since it is not climate controlled. It make sense, so I choose the vinyl plank flooring. It is Pretty easy to install. Just needs to measure and cut around the kitchen and stair well area. To save time, I didn't remove the carpet under the front seats and under the sofa.

I used 8 boxes of the floor.

https://www.foreforums.com/MGalleryItem.php?id=4545

The end result is pretty good. Not the best professional looking installation. But Wife is happy. The odor is much much better now. With little bit help from air freshener, it actually smells good inside the coach.

It took me about 6 weeks on and off to complete the project. But it certainly be done in 3 days. For professionals, 1 day is definitely possible. The tool I found most useful is the multi-tool. It made the cutting so much easier

Total cost is just the 8 boxes of the floor around $500 plus tools and quarter round trims. All material probably cost about $700. I probably can save some money by using different brand floor. But since I am DIY, saving on materials is not necessary.

Re: Yet another carpet removal and vinyl floor installation.

Reply #1 – November 25, 2020, 01:42:46 am

Beautiful. I like your choice of floor covering. It is always nice to see these 30 year old coaches brought up to date.

Richard

Re: Yet another carpet removal and vinyl floor installation.

Reply #2 – November 25, 2020, 10:03:50 am

Looks 👍

Re: Yet another carpet removal and vinyl floor installation.

Reply #3 – November 25, 2020, 10:47:43 am

It looks great. We followed about the same color and for us it hides the dust footprints really well. Was one of the most painful projects in years. We ran our Flooring across the coach to help improve life with the slide grinding across it. Seems I didn't cut but maybe fifteen pieces. Had to cut and fit a lot. Getting old ain't for doing flooring. I cringe just thinking about it, but the end justifies the means. Great job behind you, clean up is much better, and no smell. Looks great!
Scott

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