Laminate floor in 5th Wheel?

[kboettcher]

Has anyone put a laminate floor in their 5th wheel? I bought a 10 year old unit and want to remove the "Purple" carpet and put a hard surface in, but was wondering how they hold up with the 2 slides running in on them. I was also wondering if the floor would move around seeing as laminate is supposed to be a floating floor. They flooring guy recommended vinyl, but I really don't like that stuff.

 

[KFranco]

The first thing that comes to mind is to be sure you have the clearance under your slide. My slide is mounted to a bracket in which the slide doesn't touch the carpet flooring at all. If yours slides on the floor make sure there is clearance under it for the laminate flooring. If so I say it should be alright since I've moved a fridge on laminate and the flooring didn't move.



Another option if you're considering is to replace the carpet. If keeping it clean is what you're worried about then purchase a remnant runner to cover the main walking area or cover it up with a left over piece that contractors are putting in the garbage bin. Since I work in construction this is what I did. We have kids and when the carpet guys were done I asked for the scrap and covered the original carpet. 2 years later with 3 kids all over the place it looks as new as the day it was purchased.



Sorry for the tangent. I hope someone who has installed laminate in their RV can help you some more.

 

[matches]

Forget laminate, /i put real hardwood floor in. Nothing but the best for the guys on the river!

 

[HBarlow]

Sure, you can replace ugly old carpet with vinyl sheet flooring. Just clean the surface thoroughly, remove any old glue or staples, and smear flooring adhesive around the entire area where the flooring will be installed.

Make sure the slides have rollers underneath and no sharp edges that will bind or tear the new flooring.

 

[KKaminski]

I had the same issue with out Carri-Lite.

Mauve carpeting throughout was driving me crazy - so I ripped out the bathroom carpet and replaced it with oak parquet flooring (in 12" squares). Got that glued to the floor and haven't looked back. No cracking, warping, damage and we've since put 20,000 miles on it.



The living area, on the other hand, is a P. I. T. A.

I decided to take out the carpet and put down self adhesive vinyl squares.

BAD IDEA!!!!

I should have bit the bullet and put in 3/4" T&G flooring then.

Our slide is adjustable up and down for about 1 1/2" of room, so I can easily make that. It's just convincing the wife that if she don't let me spend this money, she'll be picking out a new fiver next spring!

 

[tempforce]

i've been checking into this and i found a thin 5/16 thick laminate wood flooring. but instead of being a pressboard. it is a plywood design. the flooring may be layed as a floating floor or glued/stapeled down to a wood backing/subfloor. i found the wood flooring at lowes. not many choices of wood for the surface. but should fit under the slide while traveling. i'll be starting the project this fall.

my rear slide must be detached to get under the bed, to remove the carpet and to level and prep the sub floor.

i plan on glueing and stapeling the first few rows starting at the slide and work my way to the non moving side. i'll have more issues with the cabinets, but i will have a straighter edge to start from.

if that doesn't work for you, then leave a 1/4 inch space at the cabenents and work to the slide. glueing and stapeling the last few rows.

be sure to taper the last rows outside edge for the slide to slip onto the wood easier.

i'm also modifing the slide gap so that i won't have a large air gap between the slide and room, when opened. i found out after i bought the trailer the gap was there. as i had a major air leak in this area, during the first winter use. now i stuff the space with bubble pack whenever i'm parked for more than a few days. it would be nice not to have to fix the air gap every time i'm setting up.

 

[Ace476]

My brother Bob just puuled the carpeting and put a vinyl floor in his Avion 5th wheel.

He loves it. And it looks just like an expensive ceramic tile floor. Do it.

 

[Firstgenfanantic]

The previous owner installed hardwood flooring (laminate/pergo) stuff. The flooring looks great and is easy to maintain.

 

[BLarkman]

We did our 99 Montana and will be doing our 06 Montana as soon as we get back from the MOC raley at Canyonville. I saw one like ours, and it is easier due to slide layout.

So gets her new flooring asap. It took me about a day to remove carpet,clean and install new floor. Cost us about $150 for flooring. I recommend a light color.

bob

 

[kboettcher]

BLarkman... ... did you do yours with laminate or engineered hardwood? And did you just let it float or did you glue it down? I don't see how a floating floor will work if you have opposing slides, would think it would tend to pull it right out.

 

[BLarkman]

Yes I did the laminate and it does float, I did not do the slides and the one I looked at the other was the same way and he has slides on each side in kitchen area. The slide lifts over the flooring when it comes in. As the flooring fills the whole main floor it should not move. We left about 1/4" clearance around edges as per instructions for expansion. I hope this helps and not too long winded. My email addres changed and is -- email address removed --

bob

 

[BLarkman]

Opps

fogot to add as I see yours is a older unit. On our Montana the slideouts were raised up about a 2" and we did use a undercut saw to remove the old carpet. It did a good job of removing the old carpet under slideouts allowing us to slide the new laminate under slide edge

bob

 

[kboettcher]

Thanks Bob, Good info. One more thing, did you use yhat foam underlay for the laminate or just go right over the sub-floor. I see now what you mean when you say because it covers the whole floor it shouldn't move. Never really noticed the end of the unit past the slides that should keep it locked in.



Thanks again, Ken

 

[BLarkman]

I had sent u a post before we left for home but apparently it did not go through. Yes we did use the blue foam as underlay. If you give meyour email address I will send u a couple of picture of what we did on the 99 Montana

bob