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Old 09-14-2014, 09:53 AM   #1
Williston324
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Out goes the carpet

Our Laredo is only one year old but the carpet was already showing some signs of wear so we decided to replace it with Allure wood look vinyl plank flooring. The original product with the glue strips.

We're just doing the main floor area, leaving the carpet on the slides and upstairs. As other's have posted in the past, there were hundreds of staples holding the carpet and existing vinyl. When you consider it is all installed prior to slide and inside wall panel assembly it does take a little work to remove it.

The Keystone brochure for my model states "residential grade" carpeting and padding. Obviously there are extreme ends to this grade. This was at the very lowest. The padding is not underlay but 1/4" low density foam that I could easily flatten with two fingers. Nothing I have ever seen in a residential setting. To be honest this is the only real complaint I have with our unit. We spent last snowbird season in it and still love it!!

The Allure install is going well. Spent a few hours going over the install plan to make sure it would look decent with fairly equal widths in the first and last rows. We are laying it length ways. This is a floating floor so there is lots of trimming under the slides, kitchen base cabinet overhang, island, curved bottom step, etc.
Lots of kneeling and bending which is why we're taking today off and I'm popping pain/anti-inflamatories. The old back decided to go into spasms for the first time in a few years. Good excuse to watch ball and Nascar today!

One thing we've already noticed is the two main slides front lip which did glide over the carpet will now rub the vinyl as it moves up and down a bit when extended/retracted. We've made up a few three inch wide slide strips with smooth plastic attached to the top of the 1/4" ply and non-slip padding to the bottom. Placed at right angles to the slides they force them to move up a touch and keep off the vinyl. They easily store in our sofa under drawer.

Hopefully we'll be back at it tomorrow and I'll post a pic.
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Old 09-14-2014, 10:17 AM   #2
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This was probably the best upgrade I ever did to our last 5er. Looked much better and was so much easier to maintain/keep clean. Would loved to have the carpet delete option on our current 5er, but since we bought a previous model year holdover we didn't have that choice.
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Old 09-14-2014, 10:21 AM   #3
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I agree Brent. Was just looking at your pics. Nice job!
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Old 09-14-2014, 10:38 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Williston324 View Post
I agree Brent. Was just looking at your pics. Nice job!
Thanks, took me about two days working on it and cost me 6 stitches. The body of my utility knife broke that the brand new blade (the part still in the handle) came through the handle and laid the webbing of my hand open between the thumb and index finger. Made finishing the job a little slower and more painful. Brand new utility knife that I bought when I picked up the flooring....should have just stayed with my old trusty 25 year old utility knife.
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Old 09-14-2014, 05:45 PM   #5
Yosemitebob
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Williston324 View Post


The Keystone brochure for my model states "residential grade" carpeting and padding. Obviously there are extreme ends to this grade. This was at the very lowest. The padding is not underlay but 1/4" low density foam that I could easily flatten with two fingers. Nothing I have ever seen in a residential setting. To be honest this is the only real complaint I have with our unit. We spent last snowbird season in it and still love it!!

One thing we've already noticed is the two main slides front lip which did glide over the carpet will now rub the vinyl as it moves up and down a bit when extended/retracted. We've made up a few three inch wide slide strips with smooth plastic attached to the top of the 1/4" ply and non-slip padding to the bottom. Placed at right angles to the slides they force them to move up a touch and keep off the vinyl. They easily store in our sofa under drawer.

.
There is no standard in the carpet industry. What one company may call their residential or commercial may be another company's playground or bathtub. OK, a bit exaggerated, but what I mean is there is no across the board standard. Cost very as much as names We ordered ours with tile and no carpet down the middle, so much easier to keep clean. As far as those slides, that is a great idea. I'm going to look into that for sure. Thanks.
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Old 09-15-2014, 03:38 PM   #6
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Williston324, Howdy;

Did you manage to get any pix of the job as you were going along ?
I'd be especially interested in the Strips that you mentioned to get the
slides over the new flooring...

Thanks,

hankaye
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Old 09-18-2014, 03:18 AM   #7
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Will be resuming and hopefully finishing the install today after being out of commision for a few days. Standby for pics.
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Old 09-28-2014, 10:11 AM   #8
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I didn't take any pics of the tear out but it was pretty straight forward. All staples, no glue. Here are some pics of the install and the slider strips.

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No real difficulties with the install. Just a little planning as we went along so we didn't end up with a one or two inch piece at the end. A bit of cutting around the heating vents and the stair curve. Also undid the island (eight screws) and tiled under it then shimmed it up slightly as the floor is "floating". The base molding is stained pine door stop. None required against the step as the carpet hides the slight gap. The slider strips work well to guide the slides up just a touch over the the floor. Cut up my grandkids plastic snow carpets and glued them to one side of the 1/4" ply and used double sided carpet tape to attach the non slip pads to the other side. First attempt, I used spray glue adhesive for the pads but they never totally dried so I ripped them off, removed the glue and switched to tape. We also attached felt pads to the bottom of the two arm chairs. Overall we're happy with the results.
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Old 09-28-2014, 11:57 AM   #9
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Williston324, Howdy;

Thanks very much for the pix. Beautiful job you did,
now as I live where snow (spit), seldom shows-up,
what is a "snow carpet"??? Where do you find them
and can they be procured on-line??? How far apart
did you space the sliders for the slide?
I apologize for the rash of questions ... just sort of
bubbled out.

hankaye
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Old 09-28-2014, 12:47 PM   #10
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Fantastic job, now did you place the sliders pieces over or should I say under wheels or just arbitrary along the floor for the underside of the slide. Was there a method behind your location of the slider pieces?
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Old 10-02-2014, 03:54 AM   #11
Williston324
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Hankeye- haha - Snow carpet I stole from my grandkids is just a piece of flexible plastic they slide on. Also called, Crazy carpets. I've also seen people use thin plexiglass. I just placed them randomly, ends and middle.

Bob - see above plus my slides don't have wheels - cantilevers in over the floor.

So far we have only tried them a few times in storage. Two weeks today we depart for the snowbird season in Florida and they'll get lots of use. Can't wait!!
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Old 10-02-2014, 05:58 AM   #12
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Williston324, Howdy;

Thanks for the enlightenment about the 'carpet' in question.

hankaye
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Old 10-02-2014, 06:50 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Williston324 View Post
I've also seen people use thin plexiglass.
Hopefully they are not using Plexiglass - that will break and shatter. Luxan is what they should use, it does not break, much safer.
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Old 10-04-2014, 06:50 AM   #14
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Looks a lot classier than carpet. Very nice. :-)
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Old 04-16-2015, 04:46 AM   #15
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Six month update.

After six months of daily use the Allure flooring is holding up great and still looks great. No complaints at all! We've spent that time south with all sorts of weather conditions from cold and damp to hot and humid. The floor shows no signs of use or fading. The vinyl floor odor that is a concern to some was gone after the first couple of months. It was never too strong and never did bother us (even with my wife's allergies ans asthma)

We use the slide strips and there are no wear marks at all from the many times they've been in/out. We've dropped the odd pot or plate and no cuts. There was a tiny nick in front of the sofa but a wood finish stain marker effectively filled it and now I can't even find it.

For us it has been a great mod and would highly recommend it for others.
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Old 04-16-2015, 06:56 AM   #16
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Williston324, Howdy;

Thanks for taking the time to do a follow-up to your Mod.
Good to know all is still as it should be.

hankaye
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Old 04-16-2015, 08:00 AM   #17
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Floating Floor

Williston 324:

Excellent job; looks very professional. We have a floating floor in our house (installed by me). We like it very much; it has withstood wear and tear very well. Except: The flooring that is located near heat sources (wood burning stove, refrigerater, etc.) has shrunk and opened up cracks that weren't there when I laid it! Otherwise, we are very happy with it.

Wondered tho, on a mobile floor is there any danger it could move around on you when you travel since it really isn't anchored down and lays on a loose foam pad???
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Old 04-23-2015, 11:22 AM   #18
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No movement at all.
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Old 10-20-2016, 03:44 PM   #19
Williston324
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Re: Out goes the carpet

Two year update.

After approximately 10,000 miles of towing and two six month Snowbird seasons we are still very pleased with our Allure flooring. To be honest, it still looks new! The only problem has recently popped up - literally. A small philips head screw/bolt has worked loose and is now exposed through the floor between our island and a floor register. I have tightened it back in and am now contemplating how to complete the repair. I intentionally did not back it right out as I have no idea what it's purpose is?? I didn't want to remove it and hear a clunk! Will now either just fill the hole - it's small - or cut out the piece and replace it. Thinking the former will be a lot easier and nothing to lose if it works.

The stairs and upper bedroom carpet are now showing wear. Will probably rip out the carpet and have new, better grade underlay and carpet installed. The stairs are curved and Allure would be a pain to install.
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Old 10-20-2016, 04:23 PM   #20
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Re: Out goes the carpet

Thanks for this. After 8 years our carpet is about worn out. Only thing stopping me from this type of flooring had been worries about the slide-outs scratching it. You have a great solution.
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