Need help or advice on flooring.

[sandy43]

This matter concerning new flooring is very important to my wife. We are definitely going to redo the flooring (not bedroom) in the living area and kitchen to match in our Alpine RV. Some type of hardwood or synthetic wood flooring that works well with the slides. I would like to know what material is best and has anyone else done this. Carpet in the living area is a mess due to the slides going in and out. Also need to find someone that knows what their doing to do the work. Any and all information pertaining to this is greatly appreciated. Thanks

[weaselguys]

I have been thinking about redoing the flooring in mine also and have been researching it a lot, first thing to consider is your slider on rollers or does it slide across the floor like it has skids on it, look at he marks it leaves on the carpet this will give a good indication. Second when your slider is out does it set above the rest of the floor or does it drop down level, if it
drops down level if you use laminate it may chip the edges on the end and the flooring may dent from the weight of the slider and there is usually a lip that bridges the gap between the slider and main floor. If it sets above the main floor you might get away with laminate. Look and see how much the slider sits above the main floor, the new flooring should be thinner than that. You might try vinyl plank flooring it should be thin enough and it could be laid down like a floating laminate floor which should eliminate buckling. You could check with your local RV places that will change the flooring and see what they will guarantee to work.

[BigTexRex]

We used Karndean LooseLay and it has held up beautifully for the last three years of full-timing. It is expensive, but you're only doing a small area. Link

[wiredgeorge]

I installed Allure vinyl flooring in our 5ver. Our trailer is a 2002 and while the carpet was decent and probably could have been cleaned, I wanted something that didn't show every dirty or dusty footprint. You need to leave expansion room around the edge and this means installing 1/4 round (ours is actually 7/16"). When I pulled up the carpet, I found that there was sheet vinyl under most of the carpet. It had been stapled and there were some odd pieces of construction trash under the vinyl.

I removed the trash buy slitting the vinyl and pounded in all the staples; many were not in all the way. I also removed those that were bent over. I then used the vinyl flooring which has adhesive on two edges; one along the length and one the end. I had to use some silicon glue to hold one joint as the area under the slide carpet isn't level and caused it to pop as the adhesive didn't hold well; this was a section about 3 or 4 feet long and I glued and then stuck heavy stuff on top till it set.

The next trick is to realize that the slide will scrape the flooring as it comes all the way in when retracted. I saw this in a number of other posts. I just cut FOUR pieces of plywood about 6" wide and a couple 2 ft long and a couple 3 ft long. I use the shorter at the ends of the slide and longer in the middle. I bring the slide in about 18" and then put the plywood slats underneath and continue pulling the slide in. I do have to continue pushing the slats in as the slide will try and push them out otherwise. I do this once or twice when retracting and NO marks on my floor. First time I retracted the slide, I didn't know it would scrape the floor and got some; especially on the ends and the slats have fixed this. I bought a touch up marker pen and the scrapes are pretty much unnoticeable.

I used the light oak Allure and Home Depot has matching regular wood 1/4 round. The stuff matches my cabinets pretty well. I am pretty happy with the result. Sheet vinyl might be a better answer for a trailer but I am not capable of installing that stuff so you would need to get a floor installer to do it. The Allure is a do-it-yourself project. I have also used Pergo type stuff in my shop office and got the cheapest at Home Depot. It is not a good product as the tongue and groove areas are not well formed and mine has spread. I would get a higher quality Pergo if I used it in my trailer. Not enough square feet involved to balk at the cost. Just watch the thickness as it is MUCH thicker than the Allure I used or even the cheapo floating floor stuff.