Installing a New Floor in the RV
05-18-2015
Author: Blog Editor in JeepandRV
RV Home Renovations
Touching back on last month we spent the first three weeks back in Orlando. It was supposed to be a trip to relax and see family but somehow I convinced Jim that we should replace ALL of the flooring instead. I can tell you that it is not a task to tackle alone unless you are ready for some really long days but the results are stunning. We had to remove the couch, driver and passenger seats, the bed, the nightstands, and the dining room table. Then we had to pull the slides slightly in so we could pull the carpet that is wrapped around the slideout off.
This carpet was installed on the slide out at the factory before it was attached to the coach and not designed to come out so this left scrapped knuckles and bloody fingers but in the end it all came out. The carpet was almost thirteen years old and was so nasty. I voted to not put any carpet back in but DH wanted carpet in the bedroom so we compromised and did not put it on the front slide. This did make a challenge of how to transition the slide to the main body but sure does make cleaning much easier. For materials we went with a commercial grade luxury vinyl plank from Mannington for everything except the bedroom and a high-end berber for the bedroom.
We glued down the vinyl as we had already experienced the issues of moving planks when we tried the floating system. The one word of advice I would give is be persistent with those installing that you need to leave a 1/4 inch gap off of the exterior walls for movement going down the road. I told the installers a couple of times but they normally worked on stationary houses and probably just figured I was nuts. Our first run down the road saw a couple of tiles buckle up for lack of a gap. Otherwise the floor has been wonderful. Our rig has never smelt cleaner (old carpet gone) and the look of the interior is of a "real" house which is nice. While we were at it we went to home depot and picked out some glass tile for the stove area and the bathroom sink backsplash. I will get some pics posted later.
We went back and forth on if we should invest in updating the current rig or live with it until we upgraded. In the end for us spending a few thousand dollars now translated in a happier, healthier home and took off the pressure on how soon we would need to upgrade. We spent less then 90k on the rig and with upgrades to date we are probably getting close to $110,000 in total investment but the chassis is hard to beat and there is not much left on the interior to upgrade.
To date we have replaced the "never"cold with a residential all electric refrigerator (love it), the old tv's with a "smart" screen Samsung, all of the flooring, a new couch (will need to write about that experience soon), upgraded the bed to a sleep number ( I love, DH is not as impressed), added glass backsplash to kitchen, bathroom, and stairwell, and removed the "headbanger" at the front (what a huge difference this makes on how the interior feels and sure don't miss those knocks to the skull). I guess the fact that we enjoyed remodeling houses did not stop just because our house has wheels.
From the Blogger, Cindy Boyd: He said…She said...This blog is about everything my husband and I have learned on our journey to RV fulltime and how two people can have the same experience yet see it very differently.
Touching back on last month we spent the first three weeks back in Orlando. It was supposed to be a trip to relax and see family but somehow I convinced Jim that we should replace ALL of the flooring instead. I can tell you that it is not a task to tackle alone unless you are ready for some really long days but the results are stunning. We had to remove the couch, driver and passenger seats, the bed, the nightstands, and the dining room table. Then we had to pull the slides slightly in so we could pull the carpet that is wrapped around the slideout off.
This carpet was installed on the slide out at the factory before it was attached to the coach and not designed to come out so this left scrapped knuckles and bloody fingers but in the end it all came out. The carpet was almost thirteen years old and was so nasty. I voted to not put any carpet back in but DH wanted carpet in the bedroom so we compromised and did not put it on the front slide. This did make a challenge of how to transition the slide to the main body but sure does make cleaning much easier. For materials we went with a commercial grade luxury vinyl plank from Mannington for everything except the bedroom and a high-end berber for the bedroom.
We glued down the vinyl as we had already experienced the issues of moving planks when we tried the floating system. The one word of advice I would give is be persistent with those installing that you need to leave a 1/4 inch gap off of the exterior walls for movement going down the road. I told the installers a couple of times but they normally worked on stationary houses and probably just figured I was nuts. Our first run down the road saw a couple of tiles buckle up for lack of a gap. Otherwise the floor has been wonderful. Our rig has never smelt cleaner (old carpet gone) and the look of the interior is of a "real" house which is nice. While we were at it we went to home depot and picked out some glass tile for the stove area and the bathroom sink backsplash. I will get some pics posted later.
We went back and forth on if we should invest in updating the current rig or live with it until we upgraded. In the end for us spending a few thousand dollars now translated in a happier, healthier home and took off the pressure on how soon we would need to upgrade. We spent less then 90k on the rig and with upgrades to date we are probably getting close to $110,000 in total investment but the chassis is hard to beat and there is not much left on the interior to upgrade.
To date we have replaced the "never"cold with a residential all electric refrigerator (love it), the old tv's with a "smart" screen Samsung, all of the flooring, a new couch (will need to write about that experience soon), upgraded the bed to a sleep number ( I love, DH is not as impressed), added glass backsplash to kitchen, bathroom, and stairwell, and removed the "headbanger" at the front (what a huge difference this makes on how the interior feels and sure don't miss those knocks to the skull). I guess the fact that we enjoyed remodeling houses did not stop just because our house has wheels.
From the Blogger, Cindy Boyd: He said…She said...This blog is about everything my husband and I have learned on our journey to RV fulltime and how two people can have the same experience yet see it very differently.
Comment
ORSINI49June 14, 2021 | 02:13 PM
how do I find a RV flooring contractor in NH/MA for the floor project? I want to update from carpet. ORSINI49
JOcchiJune 3, 2015 | 09:35 AM
Thanks for sharing the experience. We just put in wood floors 2 weeks ago - but we did it the easy way...we hired a RV flooring contractor. Took him 3/5 days, while we were living in it - that was no fun. We did not take out the furniture or cockpit chairs but we went from right behind the cockpit all the way back to the bedroom, including the bath. Wow - what a difference. Our total investment was under $1500.
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