Forum Discussion

ThruTraffic's avatar
ThruTraffic
Explorer
Sep 12, 2020

Flying Floating Flooring

Have any of you ever installed floating flooring in your RV and glued it in place?

No need for hundreds to pile on with the mfgr said this and that and no you can’t do it because the warranty is gone and yada yada yada. I know one isn’t “supposed“ to glue floating floors.

I’m asking in this context:

- Floating floors are designed to float because of expansion; the reason a 1/4” gap is left around the perimeter.
- BUT, is expansion really an issue in such a narrow installation like a motor home??? The widest part of my RV’s floor is about 6’.

I understand the necessity of considering expansion in a home with a large room. But what if one were simply doing a four foot wide hallway; which in most cases are around three to six feet wide. If one could glue a hall, one should be able to glue in an RV.

I don’t think the weather extreme argument holds or the manufacturer would warn against installing their products in vacation homes where inside is like outside when no one is in residence and then fired up the furnace/AC a few times a year.

I’ll add a line or two about why I’m asking: I’m concerned that the rollers on the slide out may push the flooring ahead of it, and the worst case scenario would be when they push the flooring till it stops against the far wall it could then push the flooring until it “accordions”. When a roller under load is given enough inertia to move it has to be forced to roll; it doesn’t want to by itself; it digs in like a kid being pushed towards the bathroom to brush their teeth, then it will roll. If the floor is glued this concern doesn’t exist.

26 Replies

  • I think it would work just fine without the glue. Have thought about tossing some snap in flooring into my trailer. Doesnt have the slide roller issue.
  • I did enjoy the reference to “engineered artificial fake wood” and “vinyl and carpet” in the same post. Point in fact, they are ALL engineered artificial products - except for the fake wood flooring, which is actually engineered from real leftover wood! :b

    Dave
  • Well one can roll the dice buck the advise of the manufacturer (who designed, manufactured it and most likely knows a lot more about how it reacts than any arm chair Internet Keyboardist would know) and see if your experiment fails or succeeds.

    I would bet that most likely it will ultimately fail in utter disaster with your glued down flooring buckling after some time passes.

    If it doesn't buckle, you are most likely are going to deal with damage from the slide moving back and forth over it ANYWAYS.. Many folks who installed wood flooring under the slide area end up with the slide dragging on the flooring causing gouges in the newly minted flooring. Even "engineered" flooring will be thicker than carpet and will not give like carpet.

    My best advice would be to lay CARPET under the area that the slide will go over when in.. Then lay your flooring around the carpet and frame with some trim work on the floor.. Or if very careful you cut the padding short of the edge of the carpet then fold carpet under then you can use a few hundred staples through the carpet to tack it down, then lay your wood flooring around the carpet.

    Don't like carpet at the slide? Then get some vinyl flooring and put down in the area the slide will move over. Check with a few flooring shops to see if they have some discontinued vinyl floor or perhaps some leftover scraps from installs that may be large enough..

    Oh, by the way, "engineered wood flooring" is another term for leftover wood and paper scraps mixed in a bunch of glue compressed under high pressure and if you are lucky a thin wood veneer is glued to the top.. Pretty much a MDF (Medium Density Fiber) panel board material.. It WILL absorb water and it WILL EXPAND, not so much with contracting once it expands even if the moisture has been removed.

    You are buying expensive junk.

    Weighs a ton also..

    I would never consider putting a wood floor (including "engineered artificial fake wood flooring") into a RV, RVs experience huge changes in temperature and humidity. Yes, there are folks who have done it and been successful but more likely more failures have happened..

    Go with vinyl or carpet, much more forgiving in the RV environment, I used peal and stick squares in my RV, quick and easy and if one gets damaged, pull up the damaged tile and drop a replacement tile in..
  • I did a previous home with it and these floors are very easy to install with a miter saw.

    My biggest concern would be how well will the slide except this increase in floor height and will all cabinet doors open,do you have fold in steps.

    If none of these concerns are an issue then it will likely look fantastic but expect some minor separation in low humidity using glue or just glue the section under slide.

    And if you pursue this I'd be curious how it turns out.