Installing laminate wood floors

[jtad]

We have been talking about replacing the carpet and tile in our 2004 Holiday Rambler since we bought it last Feb. When we were looking at coaches we asked a couple of different places about doing the install. I don't remember what the quotes were but they were in the thousands. When I'm done I will have less than a $1,000 in the whole job. I'm pretty handy, have done a lot of tile work and have put down a laminate wood floor about a year ago in a cabin. So I thought I'd give it a shot... Carpet tear out wasn't bad, but the tile demo was a beating..Here are a couple of pics the last one is just a preview of what we are putting down. I will add some more as I go..

[diplomatdon]

Naio, I don't think your cat would want to use cork for a scratching surface. A few nail punctures wouldn't make much difference as cork is self healing. As stated, cork excellent for bedroom as it is warm to walk on, shock when you hit tile bathroom. As far as tile goes, porcelain is very tough, doesn't chip easily and if you choose a natural look it will be the same color ant texture all the way thru. We have porcelain in home kitchen, have dropped cast iron stove grate on it with no problem. If your grout with the premixed grout it contains sealer, is a good match if you have to patch later, however a little more work to wipe off to finish. For the ones doing marble the edges can be polished quite easily. First a file then sand paper going finer until desired finish is achieved. With travertine I go to 320, so marble will require finer, but I don't how much. Trial and stop when it matches.

[mike_brez]

lenny-shawna wrote:

msmith1199 wrote:

mike brez wrote:
Wait a second your a contractor and can't fix a chipped or cracked tile. :h

Is there a way to fix a cracked tile? I thought the fix would be to remove and replace it. And to do that you would have to have a matching tile. How many motorhomes come with some extra tiles? How easy is it to find matching tile for a motorhome? I bet it isn't very easy at all, but then again I've never tried.

You are correct. In addition to the tile not matching the grout will not match as well. Too many people slap things together haphazardly and call it acceptable.

I'm no contractor and not much of a tile guy but changed out kitchen cabinets and the base was narrower. Chipped out 15 year old tile replaced and grouted. Not much of a differance.

[Naio]

For myself, I think I might want a wimpy laminate :). With my life, scratches are inevitable. And I think a bunch of scratches look less prominent than just one!

[Naio]

bluwtr49 wrote:
The hardwood is just too "linear" with all the strips running fore and aft and no geometric pattern to add interest. Also most are too dark for such a small area.

Oh, that does sound bad!

The install I saw was side to side, and a light/medium oak. It looked great.

Re: Scratches on laminate. I had a friend who got samples of several types, took them home, and tried to scratch them! He also doaked them in a bucket of water overnight.

He said they varied widely, from brand to brand, and price was irrelevant. He ended up with a stone-look, because it was the toughest, tougher than the wood look in the same brand.

[lenny-shawna]

msmith1199 wrote:

mike brez wrote:
Wait a second your a contractor and can't fix a chipped or cracked tile. :h

Is there a way to fix a cracked tile? I thought the fix would be to remove and replace it. And to do that you would have to have a matching tile. How many motorhomes come with some extra tiles? How easy is it to find matching tile for a motorhome? I bet it isn't very easy at all, but then again I've never tried.

You are correct. In addition to the tile not matching the grout will not match as well. Too many people slap things together haphazardly and call it acceptable.

[lenny-shawna]

mike brez wrote:
Wait a second your a contractor and can't fix a chipped or cracked tile. :h

You don't fix chipped tile if you a professional and demand quality. You replace broken and chipped tile.

[mike_brez]

msmith1199 wrote:

mike brez wrote:
Wait a second your a contractor and can't fix a chipped or cracked tile. :h

Is there a way to fix a cracked tile? I thought the fix would be to remove and replace it. And to do that you would have to have a matching tile. How many motorhomes come with some extra tiles? How easy is it to find matching tile for a motorhome? I bet it isn't very easy at all, but then again I've never tried.

Exactly and the same for any other surface.

[bluwtr49]

I've seen several coaches that have had hardwood flooring installed and so far have been less than impressed with the finished product. Not that the jobs weren't well done...they were. I's the visual effect that doesn't look as good as nice tile work. The hardwood is just too "linear" with all the strips running fore and aft and no geometric pattern to add interest. Also most are too dark for such a small area.

I think the hardwood could be done well and have a "WOW" factor but all I've see so far are boring and needs more imagination.

[msmith1199]

mike brez wrote:
Wait a second your a contractor and can't fix a chipped or cracked tile. :h

Is there a way to fix a cracked tile? I thought the fix would be to remove and replace it. And to do that you would have to have a matching tile. How many motorhomes come with some extra tiles? How easy is it to find matching tile for a motorhome? I bet it isn't very easy at all, but then again I've never tried.

[mike_brez]

Wait a second your a contractor and can't fix a chipped or cracked tile. :h

[lenny-shawna]

lafrentz wrote:

lenny-shawna wrote:
Jtad,
I too am not a fan of tile or carpet in an RV. Tile is very heavy and do to the perpetual motion of driving, is susceptible too cracking. Chipping is another problem that warrants concern; even high end porcelain chips. And yes I've dropped objects on my tile and chipped it.

Carpet, well not many positives there so I'll leave it alone.

I like glued down engineered wood. I would also glue in-between the joints to make it highly water-resistant. I installed this in my home and a couple years later had a pipe break and flood the floor. We though for sure the floor was ruined. Fast forward 4 years and still the floor looks beautiful with ZERO water damage. I attribute this to the fact that the wood was engineered and I glued both the wood to the floor and the joints.

Since you have an RV and are going over a wood substrate I would first install a water barrier and install over that.

Good luck!

tile weight makes no difference in a DP nowadays.factorys have it now as standard flooring.Todays tiles do not chip or crack like the old days with special underlays and the new super thinsets available
all mid to upper end Class A All use tile flooring.Engineered hardwood is cheap flooring and marks very easy and hard to repair it
you don't see it coming from the factory.some people use it to repair old units which works well

You are correct in that tile is more resistant to chipping than the old days and that it is standard in most DP. However, many manufactures care about the bling aspect and will pack as much as they can onto the frame. While the engines can handle the weight of the tile, the axles are usually close to their maximum carrying capacity when leaving the factory. Then the customer puts all their personal belonging's, fuel, water etc. and now the axle are over weight.

As far as cheep, well as with most products the price point is all over the place. There are high quality (expensive) options out there and budget friendly (inexpensive and not durable)as well.
I would and do avoid most anything made in China.

The underlayment's and tile setting material nowadays are amazing at controlling tile cracking but was that used by your manufacture. And even if it was, chipping is still mostly unprotected from drops.

I feel my DW and I have a very nice RV, not by any means top of the line and we do have both cracked and chipped tile. The later was caused by my carelessness.

If it was wood (either real or engineered) I wood be able to fix it. For the record I'm a general contractor in Florida.

Again, this is my opinion and personal choice about tile in an RV. I simple like the look and maintainability of wood over tile especially in a rolling house.

[rgatijnet1]

Strabo wrote:

mike brez wrote:
IMHO I would rather have tile and carpet. I'm not a fan of laminate wood floors.

X2...Have you seen the latest news on laminate and major health concerns?

That was on flooring sold by Lumber Liquidators and made in China. It had high levels of Formaldehyde.

[Strabo]

mike brez wrote:
IMHO I would rather have tile and carpet. I'm not a fan of laminate wood floors.

X2...Have you seen the latest news on laminate and major health concerns?

[bbaker2001]

nsmith
if you are asking me, I have a 5th wheel.
sure to change your look.


thanks kaytek1

[msmith1199]

Post more photos if you get a chance. I'm going to do this exact thing in our motorhome. How hard was it to unbolt the driver and passenger seats? As for the choice of laminate flooring, I know some don't like it but I became a big fan of it after putting it in my house. I have a Golden Retriever and you hear his nails trying to dig into the floor when he's standing up and this stuff is bullet proof. He is unable to scratch the floor at all. It is much more tough than real wood flooring.

I have the same type of tile design as you do, but I'm thinking of leaving the tile in and putting the laminate around it.