Replacement Flooring for TT

[mlubb]

We bought a used 2007 travel trailer about 3 years ago. We went to check on it this past January and found that the vinyl flooring had a huge crack in it, all of the way across the kitchen. We are assuming that it is due to the extreme cold that we experienced in Northeast Nebraska this winter. I have done some research on why it happened and on replacement options and am really confused. I want to keep the flooring light weight (because my husband says so) and I want a "wood look". I was considering the Allure flooring but have concerns about it's durability in extreme temps. I am a pretty handy lady and will be installing the flooring myself so individual planks or tiles would make it much easier than trying to install a huge sheet of laminate flooring. Plus that would be a learning experience for me. I am familiar with a saw so could do wood or something similar but am concerned about the weight.

What is the flooring that manufactures are installing? Is it temp durable? What is the best flooring option for us?

Regarding installation; do I glue or nail down the entire floor or go with floating? Do I remove the toilet or work around it?

Many questions?!
Thank you

[djmikel]

I put Allure in our 1978 Wilderness last summer. Allure does not recommend installing their product in camping trailers. I did notice that, as the temperatures cooled in Nevada, that there was some shrinkage of the planks and the joint were not as tight as they had been. We sold the trailer so I didn't get a chance to see if warmer weather would reverse the shrinkage.

You have to be very precise in laying out the floor around the many corners in an RV because any mistakes will be reflected further down the floor and will be impossible to hide.

Allure installation guide
http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/pdfImages/72/72845250-3948-4c77-824f-50f17da70f63.pdf

[westend]

8mm laminate, vinyl embossed wear surface, attached foam backing, sold at Lumber Liquidators and installed two years ago.



If you are putting a hard surface flooring under the toilet, you may have to raise the toilet flange to get a good seal. I built a small rectangular riser (1 1/2") under mine and attached the toilet flange to the top of the riser. It made trimming the flooring very easy.

[AirForceAngler]

mlubb,

It was pretty thin stuff, less than 1/8" thick or so. It should easily clear doors.

I agree with you on carpet. Our first TT had carpet in one area and it was a pain to keep clean. Much easier to sweep out a TT than vacuum.

Edit: I just looked up some vinyl plank flooring on Lowes.com and it looks like the planks are around 2mm thick.

[mlubb]

Thank you for the replies. I would prefer to stay away from carpet; 2 dogs + 2 kids + 1 husband = stained carpet in other areas of the camper. AirForceAngler, was the plank style that you installed a vinyl flooring? Do you know how thick it was? My husband is very concerned about the weight factor and I am concerned about having to move doors and such if it is too thick. But honestly, my biggest concern is its durability in high heat (95 degrees today) and extreme cold (35 below in the winter).

[AirForceAngler]

I helped a friend put down the plank style flooring in his TT a while back. It had a hardwood floor look to it and was pretty easy to put down. It was also free floating so it can expand/contract with temp differences. I'd pull up the toilet and put floor under it, but cut around pretty much everything else so it can expand/contract. Just stain some quarter round molding to something close to the floor and tack that in around the perimeter.

[donn0128]

Big box stores sell all sorts of flooring. When mine cracked i installed marine carpet in a color i liked. Cheap, easy to install. I used double side tape to hold it in place. Clewns really easily and cheap enough that it could be replaced each year if you desired. If you want vinyl, go pick what you like and simply perimiter glue it in place.

[DutchmenSport]

Laminate or wood floors are floating, meaning they are not nailed or glued. If you go this route, make sure the bottom of your doors have clearance.

Whatever you go with, needs to be under the toilet.

If you go with a peal and stick vinyl floor,, you can get the 3 foot x 4 inch tiles that look like real wood. In a house we remodeled a few years ago, we put laminate in the kitchen and used the vinyl in the master bed room. Unless the two were exactly side-by-side, you couldn't tell the difference until you actually stepped on them. Then the laminate had the wood "click" under your feet, and the vinyl and the rubber" click under your feet. Because they are tiles, they already had cracks between each one, which will aid in expansion and contraction over the changing seasonal temperatures.

You also have the option of going with carpet, or perhaps carpet over a section of the floor only that has the rip, put down a transition piece on the edge of the carpet and leave the rest original linoleum. If the torn area is not where a slide moved, this might be a good alternative, cheap, and will serve the purpose quite well. Now that the original linoleum already has the crack (for expansion) it probably will never crack anywhere else .... ever. So why not take advantage of it, and just cover the bad spot with carpet. You could try this, and if you don't like it, you can still pull up the carpet and the original linoleum and go to plan "B" ... whatever you think might work? If it were mine, I'd probably take this route.

Good luck!