Replacing Motorhome Flooring

[wolfe10]

Friendship37,

Welcome to the FMCA Forum.

Yes, that is true of any Yahoo group.

[erniee]

Cork is a great product. In fact, Bluebird used a layer sandwiched in between their layers of plywood on the coach floor. I have installed cork and it absorbs noise and just looks great.

My FMCA number is 279052. I can't remember when I joined.

[coachinit]

This has been interesting reading. It just so happens that I started tearing out the flooring in my '05 Dutch Star. I'm replacing the carpet and ceramic tile floor (forward of the bedroom) with new tile. So far, so good. Ernie, if you read this I do have a question. On the passenger side is the kitchen that is on a slide. The original tile goes under the cabinets, I'm thinking it's so the rollers have a smooth surface. I'm not going to pull the slide off the coach, and I can't get under the cabinets, so I was thinking of cutting the old tiles even with the base of the cabinets and and butting the new tile to them. I haven't found anything that will work for this other then a Dremel with a diamond cutter. Any thoughts you can share would be greatly appreciated.

Charlie

[erniee]

If you can get the Dremel under the cabinets, that will work.

Bear in mind- this will produce a tremendous cloud of dust. If you have a high volume shop vac, that will help.

As long as the rollers can travel back and forth without a void- or space- you should be fine. On this Dutch Star I'm working on, we were able to get the laminate from under the rollers and the wood will slide under them without an issue. We will not move the slide till installation is completed. Ernie

[JacknKay]

If anyone has flooring questions, slide operation questions, feel free to ask me. After 40+ years in the business, I know a little~

A friend had his Allegro carpet replaced. It's the same year as mine. (see signature) He had to buy 4 rollers to put on the slide leading edge. Is that really necessary? On mine it doesn't seem like the slide "rolls" over the carpet, so why over the floor? just wondering.

Jack

[erniee]

Jack- your signature doesn't say what year your coach is. Your friend got taken. You don't have to replace rollers, take out slides to do flooring. That notion is a cash cow for the dealers.

There are a few kinds of slides and how they articulate. One type- has arms under the floor and nothing from the slide touches the floor. There are rollers that are embedded in the floor and the slide glides over them. Then there are slides that have rollers on the slide and roll over the floor. Then there are Teflon slide pieces that impact the floor. Then- there is a combination of all the above. WHEW

[JMarske]

Is there anyone near Birmingham or Huntsville, AL who replace motor home carpet with tile or hardwood. We have 3 slides so not sure we want to tackle the job ourselves.

[Blacksheep]

Camping World has flooring and installs it.

Don't know how good a job they do.

[erniee]

Bring it to Texas and I can do it. Would have to be after Aug, as I'm booked solid.

[rebootsemi]

It is just crazy how some of these shops can take these people to the cleaners on repairs and modifications to their motorhomes. Before you go to someone for anything, do your research online and in these forums. You can find out how to do anything with a little bit of research. Even if you can not do the job yourself you will know in advance what is involved.

Bring that coach out here to Mesa, Ariz. RV Renovators can do all to a motorhome. Just don't come in the summer time, winter only.

Lee

[hectorjames]

I have joined the forum today and would like to share my thouhts about the flooring discussion. I think its better to have laminate flooring Most laminate floors consist of a moisture-resistant layer. Laminate flooring is durable and less expensive.

[erniee]

don't get laminate wet~

[hermanmullins]

Erniee, You joined in 2000.

Numbers F 272041 through F 288459 were assigned in the year 2000.

Herman

[erniee]

Herman- that was before I had gray hair and less wrinkles then I have today. Crap- I always have had gray hair.

[KANmotorcoach]

Replacing flooring can make a huge difference . My wife loves our new flooring in our coach ,she says its so much easier to keep clean.

[Howde]

KANmotorcoach, that looks great! Love not having the carpet on the slides! Need to get to Texas so Ernie can do that for us.

[KANmotorcoach]

You can come to North Carolina we can get it done here

[EBROG]

Where in North Carolina can I get the floors done?

[KANmotorcoach]

Hey EmROG-- there a place north of Greensboro NC.

[planocat]

Here's my .02 cents.

If you have the time, turn it into a Texas vacation and have Ernie Ekberg do it. It will be done correctly at a fair price and be a source of pride and enjoyment for years to come. I know getting a booking date requires a considerable wait, but it is worth it. We replaced carpet with carpet and could not be more pleased with the job Ernie did. His wood floors are a work of art.

There is a reason he is so booked into the future. It is because he is the best and worth waiting for! If I didn't know that he has a beautifully renovated Blue Bird, I would have thought that he sleeps in a Holiday Inn every night!

He is a true Master Craftsman who does every job as if it were his own coach.

Planocat

[jc21014]

I agree also that Ernie Ekberg knows his stuff. We are considering having him do our floors in the future.

[Laraliz]

We replaced the carpet in our 30 ft class C 6 months ago with Allure floating vinyl from Home Depot. I did it my self for less than $400 including quarter round. Looks great and was really very easy.

[retiredvoma]

We had given serious consideration to the Allure but the manufacturer plainly states that they will not honor any warranty if it is in a MH. It is only covered from temps of about 30 to 95 degrees. In my neck of the woods -20 happens every winter and in the summer time 95 is very possible, especially when not in use.

I'd still consider the Allure but from all I have read it just isn't viable in my area.

[KANmotorcoach]

The company that did our was great they are like old time craftsman. Very reasonable!

[TomHancock]

I had a similar issue! I did the research to have some one do it and finally ended up doing it myself. It was not that hard to do. The biggest trouble was removing the staples from the carpeting the must have been thousands of them. The vinyl tile came up fairly easy with a hammer and chisel. I did not do the slide as I would have had to remove a sofa and dinette area and there isn't that much carpet in that area that shows. I use a 5MM laminated wood floor by Mohawk and glued it down.

It turned out pretty good and I have gotten a lot of complements from friends that remember it when it was carpeted. I might add that the wood cleans up a lot easier than the carpet did.

Tom Hancock