Advice on Flooring, Laminate Removal

So, looking ahead at doing an interior remodel next month. Which includes the floor. Trying to figure out exactly how the old laminate is supposed to come out.

My rig is a 2002 HR Vacationer. The floor is a combo of carpet and laminate wood, with the laminate being along the kitchen and down the hall to the bedroom. This rig isn't mine, but this photo gives a pretty good idea of it:
http://www.paulsherryrvs.com/console/photos/inventory/large/d71bf026fc3f2c0.jpg

This photo is almost a clone of my rig:
http://www.motorhomeclassifieds.com/images/10600/374941/5_4.jpg

So, you can see that combo of carpet and laminate.

Now, the carpet is easy. Rip it up and yank out the staples. But, the laminate...

Is it attached or is it floating, most likely? I haven't tried to remove anything yet so don't know. In the bathroom, there's actually some air under the laminate. When you step on it, it press down under foot until it hits the subfloor. Not sure what caused that, but is that proof that the floor isn't attached all the way? Maybe only along the edges?

And in terms of removing it and ignoring the parts that go under cabinets or the shower, am I just cutting it out? For example, the laminate goes under the shower, too. I'm not removing the shower. So, I guess I cut along the shower and just leave the floor under it?

If I put down a floating vinyl laminate plank floor, should I keep it floating or use any adhesive? I've seen advice either way. Obviously, any motorhome is going to see some big temp fluctuations inside. It gets hot in the summer, then can get cold snaps in the winter. I don't want any floor issues.

Just trying to figure out what I'm getting into here.

It that part really a laminate?? In my trailer, it was a sheet of laminated plywood made to look like a laminate but it was made before laminates type floors were either in existence or very popular. (year 2000). It was glued down to the plywood sub floor but came up fairly easily as the glue was dried out but I had to take it up in sections after cutting with a circular saw set to the depth of the plywood itself.

In my boat I had installed a "Teak and Holly" floor which was actually a 4x8 sheet of plywood laminated with very thin layers of teak and holly strips of wood, way back in about 1980 or so.

Again, in my trailer, several years ago, I removed the plywood look alike in the kitchen area and the carpet and did the whole floor with  today's tongue and groove laminate cutting around the kitchen counter. Last year, I did the bathroom-bedroom area with a vinyl laminate  after removing the carpet and all those *^?** staples simply cutting around the shower etc. I should have used the vinyl type in both sections in the first case, but so far so good.

Probably not laminate - more likley some type of sheet product. In any case, it was laid before the interior furnishings were added, so the cabinets and such almost surely sit on top of it. You will have to cut along the edges with a knife or a trim saw. A multi-tool with its myriad of specialty blades is probably the best tool choice.

The carpet will be under the dinette, etc. as well, so those will have to be removed or cut around.

Yes perhaps I got my floor terminology incorrect. It is indeed a sheet product on the floor, so I guess it isn't a laminate.

OK, so I guess just rip it up and cut along the cabinet lines. That's doable.

Alfa38User said:

Last year, I did the bathroom-bedroom area with a vinyl laminate  after removing the carpet and all those *^?** staples simply cutting around the shower etc. I should have used the vinyl type in both sections in the first case, but so far so good.

Click to expand...

Yeah, right now I'm eyeing to use the vinyl planks to replace it all. New carpet only in the driving area and bedroom. Did you just let it float or did you use any adhesive?

Gary RV_Wizard said:

The carpet will be under the dinette, etc. as well, so those will have to be removed or cut around.

Click to expand...

Yes, we know. We're planning to order new furniture anyway from Shop4Seats.

On the original laminate, (floating floor) it was installed as floating floor, with a gap around the walls etc. On the vinyl portion, it was installed without the specific gap required such as a floating floor requires. My understanding is that a vinyl product does not require the gap for expansion. No adhesive was used in either case.

Vinyl plank also expands and normal installation is floating with a small gap at the edges. RV spaces are small, though, so expansion is little even though RVs are typically subject to much wider temperature swings than most houses. The flooring can be glued down too, which some pros recommend for RV installations.

I've laid a lot of flooring over the years, house and RV both, carpet, vinyl sheet, vinyl plank, slate, ceramic tile, and laminate.  I helped a buddy lay a glued vinyl plank floor is his coach, and also layed a small floating laminate plank floor in the bedroom of my own. That was a very small area, though - just around the sides of the bed pedestal. I also replaced the carpet in my lounge area. It's mostly a matter of patience and careful work.