mikeg said:
Hello All: I am a new 5th wheeler and have a 2001 Coachmen Catalina 24foot with two slide outs. My wife is alergic to cats and cat dander and the carpet is worn and full of cat dander. We want to replace the carpet with wood planking like pergo but were told by a mechanic that works on 5th wheels that it is not a good idea because when traveling the floor of the 5th wheel will flex and the wood planks will buckle. Has anyone replaced carpet with wood? ???
Thanks
When considering the prospects of laminate, luxury vinyl, or carpet, there are a lot of things to consider.
First, you need to decide what is more important to you: something soft and comfortable (an escape if you will from the cold and rough outdoors) or something durable enough to stand up to whatever is brought in from the outdoors. For our customers, the durability of a hard surface is always attractive, as it cleans up easily and it is resilient to almost anything you can throw at it. Unfortunately, if you have slideouts, many hard surfaces are restrictive to your ability to install such floors all the way under the slideouts (without adjusting the slideout's height totally and completely). If you can squeeze some hard surfaces under your slideout, many manufacturers of hard surface products wouldn't recommend it. Each hard surface floor is attributed to what is called a
PSI rating (or the amount of pressure in pounds a floor can sustain before it will dent, chip, splinter, crack, etc.). As such, the mere height of the floor isn't the only factor under a slideout.
We at Route 66 RV caution our customers away from tile and hardwood. Instead, we recommend High Pressure Laminate by Wilsonart and Luxury Vinyl Tile to those in need of a hard surface option. Unlike tile and hardwood which are extremely heavy and susceptible to all kinds of problems in a moving coach traveling from one humidity level to another, High Pressure Laminate and Luxury Vinyl Tile won't crack or buckle when installed properly. They are made to expand and contract mildly by comparison to hardwood, and they are much less weight than any other hard surface option.
Laminate floors are free-floating, meaning they are clicked together without ever being secured to the subfloor with glue or nails. As such, the only thing holding them in place are trim pieces (Quarter Round, End Caps, T-Moldings, Reducers, Stair Nosing, etc.). When you bring this floor of nearly a 1/2" height up to a slideout, a reducer is needed to cap the edge of this surface. That reducer must cup the top of that floor, increasing the height of that threshold even more. As such, the height of the floor may in some cases restrict your ability to use laminate under the slideouts in your motorhome.
While there are many options out there in Laminate, there is only one manufacturer who has fully warranted their product in an RV. How do we know this - because, over the past 34 years that we at Route 66 RV and Pat's RV Carpet and Flooring have been in the trade of remodeling and refurbishing RV carpet and flooring, we have consulted each major manufacturer on the market, from Pergo to Quickstep, Mohawk to Shaw, and only one brand in Wilsonart Flooring has fully stood behind their product in a motorhome setting. The difference in their product is key! Wilsonart manufacturers only High Pressure Laminate, while all other manufacturers utilize direct pressure constructions (such as nearly every material made by Pergo, Quick Step, Armstrong, Fabrica, Shaw, Mohawk, etc.). The difference between the two is extraordinary in that both look and feel similar, but when isolated to their construction, they are clearly two very different products. High pressure laminate by Wilsonart starts with a 17 mil top surface layer - the first line of defense against any spill, dropped item, etc. - and is combined with 7 other layers compressed under intense heat to ultimately equate to 3-5x thicker than typical Direct Pressure or Low Pressure Laminate. The extra thickness of HPL means extra protection for the floor and, ultimately, better performance. As a result, Wilsonart Laminate is also the only product that now maintains an Impact Warranty for their product, beyond the normal Wear, Stain, Fade, and Water Damage warranty of 20 years to Lifetime, depending on the style.
Ultimately, while direct-pressure laminate products may look similar to High Pressure Laminate and may cost you less from time to time, the amount of pressure they can sustain, either under your slideouts or by way of a spilled item, will ultimately scratch, scuff, or crack your new floor. As such, I would not recommend them. And, don't be misled! Just because someone says a warranty on one of these products is likely the same from a residence to a motorhome, they are definitely NOT one in the same, and beside Wilsonart, we have yet to find another manufacturer willing to stand behind an RV installation.
Luxury vinyl tile on the other hand is a great option in that it comes in both hardwood plank forms or stone-like tiles, and best of all, this low-profile floor gets glued directly to the subfloor. As a result, you get the look you want in a durable, "softer hard surface" composed with vinyl that is low-profile enough to be installed under any slideout. If durability is a fear - don't worry about it, as this floor is being installed now in supermarkets, malls, and other high traffic areas due to its ability to stand up to the elements. Unlike laminate though, which rests above the surface of the floors, the only complex part about luxury vinyl is the floor prep it takes to smooth out your staple-ridden and uneven subfloor before gluing this new floor in place.
Lastly, the quality of carpet has radically changed in the past few years as well. In the past, carpet, while soft and comfortable, was detrimental to one's ability to maintain cleanliness in a motor home, soaking up spills and dirt tracked in from outside. Cheaper carpets utilized by RV manufacturers of all qualities in an effort to save money meant fuzzy fiber that couldn't sustain heavy traffic. Today though, carpet is a very practical option. With stain-resistant nylons or inherently stain-resistant polymers now on the market, RV owners can experience the softness they desire with a product that cleans up the way it should. Carpet is now made with a continuous filament construction too. This method doesn't fuzz up, leaving you with carpet that will maintain its fiber content and last longer! The cost of these new polymer fibers are also far less than traditional nylons, as they combine either ethanol or plastic recycling resources to sustain low costs versus crude-oil dependent nylon fiber.
Ultimately, there is never going to be a "perfect floor" for every RV, but the right floor for your needs is out there. Just do your homework and trust the experts.
