Removing carpet and installing tile

Well after much fear and loathing, I (on a nice sunny day) decided to tackle the job of redoing the floors in my rig.

After reading this forum many times and hearing the horror stories about slides and endless staples, I grabbed DW a razor knife and a pair of pliers and set to the task.

I moved the slide out about 3/4 of the way and lowered the leveling screws on the outside about 2" this gave me plenty of room to get the old carpet out and study what on the slide was going to destroy my new floor. Surprise surprise,  all looked good, nothing there that could possibly mess my new floor up.

We removed the "offending" carpet in about 15 min. a few staples here and there and very little dirt to vacuum up. (for a 1998 unit it is really clean)

That's when I noticed the BEAR!!!!!!!!!!!  it seems that the easiest way to put wood floor in the kitchen when building a new RV is to glue it to 1/4" plywood and lay the whole sheet in, then set the cabinets on top of that.
Damn, things were going so smooth to this point. After some pondering and studying, I just happened to measure the floor height and noticed that the laminate and backing were exactly 3/8" higher than the rest of the floor. A quick trip to Lowe's and a little skill saw work and Voila! the rest of the floor matches. ( three sheets of 3/8" plywood and a few screws was a lot easier than trying to cut the underlayment away from the cabinets.

My choice in flooring was a 18" x 18" tapered edge stone looking, peel and stick vinyl. I found it at lowe's and with the tapered edge can be grouted.

Laying the tile was a snap. ( used tile tile primer first) Left a 1/8" grout line and grouted it.

In all, the job was much easier than expected. ( didnt do the bedroom or cab) As a matter of fact, It motivated me to install a flat screen TV while I was at it.  ;D

After I readjusted my slide I found that it never even touches the tile!

Here are some pic's of the job. We really love the way it turned out.

Nice looking job. You are a lot braver then me when it comes to adjusting the slide. I don't mess with factory settings.

I tackled the same thing on my Dutchstar last month. I did the entire rig including the drivers area and slide. I love it but the dog cant get traction to launch onto the bed.

Nice looking job.

I put the same tile in the bathroom of our stick house a couple months ago.

I used t he same tile in Bathroom. I used a tile pattern laminate in main cabin, but I used a stick on in the bathroom because it was easier to cut and piece than the 36"X12 " laminate sheets.
Looks like you did a great job.  My DW really likes the tile, so easy to keep clean.

@ Ernie, a shot of white spray paint on the adjusting screws to mark original postition and back them down to tilt the insde edge up. Readjust to paint marks when done. No problem!

Thank you everyone for the compliments!  I never would have tried it without you guys and all the info i found here!

Thank you thank you thank you!!

And yes, my pups get zero traction! They have a blast sliding and skidding around when playing

Very nice. Maybe we'll do ours this summer when we're home.

Wendy

I have a question regarding the slides.  You mentioned that you adjusted the slide level screws....which ones are these?

The screws I adjusted are on the outside of the slide, they are leveling screws.

You "do it yourself guys make me sick".  LOL  My wife does most of that kind of stuff. She knows I don't have patients to deal with this stuff, I end up breaking things. 

The manufacturer has installed the slides with the guidance of the engineeres who designed the mechanism. I would defer any adjusting to those who have been schooled in this process. If you mess with whats' been done at factory- your warranty, if you have one, just went south. FYI

Barry...that's how us DIY guys got started...by breaking things. Then we had to fix them cause we ran out of money. I have discovered that I can screw it up just as well as those that I would pay to do it, sooo if it's messed up I know just who to blame.

Very nice looking!

Three questions:

How far under the slide did the original carpet go?

How did you create a nice transfer from tile to carpet behind the front seats?

For those of you who also replaced the slide carpet with tile, what did you do for the edge of the slide?

Thanks,

-Eric

1.The carpet went back to the outside wall but pulled out easily once slide was tipped up.

2. The transfer to the front carpet: I cut the carpet 1" long then folded it under and stapled it down flush with the tile. I found that that was the way it was done in other areas of the RV.

3. Home depot and lowes has many different styles of transitions that are very easy to install.

Good luck on your project, its not as hard as it looks!

I am curious how your project turned out??!!

I have an old RV with icky carpet. I was debating using laminate flooring, but ended up getting a nice 10X12 blue carpet at an auction for $1!!! ONE DOLLAR.. So I think I will put that in because it's cheaper. My wife wants me to sell the Conquest and buy a newer nicer less leaky RV.

winglover1 said:

I am curious how your project turned out??!!

I have an old RV with icky carpet. I was debating using laminate flooring, but ended up getting a nice 10X12 blue carpet at an auction for $1!!! ONE DOLLAR.. So I think I will put that in because it's cheaper. My wife wants me to sell the Conquest and buy a newer nicer less leaky RV.

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this is an old post and you can see how it turned out by his pictures but, I will tell you this, I will not have carpet (except thrown rugs) anywhere in my motorhome other than the bedroom. Our old motorhome came with oak hardwood floors in the living/kitchen area, the bathroom, bedroom and cockpit area they left be. We shampooed all the carpet and the bathroom a few times but, the bathroom still would smell, and carpet around a toilet is a horrible idea, especially with grandsons who don't pay attention. I ended up remodeling the bathroom completely other than the tub/shower. The carpet came out and ceramic tile went in, now it's easy to clean and looks nice too. I am now in the process of tiling the hallway now with the same tile. If you are handy, take the carpet out and lay another type of floor, you will be happy

Hey Guys,
I'm curious about how ceramic tile stands up in a coach?.I can't see it staying stuck down with the twisting a rig does going down the road. Please correct me if I'm wrong in my thinking?

Bush

Bushbunny62 said:

Hey Guys,
I'm curious about how ceramic tile stands up in a coach?.I can't see it staying stuck down with the twisting a rig does going down the road. Please correct me if I'm wrong in my thinking?

Bush

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Most of all top end coaches have ceramin tiles and often optional on others; I did not hear any complaint on them cracking.