carpet or laminate?

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maddfam

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May 10, 2012
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Got our "new", ebay-purchased 1998 Holiday Rambler Endeavor back from Texas without incident.  There has been much to fix, since this was a repo, and apparently wasn't taken care of at all.  The interior is clean and mostly undamaged.  But mechanically, just about everything has had to be worked on or replaced.  The last thing they've done to finish it off is pull out under one of the cabinets to find out why the rollers under the slide out kept getting stuck:  the answer... TERMITES!  So, the sub floor really will need to be replaced.  That means we need to pick out new carpet or go with laminate instead, which is what the repair guy is suggesting for easy maintenance. 

My reasons for carpet:  I like how carpet makes the rig feel homey.  And it is definitely more comfortable to me, for when we all need to spread out, and some little children end up on the floor playing.  Also, I find the need to sweep tile and laminate much more than vacuum carpet.  A few crumbs on the hard floor are more noticeable than on carpet, and with a large family, I don't want to be sweeping the floor constantly instead of relaxing and camping. 

Reasons for laminate:  Looks/stays nicer, longer.  No worry of stains getting on the carpet... my little girls are famous for spills. 

Please let me know the good reasons to choose one or the other.  I would hate to make a noob mistake by making the wrong decision. 

We will also be taking the opportunity to put the bench seats at the table, instead of using the regular chairs that came with it.  I know that probably seems backwards, but we need the extra bed that the booth table provides, since we have 6 kids. 

Any and every tip you can send my way is greatly appreciated! 

Thanks,
Dawn
 
I dislike carpet and removed the small section we had in our trailer.  I also removed all the carpet we had in our house.

I find carpets to be a breading ground for all sorts of microorgamisms.
 
On our last mh we ripped out the ugly carpet and installed a laminate product, and my wife loved how easy it was to clean. Our present mh came with carpet in the living and bedroom areas and lino in the dinette/kitchen area and we haven't done anything with it yet. I actually kind of like the present set up, but might get rid of the lino in favor of laminate just in the kitchen area. I'm with you, I kind of like the feel of the carpet in the living areas. It does feel more cozy.
 
We had carpeting in the living room and bedroom areas and replaced it with carpeting later.  After several more years we replaced all the carpeting with laminate and wished we had done that the first time.  It is so much easier to take care of.  You can always use area rugs which can easily be replaced when they get dirty or stained, also, area rugs are much cheaper.  Brad and Hall in Elkhart, IN did ours and since then they now have a waterproof laminate which would be much better than what we have even though we are very happy with ours.
 
Dawn- its your coach, now. If you like carpet then that is what you should get. Make sure you get a 3/8 inch 8 pound density pad. If you go too thick- or less density, it will feel mushy and not last. The pile of carpet is another issue- Look for the thickness of the material, vs the length. Good luck,
 
I know that laminate is very popular for RVs and houses but I don't think that it's as durable as sheet flooring so that's what we used. Get a very good quality. We bought commercial grade and it's really tough and looks great. We wanted carpeting in the living area so we bought a medium sized area rug ,cut it to fit and finished the edges.
 
We had carpet in the living and bed rooms and a thick rough tile in the kitchen and bathrooms.  About 2 years ago, we had all of the carpet (excluding the carpet on the slide) and all of the tile replaced with laminate.  Having all one floor covering makes the place look a lot larger with clean lines.  The battery operated Eureka stick makes keeping the place clean a breeze.  We have 2 slides in the living area.  One of the slide made a mar in the laminate.  We now use Slide Slickers under that slide and no more mars.  Very happy.
 
My 94 Damon class A came with a nice beautiful laminate flooring that had been installed one year earlier. I am covering it up with carpeting. My reason is because I am a senior male with typical prostate problems. Getting up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom sucks when I have to walk on anything but carpeting. Laminate is much colder at night than carpet.
 
We use throw rugs in the appropriate places on our laminate flooring.  i.e. at the top of the entrance steps, in front of the galley and head sinks, in the bedroom where we get in and out of bed, and I keep my slippers next to the bed so I don't have to walk barefoot on the floor :)  We would never go back to carpeting.
 
It is hard to keep the beach out on our lot at the ocean, so we are taking up the carpet in the lower areas of the 5th wheel and going with a laminate. At least then I can broom it right back out the door.
 
I never want carpeting in anyplace I live!  I am a barefooter, and I find the texture of carpet actually unpleasant.  BUT if I liked carpet, then that would be what I would want in my home!  RV is no exception.  You need to choose flooring that you love.

I can not wait til we can figure out how to remove the carpet in our 5er.  We removed the carpet in the living room slide due to carpet beetle infestation.  At first, I was totally unhappy because the floor is plywood with silver bubble wrap!  (we intend to do something more permanent once we are in someplace for more than a few days)  but now, I am glad it isn't carpet, at least ...

I don't mind sweeping - I use a microfiber dust mop I got at Lowes.  Much nicer than a broom or even a stick vacuum.
 
I replaced the carpet with Polyflor Camaro vinyl wood effect planking and tiles with a feature strip in between. Got the idea for a "Ships planking" effect from looking through luxury yacht magazines.
 

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Personally I say keep the carpet. Up here in the northern states the nights are still cold and it nice to get out of bed and walk around on carpeted floors that are warm than when you walk in the bathroom with vinyl floor it like ice cold.  ::)
 
Mopar1973Man said:
Personally I say keep the carpet. Up here in the northern states the nights are still cold and it nice to get out of bed and walk around on carpeted floors that are warm than when you walk in the bathroom with vinyl floor it like ice cold.  ::)

That's true, but a vinyl bathroom floor (that can be easily swept and cleaned daily) sure feels better than a carpet that has been walked and piddled on by, ....who knows.  It's very simple to wear a pair of golf/ankle socks for evening walking around the MH.

I wouldn't go back to carpet for anything. 
 
Between our area rugs and my slippers I never walk on the laminate (or our bathroom tile) with bare feet unless I want to, like today when it's approaching 90F outside :)
 
I don't use area rugs. When I did use them several times they slid on me and I almost fell on my butt and broke something. And the carpets did have a rubber backing.
 
There is no right or wrong, just your choice.
The dirt on carpet maybe less visible but it is still there and with laminates you can leave your vacuum at home.
Look what I'm doing here!

Van.
 

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