Canadian Winters and Floating Interlocking Vinyl Planking?

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sting888

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I'm doing a cargo van to camper conversion. I live in Canada where it is often well below freezing.

I'm trying to find people who have experience with floating interlocking vinyl planking in their RV and how it has weathered the exposure to Canadian winter?

I'm only doing a 6x5 foot square section, so it's small.

PS> here's other options and why I've ruled them out due to below freezing temps:

Linoluem  - heard many stories of it cracking.
Loose lay and glued vinyl planking - problems with shrinking, the seams opening, glue failing.
(Wood - might be ok, but I'll be getting it wet a lot as I'm very sporty, so it's not a good choice)

Thanks,
Lance

 
A little more than a year ago I helped my parents install a floating, interlocking composite floor in their 24 foot TT toybox (I had never done that before). They live in northern Idaho so they get all four seasons. The floor looks great and has held up well.

Kev
 
Some vinyl flooring products must expand/contract more than others cause I do read about some of them buckling. Plus, some interlock better than others, an attribute I think is driven largely by price. A thicker, sturdier tile or plank is needed to form a good locking edge. I do not trust the ones that use a glue strip instead of tongue & groove.

I also suspect that at least some of the buckling reports may be a result of poor installation technique, e.g. lack of expansion space at the edges or putting nails through the surface (so it can no longer float).

You can also use flooring adhesive on the vinyl plank or tile, even though it is designed to float. If you get the full installation instructions from the manufacturer's web site, it will likely explain that option. A friend of mine glued down TrafficMaster Allure Ultra (a better grade than standard Allure) in his coach and it has worked very well.

I just floated a Pergo XP laminate floor in the bedroom of our coach, but it's only been about 4 months so far. Temperatures have ranged from 30 to 86 in that time frame, though.
 
Northern Alberta, Canada here, I helped my father-in law install a 1 piece 1/8" mahogany panel, glued down to the plywood sub floor with PL Premium.
He coated it with 4 coats of this stuff:  http://www.rona.ca/en/varnish---nano-defence-floor-finish-0330194--1
The total space in his van was 4' x 12' square.
It is warm but hard as a rock and has no seams, it won't shrink and it's pretty much 100% waterproof if you seal the edges with silicone like he did. They use it at the beach and throw soaking wet water toys in the back and track snow in when they go x country skiing in the mountains.
He uses a squeegee to push the water right out the back door. LOL
It's still like new 3 years later.
 
about 4 years ago, maybe 5 we installed this
https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p.trafficmaster-6-in-x-36-in-barnwood-resilient-plank-flooring-24-sq-ftcase.1000662815.html

even though it says not to install it in a camper. the only issue we had was the first trip out the exhaust system runs close to the floor right at the front and it caused it to lift up all we did was stomp it back down and then put some weight on it for the weekend. it has been fine since. we don't use the Motorhome in the winter and are on the east coast.

 
Although the post is a few months old, I would like to add my experience. Installed Allure by Traffic Master floating Vinyl interlocking planking in my motorhome,
Looked drop dead gorgeous after installation by a professional. He warned me that it was a poor product for the application but I was smarter than him. I had done a copious amount of research on the net and was confident it would work. Put the motorhome in storage in early October and took it out in May. Opened the door and found 6 to 10 board separations. In order to repair it I would have to lift the floor and relay it. Not going to happen. The product is good but not for this application. The separations closed a bit in August during the warmest portion of summer. They opened even worse the second winter.  Every time someone visits us I have to remind them how smart I am.  :O(
 
Not the Canadian winter, but the high mountains of NC, where many nights it is below zero.

We installed it in our home ten years ago starting with the bedroom to see how it would stand up.

We winter in Florida, so our home is totally without heat in the winter months, and the temperature inside is the same as outside.

Today the floor looks as good as when we initially installed it.

Make sure you leave a space around the edges, and make sure your baseboard or moulding is not down hard on it. That is the key to it being floating. -So it can expand and contract

Jack L
 
Although the post is a few months old, I would like to add my experience. Installed Allure by Traffic Master floating Vinyl interlocking planking in my motorhome,
Click to expand...

You stated Allure rather than Allure Ultra, but I want to be sure which type you used. The Allure Ultra is thicker with sturdy interlocking joints, tongue and groove style, while the standard Allure has adhesive tabs to tie the strips together. The Ultra works well in an RV and can be totally glued down rather than floated if you wish.
 
ive done two travel trailers with interlocking vinyl floating floors

its a **** of a job in a tt, but well worth the effort

in both trailers, I removed the old vinyl(it wasn't glued anywhere), repaired some subfloor on both cases and removed the trim around the walls/cabinets

I laid the flooring fairly tight around everything( it was hot!!).  the bathroom plastic door frame was removed and replaced.

I trimmed the new floor everywhere with white vinyl wrap or real oak "door stop" material.  its like a very small baseboard and is used in houses on interior door frames

the first tt was about 4 years ago(just sold it) and still looked brand new.

next job is new laminate(formica) for the countertops and table, instead of boring white!!
 
Hi there - I find myself here because I was hoping to install the Allure,vinyl interlocking 4 foot planks overtop of my existing 24' travel trailer's vinyl floor.  The main reason being to provide extra support over top of that very thin underlying luan sandwich floor.  I had some sagging due to there being no supports (there are 4 foot spans of no joists) and there a couple of spots that I think I broke through the top layer of that luan floor because I am 255lbs.  Its a 2006 "Ultra light" Fleetwood Pegasus.  I have since fabricated and installed a couple of steel supports underneath the floor. The 4 foot vinyl planks will do the trick to provide the added support as I have tested a few of them over the trouble spots. .  The issue is....can they handle being stored over winter in Canada...and I am talking Canada, Edmonton AB where there can be some days that it is -30 C in the winter - where the trailer is parked and stored (no one using/ walking on it).  I was planning on using just the floating 4 foot planks, no glue.  Is this feasible?

These are the planks I wanted to use: https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p.75-inch-x-476-inch-2-strip-red-cherry-luxury-vinyl-plank-flooring-198-sqfeetcase.1001012451.html , I figure 42 planks

StevenM, or anyone else who has successfully used vinyl interlocking floating planks,  how cold does it get where you are in winter?  What kind did you use?

If the vinyl is not feasible, what is?

Thanks
 
A friend used it "successfully" in his coach, but he glued it down. Plus, he lives in the coach so it is never exposed to freezing temperatures.

The installation instructions warn against use other than a "temperature controlled environment" and use in an RV/camper, so you won't get any sympathy from Trafficmaster if you do have problems.

I have it in a bathroom in our stick house and love it, but again, that is not an extreme temperature environment.
 
I'm in sw Ontario, Canada.  we get some pretty extreme temps, not so much in the winter, but hot/humid summers

the floor I did 4 years ago was exposed to temps from minus 20 C to well over 30 C with no ill effects

the flooring in both trailers was laid "tight" everywhere but it was on a hot sticky day both times.  my reasoning was that it would not expand any more.

I checked the floor on the older a job a couple of times on the coldest winter days, perfect, no gaps, no open seams

I laid both floors in one continuous "sheet" from front to back including into the bathroom.  the older trailer(19 ft) measured 15 ft of flooring length wise, the newer trailer(22 ft) is around 19 ft, obviously I didn't go into the passthrough or under rear cabinetry.  maximum width in both cases was from the exterior doorway to the opposite wall.  the newer trailer has a walkaround queen bed so max flooring width is around 7 1/2 ft

 
Quick question: will the slide out cause issues with the vinyl click lock tile?
 
MisterW, did you end up installing the vinyl planking?  I have basically the same setup as you do and not whether to go with the vinyl planking.

Thanks!
 
If the slide has rollers or skids underneath that rub on the surface of the floor, it is going to leave marks on any type other than hard ceramic. Carpet won't be damaged (unless there is grease on the slide bottom), but will still show indentations where it gets compressed. Vinyl and laminate will get scratched unless protected some how.
 
I went to a flooring store today, they highly recommended not using standard vinyl flooring due to expansion / contraction possibilities, however, they did recommend something called rigid core flooring.  Dude told me there is a custom RV shop across from them and this is what they go with.  I?m thinking I?ll go this route.

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5a68bc40692ebe3f0e3bd451/t/5b34facd2b6a28b9ba561676/1530198737866/3.5mm+SPC+Product+Specs.pdf
 
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