Replacing carpet and tile with Laminate Plank Flooring

I replaced the carpet and ceramic tile in my coach because I was tired of steam cleaning the carpet after getting two new Yorkie puppies. I did lots of research and read all the articles on the subject on this forum. I wanted to have Ernie Eckberg do the installation but I could not get my schedule to work out. Ernie does great work and it certainly would have been easier for me.

I used Laminate Plank Flooring. I was going to use wood, but the laminate is waterproof and will not swell if wet. I installed it over soundproofing and cushioning with a plastic moisture barrier.

The first two pictures are from just before removing the carpet and tile.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk121/HueyPilotVN/001-49.jpg


The next picture is during the removal of the old material. I did not have thousands of staples. However the ceramic tile was stuck down very well. We had to chisel most of it up. Then we patched the floor and sanded the entire floor. I should mention that Justin, a young fellow from next door did the vast majority of the work. He needed a job and I was glad to have him do it.


These pictures were taken in the middle of the installation.



Here is the installed floor without the throw carpets.



Here is the bathroom and bedroom. I still need to put some quarter round on some of the edges.


This picture is looking toward the front with the two reasons for the waterproof floor.


Here is the finished project with an area rug that my Aunt gave me. She bought it in Spain fifty years ago and has had it in storage.



Overall I am very happy with this project. I had to put a few rolls of shelf liner under the rugs to keep them from moving. The floor is no slick to walk on, but the rug will move without the liner under it.

Great looking Job. Just the inspiration I need to do the same

What a fantastic job you did.  It looks amazing.  You must be proud of your handiwork..

Looks good...The slide floor looks real close to the other floor, any chance of it scratching it?....Do you have to roll up the carpet when putting the slide in?

Looks very nice.
About the wood swelling. I use engineered wood that is dimensionally stable. I put a piece in a bucket of water for a week, no change.
Full thickness- 3/4 inch planks will swell or cup on the edges, however.

How is the flooring standing up where the slides go in and out? We have an appointment with Ernie to do our coach in March. Right now, we're trying to decide what to choose as the flooring for Ernie to use. What was the brand and name of the wood you used?

[quote author=HueyPilotVN]I used Laminate Plank Flooring.  I was going to use wood, but the laminate is waterproof and will not swell if wet.[/quote]

Looks great! We just had laminate professionally installed in a couple of rooms at home, largely because our light carpets became tough to maintain with two doggies. I was ready to buy the high end Bella real wood flooring, with engineered wood as a second choice. But my wife became convinced that laminate would be more scratch and knock/bump resistant and would have less maintenance. I saved a ton of money using laminate vs real wood, but was highly skeptical of how it would look and feel. It didn't take long to become a convert.

Meanwhile, we have our own version of Bambi on the frozen pond as daily entertainment, while the doggies become used to the new floor  ;D

As for being "waterproof", I have no delusions in that area; The laminate will resist water, but the substrate will not. We plan to quickly mop up any spills, leaks, or drips.

I installed it over soundproofing and cushioning with a plastic moisture barrier.

Click to expand...

Ours came with a foam backing, and Lowe's sold the moisture barrier in rolls (feels more like tar paper).

I just showed your photos to my wife, and I suspect a new floor in our coach will not be far away. I've already talked with the installers about installing laminate on the floor of the galley area of our boat.

OK, Thanks for the responses.

I will try to answer the questions.

Harry B.....Thanks, I definitely would go for it, you will like the results.

Ruthanken,  Thanks also.  I would like to take all the credit but my neighbor Justin did the hard work.

Poncho62,  There is plenty of clearence for the slideout.  I have a Country Coach and the slideout raises as it comes in and does not use rollers.  I always fold up the rug before I close the slideout anyway as it would bunch up with the smaller hallway space.

Ernie,  You certainly are the expert in this area.  I think it would have been easier to install the real wood with the toungue and grove.  Snapping together the laminate was a real challenge and Justin had his older brother help with that part.  I started to call you with an offer.  I will be at Quartsite for a month or two starting next month.  I have a full workshop in my Stacker trailer and I thought you might like to spend some time in Quartsite and do flooring there for a change.  Just an offer, Free use of a mobile workshop and tools.

Chet,  It has only been down a few days.  The puppies like it, no issue with them sliding around as it does has some texture.  The slides clear with no contact at all.  I am sure that Ernie will do a great job for you.  I would have gladly used his services but my schedule did not work out.  I am retired but I still have places to be at times.

I am sure that Ernie will suggest the best material.  This is what I used.  Casa Modera Luxury Vynyl Flooring  "Acacia Amber" CW-351V.  It came in boxes of 10 planks that were 60" long. About 18 square feet per box and cost about $43.00 a box.  I bought 18 boxes and have 2 left.  The soundproofing cost about $60.00 a roll and I bought 3 rools and have most of one left.  I think I spent about $1200.00 for the material and misc things like floor putty.

Tom,

Thank You and good luck with your new project also.

Looks great!

One question, what did you use for the sound proofing, brand or ???

TIA,

Tom, thank you for your offer. I am currently booked solid, including Chet , till June 2nd.
There are so many choices for flooring and the selection is growing all the time. The reason I stick with one type of construction: the tongue and groove can be cut up tight against the walls. The other click together as Tom stated it was a challenge for his installer to use.
Although I don't have a stacker, I did have a custom made haulmark edge for all my tools and Yukon to work out of while on the road. I did 2 jobs out of it last year, and this year everyone is coming here to me. I just did a coach that the owner drove in from Alaska.
AND- I am willing to help anyone wanting to tackle this job via this forum, we all can learn.

Jim,

I do not have the packaging from the soundproofing.  I got it from "Floors and Decors".  It came in a roll with a plastic moisture barrier and an adhesive strip on the bottom that is expased by pulling of a plastic cover strip.  It does make the floor quiet with no clicking and the road noise seems about the same as with the previous carpeting and tile.

By the way, My name is Bill.  I was answering Tom"s post and it looked like a signature of Tom.

This looks very nice!  Did you by any chance consider glue down vinyl planking that looks like wood?  If so, I'm curious what made you decide to go the route you did over the vinyl wood look.  Seems to me the vinyl would be quieter and possibly more durable.

Looks great!

Bill,

Thanks, I can track it down from the information you gave.  Maybe Ernie knows more about it. 

I found 2 different ones and one sounds like the one you used.  I will check the local stores.

I did use the vynyl plank flooring.  It is not wood.  It looks exactly like wood.  It is free floating,  However I did glue down the edges of the slideouts by attaching the reducer trim and the edge of the planking locks into it

Photobucket has changed from a free hosting site and it is also takes lots of your data allowance to view the pictures.

So, I was going to link these old floor installation posts and when I looked at it I realized that I needed to convert the pictures to smaller sizes and post them again for anyone that wanted to see my old installation.

Now Ernie and others are more professional but for a do it yourself project it turned out fine.

looks great
show us a photo of the entry

Thanks for going back and doing that, Bill.  A number of different forums I'm on are now having the same problem, but I think you're the only person I've seen who took the time to go back and repost old photobucket photos.

Replacing my flooring has been on the to-do list for about four years, but something else always seems to come up.  I've studied Ernie's work religiously (although I've now lost my password to the Yahoo page). 

That turned out great Bill. )

Mike

Ernie Ekberg said:

looks great
show us a photo of the entry

Click to expand...

Ernie,

I just went out in the garage to look at the entry steps.  They are black textured rubber like linoleum and I left them as they were when doing the floor with the exception of a strip at the top and a metal corner strip to finish the top edge.  The steps were dirty so I will take a picture later after cleaning them.