Loose lay floor

I replaced the carpet in our 2720SD with loose lay vinyl flooring from Home Depot. I read on the forum that I would have to remove many staples. I didn't realize it would be "hundreds" of staples! The guy who installed the carpet must have had a trigger finger and the staples must be cheap! Loose lay vinyl is easy to install with special flooring double back tape in a few places. Anyway, the DW is really pleased and the TM is soo easy to sweep out now. If the DW is happy, everyone is happy

[B_and_D]

Looks nice!

I've never heard of "loose lay" vinyl. I've got 3 boxes of vinyl stick-on squares out in the TM and am planning on putting those in, they are wood-grain and about the same color as the cabinets.

What exactly is "loose lay" vinyl? How is it different from regular vinyl?

[Wavery]

Originally Posted by B_and_D

Looks nice!

I've never heard of "loose lay" vinyl. I've got 3 boxes of vinyl stick-on squares out in the TM and am planning on putting those in, they are wood-grain and about the same color as the cabinets.

What exactly is "loose lay" vinyl? How is it different from regular vinyl?

I did the same thing that Mccooleys did....I pulled out the hundreds of staples using a pointed vise grip pliers. It's a pain in the neck and I was meticulous about getting every single one. If I had it to do again, I would only remove the ones that had pieces of carpet stuck under them. I would tap the remaining staples down with a small hammer.

Be sure to get the aluminum floor VERY clean before trying to stick anything to it. If you don't, the sticky won't "sticky".

If I ever do it to another TM, I think that I would put down 2 coats of "1-2-3 Primer" (available at HomeDepot for under $15 a gallon) before laying the tiles. This would accomplish 2 things. It would seal up the staple holes and it would help the adhesive grip the floor better. I'm a little concerned about moisture getting under the tiles now.

[B_and_D]

I'm planning on putting down some kind of underlay sealant, they used to sell it at Color Tile, I forget what they called it, but it must be the same thing that you're talking about at Home Depot. Whenever we've used it, the stick-on tiles never came off.

The inside of your TM looks just like ours, except for the refrigerator, it's got top controls vs ours at the bottom. Plus you have that nice new A/C unit! We have a microwave there.

It doesn't look like you put down any quarter round to trim out the edges. I was planning on finding some at HD or ?

I was thinking if I had enough energy tomorrow I might try to take out the carpet under the dinette (just to see what's down there).

Where are these staples? Why are there so many of them?

[Wavery]

Originally Posted by B_and_D

I'm planning on putting down some kind of underlay sealant, they used to sell it at Color Tile, I forget what they called it, but it must be the same thing that you're talking about at Home Depot. Whenever we've used it, the stick-on tiles never came off.

The inside of your TM looks just like ours, except for the refrigerator, it's got top controls vs ours at the bottom. Plus you have that nice new A/C unit! We have a microwave there.

It doesn't look like you put down any quarter round to trim out the edges. I was planning on finding some at HD or ?

I was thinking if I had enough energy tomorrow I might try to take out the carpet under the dinette (just to see what's down there).

Where are these staples? Why are there so many of them?

The fridge in our trailer is a 2005.

I didn't use 1/4 round because my edges were so clean and tight that I didn't find it necessary (careful measuring). 1/4 round molding is just basically there to hide the gaps in the edges. I used these self adhesive planks. They're like real thick linoleum (vinyl) that have the look and texture exactly like wood. They came in 4"x 30" strips. I scored them with a straight edge and razor-blade and simply broke them on the score line for a perfect edge. I think that you can do the same thing with your square tiles (I've used them before).
You can't do that with laminate floors because there must be a 1/4" gap all around the edge for expansion and contraction of the composite material. That's not an issue with vinyl.

The carpet is stapled to the aluminum floor to hold it in place. They use hundreds of them because staples don't grip that aluminum sheeting very well and they don't want the carpet lifting. They probably found that gluing it down was very costly in labor. The surface of the aluminum would have to be etched and prepared for glue to adhere. I see that as a 3 step process that may take about 1+ hours per trailer. Stapling probably takes about 5 minutes per trailer (quite a cost saving).

B and D, Loose lay vinyl is not glued down. It just lays on the floor. Special flooring double back tape is used under seams, in doorways or under heavy appliances. It looks great so far. Trim can't be tight against the vinyl because the flooring has to be able to move a little with expansion and contraction. I used Armstrong Caspain II product #32701 vinyl sheet. My DW said we have enough wood in the TM and didn't want a wood look floor.

[irenepl]

I just finish pulling up the carpet and "two" layers of factory vinyl flooring and laid pergo down (except the bathroom). After pull the carpet, vinyl and the hundreds of staples it was a breeze and the bathroom floor ended up the same height as the perge. Did have some trouble with the slide edge but installed a nice piece of metal bull nose. I have not finish the 1/4 round trim as it is neccesssary as the pergo is floating.

Originally Posted by irenepl

I just finish pulling up the carpet and "two" layers of factory vinyl flooring and laid pergo down (except the bathroom). After pull the carpet, vinyl and the hundreds of staples it was a breeze and the bathroom floor ended up the same height as the perge. Did have some trouble with the slide edge but installed a nice piece of metal bull nose. I have not finish the 1/4 round trim as it is neccesssary as the pergo is floating.

post some pics when you are done if you can. this is on my to do list (one day). I have been concerned about doing the slide, and have just about talked myself into just leaving the slide alone. any pics and advice would be great because the SL models are a little trickier because of that slide.
Thanks....

[irenepl]

Here are some photo's of the install of laminalte flooring. A few issues: 1- The swinging door jam hinge was shortened 1/4" and now it only rubs the exterior trim.threshold. 2- the aluminum slide track were left untouched and the flooring placed just up to the edge 3- the slide lock pins had a spacer on the right side and the carpet and pin left along due to the table and locking pin 4- and last the center of the slide has always saged and felt week so I place a spacer between the center rollers to support the front edge of the interior portion of the slide. Not perfect but better than before. If anyone knows how to stiffen up the slide floor I would like to know also.

The aluminum bull nose was just the trick to finish off the leading edge of the slide. The bathroom floor was not replace but is now the same height as the new flooring and a simple aluminum flat transition piece (from Home Depot) worked just great to hide the seam. Hope this helps and good luck. I did mine in about 1 day.

[B_and_D]

Very nice looking!

I've torn out the rest of the carpet and put fixall in the center seam where there was none (at DH's insistance, I just wanted to clean everything off and put down the tiles); sanded it down tonight. DH is insisting on putting a couple of coats of primer/leveler on the floor before we lay down the tiles. He is also concerned about moisture penetrating the floor (?). I'm not that concerned about it. There was a bit of corrosion on the aluminum floor skin outside the bathroom by the converter and by the front door. I put fixall on those places and they will be sealed up with the primer/sealer.

Hopefully we can get the floor in before the Petaluma rally in October (plus I have to finish up the antenna installation).

Oh yes, we have found the mystery "wood under the aluminum flooring". There is about a 1/8 to 3/8" strip along the center of the trailer where it is visible. It looks like mahogany to me, or some other kind of hardwood. We have no deterioration or swelling of it except for a tiny bit around the front door. It seems to be very well sealed. We found some overlapping of a kind of vinyl ? wrapping over the wood and under the aluminum. These TM's are sealed up very well as far as the floors go. The gap in the aluminum flooring is where we put the fixall.