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Old 07-07-2003, 03:07 PM   #1
Denny_A
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Default Replaced Carpet w/Tile

Saga follows. If visually oriented, click on the link first.

Having become tired of dirty carpet, I decided to replace the carpet with linoleum or tile in
my 2720SL. At last, the job is complete. Following is a brief (as can be possible for a
teacher) summary of the saga. Pictures accompanying can be seen at :

http://community.webshots.com/album/80201539jtdYBY (link broken)

Removal of the carpet is not really difficult, once it's been done. But, feeling your way
through w/out instructions makes it tedious.

The carpet is tacked down around the edges with very small staples. The steel rails, upon
which the slider moves fore n' aft, must be lifted high enough to get under the carpet to
dig out the staples. All but the screws closest to the trailer front (holding down the rail)
can be reached from inside the trailer. The last ones require physically lifting the slideout
box high enough to get at them with a 90-degree offset screw driver (better...remove box completely).
Continuing to where the carpet is secured at the fluffy white wx stripping
(entire front edge of trailer floor), remove MORE staples, then remove the carpet hold-down strip,
which runs from the corner of the fridge to entry, and the carpet, with pad, is free!

I used individual self-stick tiles, 1 ft square and 3 mm thick (1/8"). The underfloor is
aluminum, with an open seam, right down the middle. Seam as about 1/8" wide. Centered
the first course directly over the seam the struck a straight line at one edge aft-to-front.
Started from where the removed carpet began, after cutting away some excess factory
linoleum. Three tiles is all that can be laid without cutting tile. Then I started to lay tile,
center - left and right. Finally after only 15 tiles, I was left with the tedious job of cutting
and fitting. It takes an additional 13 tiles to fit around the perifery.

An immediate problem was obvious, even before finishing. The black, rubber sweep seal
did not quite contact the floor any longer - and I had used the thickest tile available. So, I
cut another course of tiles such that they rested on top of the course that butted the fluffy
white seal. The new layer projected aft to the black rubber seal. Worked- but looked....ummmm, not
good. So after pondering for a few days, I found a prefinished(i.e., cheap) molding which
matched the floor tile. The molding worked nicely, in that the black rubber seal rides up and over
just enough to provide a reliable seal from the wind, rain and (especially) the snow. See pics!
(pics no longer available)

Finally I came back to the job and ripped out the factory linoleum and replaced it with the
same pattern used at the front. Pulled up the molding first, fitted the tiles, then renailed the molding.
Replaced the carpet hold down strip with a tile/wood divider strip, added new molding at
the lateral base of the "reefer" (or if you prefer, "the refer") and around the floor-wall
bracket at the entry.

All totaled the job took 44 tiles at .5 kg (1.1 lbs) each - about 45 lbs, since there was a
good deal of scrap after cutting and fitting.



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Old 07-08-2003, 01:47 AM   #2
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Default Re: Replaced Carpet w/Tile - a Saga

Denny,

Looks good, but I do have a question after looking at your website.  On the door alignment, did you have to move and redrill the floor bolts or is there a sliding hole for alignment?

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Old 07-08-2003, 06:04 AM   #3
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Default Re: Replaced Carpet w/Tile - a Saga

You may have answered my doubt about the slide out.  I am thinking about putting in Pergo type flooring and was worried about the space of the slide and any conflict in opening and closing.  

Anybody swap out carpet for laminated wood flooring and were there any other difficulties besides those mentioned here?

Chris Bauer
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Old 07-08-2003, 07:20 AM   #4
Denny_A
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Default Re: Replaced Carpet w/Tile - a Saga

Quote:
Denny,

----------------------snip---------------
On the door alignment, did you have to move and redrill the floor bolts or is there a sliding hole for alignment?
ColoradoCop
CC,

Neither of the above. The TrailManor guys tightened the inboard bolt - and I mean TIGHTENED- until the the wall rotated inward enough to bring the door-swings into alignment. There is even a slight dimpling of the angle bracket under the head of the bolt!!

Worked.

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Old 07-08-2003, 08:15 AM   #5
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Default Re: Replaced Carpet w/Tile - a Saga

Thanks, I will give it a try.
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Old 07-08-2003, 01:35 PM   #6
Bill
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Default Re: Replaced Carpet w/Tile - a Saga

Denny -

Great story, and great photos. Thanks, this will serve as a guide for me, and I bet for others with the same problem.

My only question: Where the original (kitchen) linoleum met the original (living room) carpet, there was a divider/trim strip. Makes sense. But I would have thought that if both the linoleum and the carpet were removed, and replaced with new stuff (tile, whatever), then the entire area could be re-covered without a divider/trim strip. But your description shows a new trim strip. Is this because you did it in two parts?

If I removed ALL carpet and ALL linoleum at the same time, and replaced them both, is there anything about the substrate that would require a trim strip?

What did it take to remove the (presumably) glued-down linoleum?

And to follow up on Chris Bauer's post, could you estimate the MAX thickness that could be accommodated?

Thanks again

Bill
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Old 07-08-2003, 02:46 PM   #7
Denny_A
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Default Re: Replaced Carpet w/Tile - a Saga

Quote:
Denny -

My only question: Where the original (kitchen) linoleum met the original (living room) carpet, there was a divider/trim strip. Makes sense. But I would have thought that if both the linoleum and the carpet were removed, and replaced with new stuff (tile, whatever), then the entire area could be re-covered without a divider/trim strip. But your description shows a new trim strip. Is this because you did it in two parts?

1. If I removed ALL carpet and ALL linoleum at the same time, and replaced them both, is there anything about the substrate that would require a trim strip?
2. What did it take to remove the (presumably) glued-down linoleum?

3. And to follow up on Chris Bauer's post, could you estimate the MAX thickness that could be accommodated?

Thanks again

Bill
Q #1. Bingo. I did each part 2 months apart ('tween finish/start). Had the Trailer out a few times before resuming.I could have still avoided the strip, but since I used self stick tiles, decided to keep the strip as an anchor to prevent shifting/drift. The screws go between the tiles, so if I were to revise later, and remove the strip, the kitchen tiles would have to be moved 1/16" toward the couch --- chain reaction.

Q #2. No problem laying it all at once.

Q #3. It was quite easy, actually, once the 6 x 10^6 staples were removed. There were two layers of linoleum (same pattern). The sub layer extended about 3-5 inches under the carpet, and each layer had been stapled individually. Tedious removal. Once the moulding was off and the linoleum was free of the staples (perifery), I just peeled it off in one long staedy pull from the cabinets to the doorway. Then used a strong, concentrated, all-purpose household degreaser to clean the surface. Expected to have to use a petroleum based product (such as mineral spirits).

Q #4. Two courses of my 3mm tile was just about right. So 6mm (1/4") should be enough - or lower the rubber sweep-seal. Any thickness will work for the slideout. The seal gap is the "twist in the knicker"!

Cheers - Denny_A
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Old 05-21-2005, 02:39 PM   #8
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Denny_A
Thanks a bunch. This info will sure help me get the job done.
sly Pig
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Old 01-20-2009, 09:47 AM   #9
jhill30
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Default Has anyone done this with the pergo type on a 2720sl?

Hello all, I am pretty new to this forum and have read a great deal on mods, but have yet to find anyone who has tried this mod on a 2720SL using laminated wood flooring (pergo type I guess) I know this will add a lot of weight but I usually travel pretty light anyway. One of the reasons I ask is because of the actual slide. It has carpet on it and seems to be pretty "soft" for lack of better words. when I stand on the slide itself it flexes a good bit, and i am concerned about putting anything up there other than carpet. I am concerned about hardwood cracking because of that flex. Any information will be great, I just don't want to tear this thing apart and find a problem that someone else might have already found.

Thanks
John
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Old 01-20-2009, 09:56 AM   #10
Bill
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Default

John -

Although you don't say, you must have a TM of about 2002 vintage or earlier. The "soft slideout floor" was discussed in great detail back then. I invented a fix for it, which turned out to be way too complicated. Denny_A followed up with a much simpler approach that was just as effective. An Advanced Search should turn up the thread - I'll see if I can find it and post a link.

It should solve your floor-flex problem immediately.

Bill
--------------------------------------------------------------
[EDIT] OK, I can't find the original thread that covers it. A bunch of early threads were lost in board's software conversion in 2001 or 2002, and this may have been part of the loss. I've found two follow-up threads, but they are not particularly helpful. So let me outline the process.

Does the slider in your unit have a rectangular cutout or cubbyhole that goes over the propane tanks when the slider is extended? If so, your job is pretty easy.
Remove the propane tanks, just to get yourself a bit of working room. Also remove the post that supports the propane regulator.
With the slider pushed all the way in, you can see the front edge of the TM's main floor, just inside the cubbyhole. Get yourself a square block of wood, maybe 2 inches square, thickness to be determined (because I can't remember it), but about 1 to 1-1/2 inches.
Right at the front edge of the main floor, centered left-to-right, cut away a square of carpet the same size as the block. When you have exposed solid flooring, screw the block down in the cutaway area.
Attach a slab of some slippery plastic (polyethtylene?) to the top face of the block.
That's all there is to it. If the block is the right thickness, the floor of the slider will glide across it as you pull the slider out. When the slider is all the way out, the soft edge of the slider floor will rest on this block, which provides excellent support but can't be seen from inside the TM.
As to the thickness of the block? Best approach is to make it thick enough that it ALMOST touches the underside of the slider floor. Maybe a sixteenth of an inch of gap. You don't want it actually to touch the underside of the floor, because it will drag as the slider is pulled out.

If your TM does not have the cubbyhole in front, the procedure to accomplish the same thing is a bit more involved, but not much harder. As you do the following, it helps to remember that the slider is nothing but a rigid four-sided box. The four sides are the floor, the two slider ends, and the front of the slider (where the handle is attached). We will manipulate this box.

Get yourself a pile of short lengths of 2x4 or 2x6 boards. Two or three feet long is great.
Pull the slider all the way out. Now carefully pull it out a little further - you'll have to help the roller wheels (at each end of the slider floor) over the "stop blocks" that are screwed to the main floor. These stop blocks normally prevent the slider from coming out too far. Today, you are going to purposely pull it out a bit too far.
Once the slider is over the stop blocks, STOP moving it! If you pull it any further, it will drop off the main floor and down onto the frame and the propane tanks. Before it does so, arrange some piles of boards, on the frame or on the ground, so that when it happens, the slider moves smoothly onto these boards.
Once the piles of boards are in place, pull the slider a bit farther out of the frame, just an inch or so. In order to pull it this far, you may have to disengage the support arms that swing out under the front edge of the slider. It is easy. Just lift the front edge and pull the pins (they look like bolts with no nuts on the threaded portion.)
Once the slider is completely out of the body of the TM, go inside. Working from inside the TM, you can install the polyethylene-covered block discussed above.

Hope this helps.
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