Which is the best in flooring Laminated or Engineered wood not being a fan of any type laminate if it will hold up better than engineered wood then I would use it,vinyl is out so is tile and stone except the entry way and drivers area ( black granite there) with no carpet
got answers
thanks
good luck
Aw come on Clifford, ask me something easy!
Not sure in a coach, but just finished building house and went with laminate again. Did comparisons on hardwood, eng floorng and laminate. If you use in a wet area ensure you use the white laminate glue in all of the joints (even snap lock) and you end up with a good water tight seal. Had it in the last place in the kitchen for 6 years and never had a problem. Went with the thicker board this time with the underlay attached. It looks more like a real hardwood and doesn't have the phoney joints. Got it from Costco. My experience is that it just wears a lot better than the "real" wood, is easier to install and doesn't cost as much. Much better for my wife and her allergies than carpet is.
HTH...Tim
HI Clifford,
I can't answer your question, but I can tell you of our own recent experience. We're getting ready to replace the carpeting in our coach and were looking at laminate simply because I'm a cheap B... I used to remodel homes in the day when everything was real and hadn't really paid much attention to the new laminates, but several friends have recently installed in their homes and are really pleased. Long story short, we went to lumber liquidators last weekend to pick up a laminate but after looking at them, I wouldn't have them in my coach. All the cabinets and window trim in our coach is currently Walnut, and the laminates just didn't stack up. I guess I'm old school and prefer the real thing. They look artificial to me, but then, that's just me.
Good luck, Will
I put real t&g hardwood in the Airstream ~ 15 years ago. I sanded it & applied a moisture cure urethane clear coating.
It is still holding up great. The only thing I'd do different is use quarter sawn instead of the more common flat sawn.
Oh, I'd have someone else carry the 200# floor sander in & out for me. :o
Since today's varnishes are capable of giving wood an impenetrable, hard plastic surface, Kyles method is first class. However, it is also the most labor intensive. Also, although the floor is "lifetime" since it can be refinished, that process is no easier than changing out to a new floating floor. Although I would have a slight philosophical preference for real wood over a lookalike, sometimes the lookalikes are just far more durable. One way to compare them would be to look at the warranty offered for the different products for both wear and moisture. Researching consumer complaints might be useful too.
You need to think about the possibility of having to take it up in order to get to the center tray with the wiring and plumbing that runs to the front of the coach.
hi, I have been a bus nut for less than a year,and a contractor for over 30. I think that laminate flooring will do you the most justice in your conversion. More stable and much less prone to scratch. Today there are endless choices in laminate,including some that look like tile. If your bus is subject to harch climate changes as we are in new England, I think you will be quite happy with it. The fact that it is free floating and removable is also a great plus. Just my opinion though.
Mike
Go to home depot and buy a sample of all three, a laminate with a composite (particle board) backing, a laminate with a plywood backing and a piece of real hardwood flooring and take them home and drop them all in a pitcher of water for about a week and walk away, then when you return make you decision on what you see lol. My money is on the hardwood flooring lol.
Thank You Cody
I was gonna stay out of this one but I think you got it right.
Melbo
the cheep laminate flooring they sell at the home depo is tough much tougher then any real wood you can buy, i didnt belive this so I did my own test on the laminate, I strapped a pc of it to the front of my boat and left it there for 6 months, belive it or not it didnt swell or bow, now ive had a few diff kinda of real wood in my diff homes that ive owned and it doesnt matter what you get if you get a fat woman wearing hi heal shoes walking on your floor you will have marks, or a dog that has nails you will get scraches. that laminate, you can get for under a buck a ft and if you dont like the color after a while you can change it out pretty cheep.
I've been thinking a lot about this myself.
Has anyone out there tried bamboo? Cheap, lightweight, flexible, sustainable. Seems like a good fit. Now, I haven't looked into it at all quite yet: haven't made it there yet, but its an idea that I have been bouncing around in my head.
-A
I have been looking at this product www.nuteak.com (http://www.nuteak.com). it is a composit and waterproof and resistant to moisture and temp changes. I have seen the interior ones in person and it looks like real wood. at the rate I am working on mine I figure there wont be any real wood left in the world so composites are looking good.
I just installed a new laminate floor which looks like tile during our remodel and it looks good.We looked into bamboo and what we found out is that it is not being used much yet and what we did find out it is not wearing well.Also,if you stain it it will not wear as long as regular bamboo. I bought my laminate at Home Depot and it had the pad on back of each piece.
Don
luvrbus what wrong with vinal i just put in some looks like tile was very thick ? i was thinking of useing laminate flooring
but had some in a rental house and it got wet looks bad perco i think. was also told if you travel with a pet and hit the
brake the pet would slide like on ice . and it needs to float john
This is what we used, easy to lay and clean. It's the floating type, very thick and looks like tile. The seams have an overlapping feature with some very sticky glue. Even Becky laid some of it! We layed 15# felt over the plywood, then cut and fit the tile on a 45. It's tought and I'd use it again without hesitation. Best part is it can be removed very easily if need be. No seams are pulling up, been down just over one year.
Purchased at Home Depot.
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(https://busconversionmagazine.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi363.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Foo78%2FDreamscape_Eagle%2FDreamscape%2FDreamscapeKitchenandBathroom031.jpg&hash=ccdba51f97490e60fffa44812fdd246af7efb588)
I replaced the carpet in my basement with a manufactured tile look alike flooring by Shaw. I and the wife are 100% happy with that choice. My next project is to also do the rest of the house. As far as the bus goes I'm planning on tearing out the tile (crappy job!) and carpet in the front portion of the bus and replacing it with a manufactured floor also. If I ever plan on submersing my bus in a lake for several days that probably wouldn't be my first option!! ;D Anyone having water problems on the floor of their bus will be having issues with what ever flooring they choose be it carpet, real wood, tile, linoleum or a manufactured flooring. Just my 2 cents.
Dreamscape,
We used the same stuff in a wood-grain finish in the bathroom and are completely satisfied with it. Although it is a floating floor, I did caulk it down under the commode just in case there was ever a leak.
I was looking thru the files here, I've replaced the flooring in 15 differnent units, in the past 10 years because of moisture problems, but only 3 of them were buses, swollen seams are the first sign of a problem, the nice part about it is that no rv will take the amount of flooring to break the bank regardless of what a person uses. I've used the demo with the pitcher of water many times, the particle board will completely dissolve leaving the vinyl covering, the plywood backed will delaminate and the solid wood may swell and warp but remain intact. A person doesn't have to have a bad moisture problem to experience a problem, in the northern climates like we have here, if you have hardwood flooring keeping at least some heat in a home will help eliminate some problems. The main thing is to make sure you read the instructions and use the proper underlayment or foam sheeting that it calls for, some foam sheeting is just bead board but thats geared to the type of glue the flooring uses, other sheeting may be a colored foam, thats also geared to the type of glue they used, buying a product with the proper underlayment will help eliminate problems, with the material your finding now, for the most part people get tired of looking at it long before it wears out, manufactured flooring has come a long way in just a few years. Also, pay attention to what kind of gap they call for, most of the floors now use a snap/lock system and are free floating.
Good floating floors can look good, I prefer TG hardwoods, but the loss of head room is a problem for me. It is always the transition from horizontal to vertical that bugs me with floating floors. The nose tg nose looks so much nicer than the floating ones, which need to overlap the stair edge to allow for movement.
And of course no matter what you use remember to le access to the engine compartment where you can get to it!
We all know someone who built one heck of a solid floor in a bus he bought with no floor at all, and he had no idea that Eagles (or any other brand for that matter) had a factory engine access opening.
Of course it wasn't a problem until he needed so difficult engine repairs made. ;)
;D BK ;D
(and Clifford I know you know this, I was just throwing it out there for any "newbies" following this thread!)
Ok guys this want I decided to go with is Mirage Engineered wood flooring it is tongue and grove , has stainless clips on the back to hold it together ,is a floating floor, sealed so humidity is not a problem and can be refinished if needed.
It is more than I wanted to pay for flooring @7 bucks a square ft but I needed a flooring 1/2 thick or I would have to redo some other things like the tile in the bathroom.
Now any of you guys up for BBQ and drinks I'll do that part while you install the floor it is really nice in AZ this time of the year.
Crown I didn't say anything was wrong with vinyl it would be a problem for me keeping the floors the same elevation without another sub floor.
That's not the real reason my wife told me I could not use vinyl or carpet lol thanks guys
good luck
Quote from: luvrbus
Ok guys this want I decided to go with is Mirage Engineered wood flooring it is tongue and grove , has stainless clips on the back to hold it together ,is a floating floor, sealed so humidity is not a problem and can be refinished if needed.
Now any of you guys up for BBQ and drinks I'll do that part while you install the floor it is really nice in AZ this time of the year.
Crown I didn't say anything was wrong with vinyl it would be a problem for me keeping the floors the same elevation without another sub floor.
That's not the real reason my wife told me I could not use vinyl or carpet lol thanks guys
good luck
Clifford I hear there is a guy down around Lakeland, FL that really knows flooring.
And I hear there's a guy up around Vegas that might owe you a favor or two! ;)
And I hear they are Facebook buddies so maybe you could get them to work together!
;D BK ;D
That would be a pair to draw too as they say in the south
good luck
He does make a mean hamburger! ;D