Ok, Jan landed a sweet deal on some premium laminate flooring for our coach (see picture and factory text included here), now the big question is what direction to install the flooring. The are three ways that I can think of:
1: Linear front to back (The long seams would run the length of the bus)
2: Linear side to side (The long seams would run side to side)
3: 45 degree angle side to side ( Long seams would run at a 45 degree angle from the side walls.)
Are there any thoughts as to which would be the best way?
Picture:
Here's the text from the factory:
Alloc Domestic flooring is installed without using glue or nails. The planks join with a simple click. The newly developed aluminum locking system makes it possible to install Alloc Domestic twice as fast as laminate flooring requiring glue and can be used immediately. Alloc Domestic's locking system ensures tight, durable seams - we guarantee it. This patented aluminum locking system provides a strong, tight hold of up to 850 lbs. per lineal foot.
Recommended areas:
Alloc flooring is suitable for interior residential applications. Recommended applications or installations include kitchens, family rooms, living rooms, dining rooms, foyers, hallways, bedrooms, game rooms, bathrooms and recreation rooms.
Alloc is not recommended for installation in rooms with in-floor drainage, commercial kitchens, or similar areas.
Long way is what you would expect and would look "normal", which ain't bad. It would probably be the most efficient use of pieces, too. I think on an angle would look nice but I would use a 30 degree or so angle, not the obvious 45 degrees, for some reason I think having it laid out closer to longitudinal would look nicer.
Brian
Lenghtwise would be my way. It is layed out lenghtwise front to back in our bus and looks fine. In diagonal would look too, er... artsy to me. And across wouldn't look right. But, it is mostly a matter of personal taste,
JC
Don't forget the visual effect too - putting the planks lengthways will visually accentuate the long, thin nature of the bus interior, whereas running them across the width will fool the eye into thinking the interior is shorter and wider.
Jeremy
Artsy? LOL that's a first!
Put in front to back and then invite your friends over for some in house bowling! Put side to side and it will make your bus look very small or smaller than it is. I opt for a 45 degree angle and if you do it any less angle or even more your going to run into problems during the install! On a 45 you may use more material but a lot if the waste can be utilized where other angles you may not be so lucky!
Just my professional opinion but do what suits you and yours!
Also take a look at what all the newer coaches are doing!
I like the 45 angle install makes a bus look more open and wider
good luck
We are about to embark on the very same project. We are looking at the Brazilian cherry. My plan is to run the planks length wise. The 45 degree angle would look cool, but I am not a floor layer.
Good luck.
Why not lay some out on the floor at the various angles and stand back and look at it? Get the wife and kids and trusted friends opinions too. Opinions are great, but they are much more valuable when you have real physical information to help your decision making.
long ways is the easiest, but a 45 would look good and be something you don't see every day in a bus. Which ever way you lay it, make sure and leave a small gap around the edges for expansion.
Paul is that a polite way to say his wife will make the decision works that way here lol
good luck
Hey, the more the wife thinks its her Bus, the better, lol.
You don't have to be a professional to lay it any way you choose but if you want it to easy get yourself a speed square! You will thank me later I'm sure!
Quote from: Ace on January 26, 2012, 09:33:56 AM
You don't have to be a professional to lay it any way you choose but if you want it to easy get yourself a speed square! You will thank me later I'm sure!
I got one... lol. It don't know how to do 45's. I may explore the options of the 45... if it is as easy as you say. I don't have the artsy gene you and Clifford have ;). However, you got me to thinking.
Yea same one I have and it takes a lot of thinking and measuring out of the equation IF you do a 45 install!
Whatever you choose to do, I find that it's nifty to have a hot glue gun for the install, and put a small dab of the stuff on to each end of a plank prior to snapping it together.
This keeps all the pieces nicely in place over time and allows you to take the floor apart much easier than had you glued the whole thing with white glue... and because it solidifies so quickly, it keeps gaps from opening on prior pieces when you pound new gaps shut. Makes the install go waaay smoother, at least for me...
center diamond with a herring bone to front and rear.. ;D
We laid our wood floor on a 45 degree. Eliminates the "long narrow" look and the "short fat" look. I have to thank Ace for the suggestion before we did ours. Only way I would ever lay flooring in our coach. Jack
I did mine length wise, when I saw Jack's I wish I had done it 45! If you have the skill's to do it length wise, you can do it 45, just takes a little longer!
thanks for the hot glue thing... i have yet to install the boxes of pergo flooring i bought from habitat for humanity store... will try putting a bit on them like that and see.
If you put the planks crosswise or 45 degree, you will have a hard time avoiding stepping on the cracks!
Quote from: Lin on January 27, 2012, 09:43:43 AM
If you put the planks crosswise or 45 degree, you will have a hard time avoiding stepping on the cracks!
My wood flooring is 3 1/2" wide X random lengths. Pretty hard to not step on a crack no matter which way we laid it. Since my flooring is solid wood, we bought the boards that have the microbevel on the ends as well as the sides. the grooves give a little traction, especially in socking feet. Jack
What's up with three cracks?
I did 22" *65" at a 45. There was a lot of waste. Used 1/4 inch underlayment... which helped.
I vote for the 45...I did a 45 degree pattern on a wall with t and g pine and it was not that difficult.. looks really nice.
Dave,
The 45 wasn't as bad as i originally thought and it turned out pretty good. The narrow path made it more of a challenge, but overall it wasn't bad. I am not very good at this stuff. Attached is how mine turned out.
Quote from: RnMAdventures on January 27, 2012, 06:58:20 PM
What's up with three cracks?
Quote
Oops I should have said seams not cracks. Jack
Looks pro to me! nice job
Thanks Bob! ;D
Today I stopped at exit 328 on I-75 in Dalton, GA where there have to be 30-50 floor covering stores. I don't care if you want marble, granite, laminate, carpet, real wood, fake wood, or whatever you have heard of - it probably is here. I spent a couple hours visiting 5-6 stores that had "Laminate" advertised, but there were many, many more. I told them I wanted a floor for a bathroom so they knew I didn't want water resistant, but real water proof. Here were a few things I found:
The traditional laminate floor is a pressed compound that is similar to paper. At that GA location it can be bought from $.99 a square foot to whatever you want to spend for special looks. Because of the material it can absorb water and that is why it needs to have gaps at the ends to allow for expansion and contraction. It can have a coating applied to help improve the water resistance, but water will pass water through and often swells and splits the planks. And as one guy mentioned, dog pee causes it to curl and split. Depending on whether you float or bond the flooring it can be removed, dried and replaced (or if split - new pieces installed). Almost all of what I saw was made in America, which I try to look for.
I also found that for about $60 I could get one piece of vinyl flooring that looks kinda like planks, is supposed to be dog resistant and being one piece it is waterproof. It was thin, doesn't expand or contract enough to bother with and doesn't need any other coating. Now this was "seconds" they get from the major companies located all around the Dalton, GA area(and they had thousands of rolls in just one store), but the say they inspect and salvage the rolls to be able to provide large sheets to customers. Of course when the light shines across it you can see it is a flat sheet, especially when opening the door of my HDT standing and at eye level and I want the plank look because it is cool.
However I also found "LVF" in a few stores and a couple other stores that told me this is the newest flooring and what nearby stores to visit, while they themselves recognize that they have to add it to their inventory. That flooring is known as Luxury Vinyl Flooring. It is strips that are 3" to 6" wide. Most are about 3mm thick. Made of 100% vinyl so no shrinkage or expansion and you would swear it is real wood. One place mentioned this is the same wood look flooring recently installed in "every Walmart store in the U.S.". However he said Walmart messed up and didn't coat with something called "Dem Glow". This he said that means they waxed it and now have to strip and buff to look good. But with the Dem Glow nothing would ever need to be done, just mopped. [my hunch Dem Glow is a moisture cure urethane] There were only a few of these stores that carried it since it is quite new. I found some at $1.69, some at $2.79 and some at $4.79 a sq ft. As usual the most expensive is the really cool stuff. Every edge is beveled so it really looks like planks. It can float or be bonded down and use a heat gun to remove if damaged. (pressure sensitive adhesive - whatever that is). The flat edged stuff really looked good too, and sold under the Mannington and Armstrong brands. Mannington called theirs Adure and it looks like wood, not vinly with a film on it like the traditional laminate (Adurehttp://www.mannington.com/Residential/Adura.aspx) . The one I liked is branded da vinci and the sample has a brand Karndean International with a website www.karndean.com (http://www.karndean.com). It can even use a grout between if you want to inlay stuff like real wood craftsmen use. The only other negative I saw was that all these new LVF boxes, whether Armstrong, Mannington or Karndean were all labeled "made in China" ....darn.
HERRINGBONE is my personal favorite pattern....I'm just sayin', if you're gonna go for style...
Dennis