2000 Nat'l Seabreeze - Redo Carpet

[BoPeg]

We want to replace our beige carpet to laminate.....proplem being is the slide out! Has anyone done this before and what do you do about the slide out? By putting laminate in will the slide go over the new floor? We do not know if the slide is on rollers or what. Do you take out the sofa? Any help would be appreciated!!! We want to do this ourselves and have done older TT but not a slide especially how this one is. Hopfully someone has done a 2000 National Seabreeze.

Thanks, BoPeg

[Hayesworld]

We have a 2000 Tropical. We installed laminate the easy way. We excluded the slide, cockpit and bedroom areas. This kept the $$ for the job down and the whole job was done in 2 days. We did the tear out ourselves and hired a contractor to install the flooring. Total cost was apx $500.

[BoPeg]

Thanks for the info. The only problem we see is will the slide go over the laminate? I read somewhere that you have to be careful with the slide going over the laminate. It could make marks in your floor. Do you know how to tell if the slide has rollers or not?
Appreciate any thoughts!!!!

[jlyon69]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BoPeg Thanks for the info. The only problem we see is will the slide go over the laminate? I read somewhere that you have to be careful with the slide going over the laminate. It could make marks in your floor. Do you know how to tell if the slide has rollers or not? Appreciate any thoughts!!!!

In my '99 Dolphin (recently purchased), it's very apparent to me there are no rollers which go over the carpet. If there were, you would see marks in the carpet when you put the slide out. All I see is a slight brushing on the top the entire length of the slide. This tells me the slide is self supported underneath. It also tells me the leading edge of the slide is the lowest point. This then tells me the only thing touching the new floor when the slide moves, is carpet.

I would certainly NOT install any flooring if it were going to be any higher then the existing carpet, but that should not be an obstacle. I have read many threads where folks have replaced carpet and none have ever mentioned any problems with marking the floor. The only problem I've heard of is with a "floating" floor. It seems when putting the slide out, it was moving the floor and/or separating it. I have to believe they put their floor in too high, causing more weight to be put on the floor by the leading edge of the slide. When I do mine next summer, I'll be sure there is no weight of the slide on the floor, only the carpet "touching" it.

I have seen many folks here use Vinyl Trafficmaster Allure flooring, a great alternative to carpet in your RV. Down towards the bottom of the page, you'll see some reviews and some are RVers with slides.

If you want to see the mechanics of the slide, put it out. Then get underneath and take a look. You should have some access panels that are easily removed for a close look.

Below is a Google search of IRV2.COM for RV Flooring. You find many threads which should help you greatly.

rv flooring - Google Search

[demoon]

We installed new carpet in our former C. We did not do under the slide and all was well. You do have to be sure what you put in is not higher than the slide of course. Just as an aside - don't count on the leading edge of the slide to be the lowest point. Fortunately we noticed that the low point of our Gulfstream was about 3 inches behind the front panel. There was a frame bar that was nearly an inch lower. Check carefully before you choose your material.

[BoPeg]

Thanks for the info.... When looking at our slide it appeared, like you said, no rollers. You can see slite marks on the carpet when the slide is going out. We don't plan to do the floor just quite yet but wanted to find out what everyone else has experienced! Please post your project when you redo your floor. We are not sure as to what kind of flooring we will use. I am suprised that National put carpet on the steps and right when you step into the coach. They really built good coaches. It is a shame they went out of business!! Thanks again!

[TheBeachHous]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BoPeg Thanks for the info.... When looking at our slide it appeared, like you said, no rollers. You can see slite marks on the carpet when the slide is going out. We don't plan to do the floor just quite yet but wanted to find out what everyone else has experienced! Please post your project when you redo your floor. We are not sure as to what kind of flooring we will use. I am suprised that National put carpet on the steps and right when you step into the coach. They really built good coaches. It is a shame they went out of business!! Thanks again!

I've been trying to win the battle in my head on whether or not I’m going to replace the carpet or not in our 1999 SeaView... I had the same thoughts you did, however in regards to the carpet in the entry, and EVERYWHERE else… I’m not sure what they were thinking… Everything else is built so well on these coaches, far superior to many many other coaches out on the market… I think this is what ended up driving them out of business in the end… People weren’t willing to pay for quality and being able to produce quality at an affordable price got much more difficult… That and when you have THOR out there putting out the crap they put out for ½ the price of what everything else is going for, everyone else goes out of business…
My dad has owned RVs since the dawn of time – he jokes that he sold the Pontoons to Noah for the ARC… and its amazing to see the quality level in these things go from great to absolute blahhhhh…
Anyway, because of our fear of the slide/carpet/etc.. we looked into having it done and almost fell off my chair laughing at how much people wanted to replace carpet… I learned a new phrase… “I LOVE BLUE CARPET… I LOVE BLUE CARPET!!”

[BoPeg]

Thanks....I feel the same way you do. I LOVE BEIGE CARPET!!!
We will leave ours the way it is now too. Maybe some brave soul will venture to replace their's and post their project! Again, thanks and happy rv'ing!
BoPeg

[demoon]

If you have a Flooring America franchise near you, check to see if they do RVs. I had an estimate from RV shop of $5000+ to do my 31 foot class c. The local Flooring America folks did it for just over $1000. Looked great - of course we traded four months later.