carpet changeout to vinyl

[Rig Mullin]

I have a 2002 Seabreeze XL with carpeting that I want to rip out and install a vinyl floor. Under the front (sofa to dinette) of the living room slide is a full length metal or plastic piece that appears to glide on the carpet as the slide goes in or out. The vinyl flooring will probably be less thick than the carpeting and padding. First question is whether I have to install the vinyl at the same height as the carpeting and secondly, will that metal or plastic piece on the slide glide over the vinyl flooring without marring it. I would think that the slide can't tip and that full length piece might just be to strengthen the slide from fore and aft and that it won't even touch the vinyl. I can get my fingers under that piece so it may not even touch the carpeting. Did I just answer my own question? Any thoughts on this?
Rig

[Theberrys]

Rig

We have a 99 Tradewinds and replaced the carpet with Vinyl. Here is the link to the thread.
http://www.irv2.com/forums/f105/99-tradewinds-floor-project-complete-55619.html
We don't have any issues with the slide scraping the floor.

VegasDan installed Vinyl on his floor. Here is a link to his thread.
http://www.irv2.com/forums/f105/started-renovation-on-tradewinds-61199.html
It’s a long thread because he did a lot of remodeling, but the floor is in there.
He has a problem with scraping.

Here is what we think the difference is.

My slide has the Kitchen and a Sofa in it so its heaver and National installed rollers to help the slide move. Dan has a Sofa and a Booth in his slide and does not have rollers. He has what appears to be Delrin glides for the slide to move on. There are a couple screws not set complete in these glides that are scratching the flooring. He can't get to these screws without removing the slide so he covers the scratches up with throw rugs, something we use as well. We found the rugs move around less with the Vinyl than they did on carpet. Most people with Vinyl or carpet for that matter have throw rugs.

Anyway... how do you tell if you have rollers? On my coach with the slide open I can see a gap on the bottom of the slide next to the coach wall. It's a small gap with a rubber gasket covering it, but if I lift the gasket I can see the rollers, but only when the slide is opened. You may want to PM Dan to ask how he determined he had glides. He is very helpful and always ready to help when he can so don't be shy.

My Vinyl was not as thick as the carpet and pad were, and that doesn't seem to matter, or if it does it helps and I have no feedback. The Vinyl I used was purchased at Home Depot and had the thin pad required by all floating Vinyl pre installed, so that really helped the installation. My wife and I did the job ourselves for about $700 and several days work, but it wasn't particularly difficult just work, doing it together was kinda fun. Here is a link to all the pictures we took during the project.
http://cid-ae67fff392766057.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/RV%20Mods

Just double click on the folder that says "Floor Project", feel free to brows or download any of the stuff you find in this link, we have several projects in there. It's been an adventure.

Hope this helps.


Dick

[Vegasdan]

Hi. Just wanted to chime in. If you have the glides like I do, you should be able to see them by lifting the carpet edge that extends out from the slide out "floor" and rides over the lower floor. I have 3 and they are a hard plastic secured by several screws which a couple of them are not set high enough and have scratched the floor.

[bbbarker]

I had the RV dealer replace the carpet with vinyl in my 2001 Sea Breeze 5th Wheel. They put a teflon plate on the slides so they would not scratch the vinyl - the side had to be removed to do this. The vinyl looks great and I have no problem with scratching.

[krnlueck]

We replaced the carpet on out 02 Fleetwood, with Allure.

So far no problems with scratching. I think our slide has the same thing as yours does. Our slide consists of the dinette booth and the kitchen.

You can check out my blog post for pictures of the project. It started back in February..lots of pictures. Hope it helps.

Florida-Georgia Camping, Kayaking and Exploring