New Flooring in my 2004 Pace Arrow

[Acm210]

Since everyone seems to like upgrade projects and pics, I will document my experience for your viewing pleasure. I am not an expert. At all. I did consult one on this forum for his opinions on types of flooring (thank you Ernie Ekberg). Unfortunately I couldn't travel to have him do it. So, I enlisted the help of a guy who helped me with some framing in my music room at home. He also has floor installation experience, just not in an RV. So this whole process is going to be a learning experience. I've wanted a solid floor since I bought the unit pre owned 5 years ago. The engine cover has cracked and needs fixed. We have a time deadline since we are going to FW in Disney at the end of the month. I posted about the engine cover recently and had some folks post a how to that was very in depth. If he agrees, I will repost the engine cover fiberglass repair he told me. Since the cover needs repaired, I figured this would be a good time to replace the flooring. I've chosen Allure Ultra and will be ordering it tomorrow at Home Depot unless a quick stop at Lumber Liquidators tempts me with a great deal on engineered hardwood. I'll post the first couple of pictures and then later, I'll post more detailed ones and try to let you know what we ran into difficulty with and how we got around it.

[Acm210]

So that is the beginning. There is no insulation under the removable portion of the engine cover or the permanently mounted part. That will change once repairs have been made and it is re installed. Not quite sure where I will find the proper insulation, however I have a few days to figure that out while I am waiting for the Vinyl to show up.

[Acm210]

Here is how it looks with the furniture out.

[Acm210]

End of day one. Carpet is out!!!

[Acm210]

A couple observations from day one.
Removing the carpet is a pain in the butt! Stop here and find someone else to do it! HaHa!
There a lot of staples. Everywhere. Tomorrow will consist of going over every square inch and running the shop vac. There are large bolts through the middle of the RV floor that I tried to get a pic of. The concern I have is that they "poke" through the vinyl I put down. I want to find out if I can put some sort of sound dampening or foam underlayment with the vinyl planks. I still have not ruled out engineered wood. That will be decided tomorrow. We are also taking off the engine cover tomorrow.

[ukpajf]

Looks like you are doing a great job so far. I will be doing the same thing once the weather breaks from the cold a bit. I'd like to remove the built-in dinette and cover that area too (possibly replacing with with chairs and a table) but still haven't figured out if I can get to the mounting bolts underneath without having to remove basement storage boxes or cut out insulation panels.

[Ernie Ekberg]

Andy- if you are using the floating material, you can add the sound mat under it.
I thought you were going to glue the new material till I saw the stove bolts.
On engineered wood, and the stove bolts, I cut the back of the wood with my table saw so they fit right over those bolts.

[Motor7]

If you use the mat under the Allure I think you will need to cut relief holes over each carriage bolt. If you don't they are still going to make a raised spot in the floor. Cut the holes exactly the size of the bolt head, then slap the Allure over it. Another option is to put down 1/4" Luan over the whole floor with relief cuts over those bolts.

[Motor7]

Ernie he is not using wood...vinyl plank:
TrafficMASTER Allure Ultra 7.5 in. x 47.6 in. 2-Strip Clear Cherry Resilient Vinyl Plank Flooring (19.8 sq. ft. / case)-66411 - The Home Depot

I have used this stuff in a flip house and my own basement...love the stuff!

[mckinley]

We bought bamboo engineered flooring from Lumber Liquidators for our DP, but haven't installed it yet. Fortunately with the DP it's a flat floor up to the firewall in front. There is a "dungeon" hatch in the front between the driver and passenger seats, I got stair nose trim to use for edging on that. I'll have to rip it to size and hone my trim carpentry skills. Same with stairsteps.

On the stove bolt heads - Home Depot sells 1/8" lauan plywood. Another possibility would be to replace the bolts with countersunk flathead bolts. You'd have to be able to get to the nuts underneath of course. Mine has bolts holding the chair pedestals down, I'll probably unbolt them and rebolt through the floor when it's down.

Thanks for all the great pic's! That will be very helpful when my time comes.

[Acm210]

[Acm210]

Some pics of the cracking on the underside of the engine cover.

[DA_BUS]

I am thinking about doing my floor....so thanks for posting pictures and info. I ill be following your project.

[Acm210]

a couple issues
1. Home Depot says not to use underlayment and it voids the warranty with Allure.
2. Lumber Liquidators says to use underlayment with the Luxury vinyl plank they sell.
3. The stove bolts prevent Allure from from being applied directly to the subfloor with addressing the stove bolts.
4. I am not grinding them. I don't feel comfortable taking mass off them.
5. The guy that is helping me (and doing the cutting, planing, etc. would prefer to use the engineered wood.
6. As a floating floor, I am concerned the Luxury vinyl plank can lift at some point with the extreme temps (-10 to 95deg) that we get in central PA.
7. Making a stair nose that looks nice for the steps and where the slide out meets the floor when extended for the luxury vinyl plank is not going to look as nice as what my floor guy can do with a planer. I'm sure others with skill can fashion something nice. We can't.
8. With the engineered (non floating) screwed and nailed, It is not moving. The slide out is not going to shift it.
9. With renting it out, high traffic, 2 dogs, 4 kids, I will not have waterproofness without the vinyl.
10. The wood marks when sharp stuff is dropped on it.
11. There is no ideal situation for RV owners. There is some compromise with whatever you choose.
12. I want some soundproofing and can use a vapor/sound barrier with the engineered.
13. All this leads me to believe engineered wood is why Ernie Ekberg prefers it. Certainly not speaking for him. I just understand the reasons.
14. My experience in choosing engineered wood (non floating) is based on these reasons. Everyone's needs are different and all RV's are different so my choice is only arrived at factoring in all the variables.
15. It's 400 more dollars that I don't really want to spend, however I think it will be worth it.
As of right now, I've changed from Allure which I have been planning on for 2 weeks and switching to the wood.
It's getting ordered tomorrow.