Allure flooring questions - need advice

[linda7915]

We have a 2003 Airstream MH (Thor product) that desperately needs new flooring. We have dogs and camp in dirty places and we just can't get the carpet clean! It currently has carpet everywhere except there is laminate in the kitchen area. We plan to pull it all up except bedroom and driver's area. I've been looking at forums here and elsewhere and it looks like Allure (with the Grip Strip) might be the right product. We will probably have to do it ourselves because having it done is cost prohibitive! I have several questions:

1) The bathroom has carpet (ugh!), and the toilet and vanity are raised up a few inches. How easy is the Allure to cut for the toilet drain hole (we would take out the toilet)? What is used for the stair nosing (Allure doesn't have a product for this). What is used for the stair riser? The guy at Home Depot didn't think that Allure would be good placed vertically, and he didn't think that double stick tape would work either.

2) What type of knife or cutter is best for cutting the product? The vendor says just cut and snap it. In particular, I'm wondering about places where you need to cut both directions, like if there is a corner that juts out. In fact, there is actually an angle rather than a corner that I'll need to go around between the kitchen area and where the bath is located.

Any help greatly appreciated. My husband will help with the heavy lifting, but I'm the handy one so it will be me installing the new product.

[vsheetz]

We looked at the various options for flooring - materials and installation. Had a friend who installed sheet vinyl via a professional installer. We contacted the installer and had him do the job for us too.

About $325-350 for material (vinyl, trim pieces, glue, etc.) and $300 for labor.

I removed and reinstalled a recliner chair, a cabinet, and a few pieces of trim. Installer removed the carpeting, a zillion staples, etc. and floated in a leveling and filler compound everywhere before laying down the new vinyl. Existing vinyl in kitchen was left in place and covered over with the new vinyl as removing it would have damaged the wood subfloor beneath. Carpeting in slide areas was retained.

This came out cheaper and way easier than full DIY. End result was great. Looks like was original to coach if you did not know. Best update we have done.

[DAN L]

I do not recommend allure anymore. I installed allure with a professional helper abour 6 years ago, i posted with pics. The top surface is wearing through leaving white spots in several places.

[Gary RVRoamer]

I wouldn't use the Allure with the grip strip - it's pretty cheesy stuff. You don't need many sq ft to do an RV, so I recommend buying the [more expensive] Allure Ultra instead. It's much thicker and stronger, locks together instead of glue, and looks richer too. I have Allure Ultra Wide planks in a bathroom at our stick & brick house and it is gorgeous.

Allure is easy to cut with a utility (razor) knife. Score it deep and snap off. Just have plenty of blades and change often. If you need to cut a round hole or zig-zag shape, you can use a jig saw with a moderately fine blade.

[Scarab0088]

We did 2 rooms in the studs and stucco in 2009 with the Allure standard (stick edge) and because of that, intend to use it in the RV when the carpet needs replacement. This included a step around a spa tub and a cut-out around a toilet base. Back then there were only 5 styles/colors and the Country Pine looks great to us. They have many-many new colors...no need to take anyones opinion about this, because you can see how good they look in the display.

We have read how others have had fading and curling problems, but in our application even all day sun exposure (that never moves like in a RV) and daily cleaning and traffic that includes 3 BIG dogs, the flooring is in near new condition.

We have looked at the Allure Ultra (snap fit) and would still use the original Allure because NOTHING will penetrate the stick edge joints...it is water proof. This does have 1 downside...no moisture can be allowed to get under the flooring from an edge. If it did, the subfloor will never dry out = mold farm. For the edge around the toilet, we used silcone caulking to ensure no moisture ever snuck under the flooring.

To install, I found that besides using a sharp utility knife, tin snips will allow amazingly easy and accurate cuts.

It is a floating floor, so about 1/4 inch gap should be left at the edges. This will demand properly installed edge molding to show a nice edge where visible. Home Depot has a line of covered MDF molding that works well with many of the Allure colors.

Best luck

[jeffwit]

I'd read the Allure manufacturer's guidelines. It's not recommended for use in MH's because of the temperature extremes it can be subjected to. Some folks have used it with no issues, some have used it and had issues. Mr. RV Flooring himself, Ernie Ekberg, recommends NOT using Allure.
For the above reasons, I decided to go with a different LVT. Ernie uses Maddington Adura.
As always, YMMV.

[DogNPonyshow]

We used an old fashioned paper cutter for straight line cuts on our Allure in the house and tin snips for detail cuts.

I put Allure in our Truck Camper 5 yrs ago and it gets hard use from dogs and myself at horse shows yr round and to date has no signs of wear. Even w 6 big active dogs in a high traffic area you can't tell which room in the house was done 5 yrs ago and which one was done a few months ago.

[ronjhall]

My Allure install is 5 year old. It is one of the best upgrades we did. If you follow the instruction provided install should go very well. With no problems in the long run.
I used a construction square and utility knife to cut pieces off. Replace blades when dull. For cutouts around corners and other items I used a good pair of Wiss tin snips.
Here is a link to pictures I took of the project.