New Flooring Weight Gain -720 pounds

[zippinbye]

2005 Dutch Star M4023 (non-TAG Spartan ISL 370, 40'9").

Thought I'd post about our weight gain with new flooring, I as this info would have been of interest to me as I considered the upgrade. Short story: +720 pounds. Did I take the time to run a rough weight calculation in advance, or would I change the plan based on this knowledge of a quarter ton extra load to haul around? Nope. While it has next to impossible to estimate the weight of my existing flooring, I diid expect a weight gain of some sort. My needs were more focused on a particular thickness (to minimize issues with 4 slides) and resilience in a variable thermal environment. Also needed to be water proof, as product is covering 100% of coach floor to include bathroom and galley. Floating a vinyl plank came up to be the winner. And there was a strong preference for attached foam. Our color need and the other criteria took us to one and only one product (we searched everywhere): LL Flooring CoreLux Ultra Brazilian Koa, a 7mm click and lock rigid vinyl plank. 6" x 48" planks running lengthwise. It runs about $3.29 per square foot. Factory flooring was tile in the mid area that amounts to maybe 40% of the total floor area and carpet in the rest including slides. The PO had left the factory tile and laid a 6mm laminate from the galley to the dashboard. Carpet remained in the bedroom and all slides, tile in bath and galley. I scaled the rig before and after the flooring project. All flooring was removed. A small section of bedroom subfloor was repaired due to dumb factory shenanigans - long story short, must have been accomplished at end of shift on a Friday. We put quality 1/2" plywood where odd bits and pieces of crap OSB had been laid. Otherwise, weight changes were flooring out, flooring in.

My standard approach to scales is no people, general baseline camping gear, no food/drink and no personal gear with full fuel, empty gray and black tanks, minimal potable water and whatever LPG happens to be. Today it was 1/4 tank water and 1/2 tank LP, as it was on my before weight. The weights I will share are adjusted to remove me from one scale snapshot that required me in the drivers seat in one instance. Of further note, 4 (of 6) new tires were swapped for 80% tread versions of the same exact dated-out tires, and 4 Centramatic balancing rings were added. If the new tires and balancers added anything close to 100 lbs., I'd be amazed. Most of the weight gain transferred to the drive axle.

I'll just give totals: today - 31180 minus before - 30460 equals 720. Bye bye 720 pounds of payload capacity!

My GVRW is 33200, so a bit more than a ton can be loaded on top of my baseline weight. I'd rather have that 720 lbs. back as a margin, but my family and typical trip "stuff" should fit within the rated capacities.

At the end of the day, the Brazilian Koa looks awesome and is silent underfoot. Between the insulated floor, new Michelins and Centramatic balancers, it seems to be a smoother and quieter ride. We have a much more modern look, that is more practical for our use. Very happy with the outcome, so I'll take the weight hit.

[R.Wold]

I’d like to see a picture or two of that floor, and a maybe before, during and after series. Sounds nice, even with the weight gain.

[clawsonbob]

Originally Posted by R.Wold

I’d like to see a picture or two of that floor, and a maybe before, during and after series. Sounds nice, even with the weight gain.

Same here. Sounds like your project turned out well. Pics please when convenient. Thanks & congratulations.

[zippinbye]

Originally Posted by R.Wold

I’d like to see a picture or two of that floor, and a maybe before, during and after series. Sounds nice, even with the weight gain.

I shall try to add some pics later today. For now, here's a thumbnail pic of the planks and a product link:

https://www.llflooring.com/p/corelux...w.ds&gclsrc=ds

[zippinbye]

Here are some shots of the Brazilian Koa vinyl plank. You may laugh at our trim; the supplier sent the wrong product, said to keep it, proper item just arrived from back-order, no charge. So we tried this blonde quarter round and transition just to trim it out temporarily; it's no bueno. But we are happy with the floor. FYI our cabinetry is Newmar's "Coastal Cherry Hardwood." How's we do with color spectrum compatibility?

[R.Wold]

Really looks great and it’s nice that the slides got it too. Very professional looking job.

[Swipular]

This looks great!

Putting the new floor on the slides is defiantly a nice touch.

I have the exact same coach and I am in the process of doing my planning to replace the flooring. Also looking at going with a floating floor.

I tried to have someone install it but locally the prices were insane. My preference would be Ernie but he is booked until May and my marriage may not survive the wait.

[Dutch Star Don]

Very nice install!

I rotated your photos.

[Ernie Ekberg]

To top this flooring off- go to Lowe’s and buy some new flooring registers. The holes can be enlarged. They have some really nice ones that look better than the OEM.

[RKins]

I'm a little confused with the weight of the flooring. The flooring thickness is just a hair over a 1/4". The size of your coach might be 400sf of flooring. Shouldn't be that heavy. You mention "the insulated floor". What was installed? Did you have heated floor tubing added? Are you calling the foam backed flooring the "insulated flooring"?
I wouldn't think that the net weight would be a 720 lb gain, especially after removing a bunch of tile.

[Ernie Ekberg]

Of all the hundreds of coaches I have installed- never seen this figure. And this is just a 40 foot coach. Tile weighs 5+ pounds per square foot- tile, thin set, and grout.