# Changing RV flooring



## NorthernRedneck

Been tossing around the idea of changing out the flooring in the camper.  It's a '99 Jayco with carpeting front to back aside for a smaller patch of vinyl flooring in the bathroom and kitchen area.  Last year I discovered it had split in a corner.  

As for the carpeting that's in there, I managed to keep it in good shape over the years despite four kids and two dogs. But what a pain in the butt trying to keep it clean.  I spend more time vacuuming it then actually enjoying myself camping some days.  

With that being said, I've been contemplating changing out the carpet and vinyl flooring in the camper for something a little easier to clean.  Been thinking about installing a laminate flooring throughout.

One of the products I've been looking at is the ALLURE flooring.  I've done a fair amount of laminate flooring in the past.  Some products are better than others.  I've never used this ALLURE stuff before.  I'm wondering how it will hold up with the temperature changes etc as well as being resistant to water damage etc.  It's not something I want to be doing every couple of years.  









Any suggestions?  Is there another product I should be looking into?


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## Doc

Vinyl Flooring has been around for years and is flexible and would work well for your application.  I put some laminate wood flooring in a basement bathroom last year and I'm very happy with it.  It would also look good in your camper.   Either of those options would be better than carpet for sure.   
It's about that time ....I've even been doing a little RV shopping, getting educated for 5 years or so when I retire and want to travel the country.


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## kermit2

I replaced the carpet in mine with the Allure (I think) two years ago. I has not held up as well as I hoped. The seams are curling in a few places.
I use the camper year round, so I am sure the damage is from wintertime extremes.
Hopefully they will lay down this spring. Glue will do if not.


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## NorthernRedneck

My problem is that I'm not a huge fan of laying down vinyl. The small section that's covering the floor in front of the kitchen split over the winter last year so I'm a little leary of putting more in only to have it split. With most laminates there's always that risk of expanding and contracting in severe temperature changes. So not sure what the answer is. Going to do more research on it.

Good to know about the allure products.


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## NorthernRedneck

kermit2 said:


> I replaced the carpet in mine with the Allure (I think) two years ago. I has not held up as well as I hoped. The seams are curling in a few places.
> I use the camper year round, so I am sure the damage is from wintertime extremes.
> Hopefully they will lay down this spring. Glue will do if not.



That was my concern with any laminate.  I know the particle board laminate expands and contracts with the room temperature and moisture level etc.  I'm wondering how it will hold up for the winter months.  We don't use it during the winter though.  I'd just hate to make a discovery in the spring that it is all separating and curling.  I have the same concerns about using the big one piece of vinyl flooring.

That being said.  I just stopped at home depot to check out that ALLURE flooring.  Looks like some nice stuff and it's 100% waterproof with a 25 yr warranty.  Some of it was made with the regular laminate type materials(sawdust and glue).  There was a more expensive composite material(dark grey in colour) that comes available in a variety of different finishes.  The stuff seems very flexible and locks together nicely.  No underlay needed.  I'm thinking I will wait for a sale then pick some up for the camper.  I'm thinking a granite finish would look good to offset the oak cabinets.  Here's what I'm looking at replacing.  I plan on leaving the carpet in the bedroom so basically from the bathroom to the bedroom which should be roughly 18ft of flooring.


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## MrLiberty

When me and a buddy did his about 10 years ago we used a wood floor and it has held up remarkably well, we would go hunting in the fall and fishing in the spring and summer and it would sit in his pole barn all winter and it still looks as good as when we put it down.


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## NorthernRedneck

Well, that didn't happen.  I had planned on changing out the carpeting in the camper but health problems put that on hold.  I'm finding it harder and harder to do the required upkeep on the old girl.  Man, time flies.  I remember getting it back in 2007.  It's still in good shape but things are starting to wear out on her so we've decided its time to get a new one.

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## NorthernRedneck

We decided to get new camper flooring.  Only thing is there's a whole camper attached to it.  Well, it's picked out anyway. Should find out tomorrow hopefully. We talked about used but finding something that fit our criteria proved to be difficult. This one has three slides. Separate room in the back for the kids with 4 bunks. A kitchen slide out with an island in the middle. And a slide out with the table and couch. Nice thing about this one is the forward bathroom with a full size stand up corner shower. Then a separate room in the front for us. It's an ultralight so it's towable by a half ton.  We looked at probably 30 different campers at 3 dealerships but kept coming back to this one. [emoji3] 

Here's the before and after. 











https://youtu.be/ujNroF5BiPQ
http://starcraftrv.com/media/com_eshop/products/resized/31BHT-900x600.png

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## OhioTC18 RIP

That looks nice. You'll enjoy it.


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## NorthernRedneck

We enjoy camping and with this we'll be much more comfortable. Right now even with a 31st camper with a 14ft slide and 6ft couch it gets cramped in the morning with 4 kids full of energy roaming around. We love this floor plan(which only came out in the past couple years ) for a regular travel trailer. One complaint I always had with our current camper is the lack of counter space for meal prep. Now, the kids will be able to hang out in their own room watching TV out of the way. And at meal time we can all eat together with the u shape dinette. And with my issues with sleeping lately this comes with the optional theater seating in the living room so I can move out there when I'm in pain and be able to recline back to sleep. 
The full size shower is a very nice addition making it comfortable to shower. 

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## Doc

NICE!!!!!!
What size is the Starcraft?  What does it weigh and what will you tow with?


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## NorthernRedneck

The starcraft is 32ft. So about the same length as the old one. Advertised weight is 9900lbs loaded. Again. ..within a few hundred pounds of the old jayco. I'll be hauling it with the Ford. 

We figured that we might as well enjoy ourselves while we can because there's no guarantee of a tomorrow. Plan on having this till the kids are all out of the house in another 10 or so years. 

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## Doc

Sounds good Brian ....all except for your plan for the kids to be out in 10 yrs or so.   I thought that.  They moved out, came back, moved out, came back Never all at once, but the empty nest took a while to truly empty.   And I'm sure you are not surprised to hear that.   No prob. Dealing with young adults is usually better than reasoning with kids.  Not always but usually.


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## NorthernRedneck

It's a done deal. We pick up the new camper on Thursday. We had made a deal to trade the old one but I decided to offer it to my brother for a good price since he went through some rough times recently with his ex wife and had to sell his old one a couple years ago. Turns out that he had recently been looking at very similar campers to mine. So he's a happy camper again. And I feel better knowing that someone else will be taking care of it like I did. 



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## NorthernRedneck

Stopped by the dealership to drop off some paperwork today. She's sitting outside readyto go tomorrow. As my wife told me when we first met......it's bigger than I imagined it to be. 

Turns out our old camper was 31 ft from the rear bumper to the front of the trailer tongue. This one is advertised as a 31 ft but apparently that's the length of the actual camper. It's 36 ft from bumper to hitch. 






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## Galvatron

Brian i am envious....am i right in thinking the side slides out???


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## NorthernRedneck

Galvatron said:


> Brian i am envious....am i right in thinking the side slides out???


Yes. Three slides. The video I posted earlier shows the inside. 














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## NorthernRedneck

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## Doc

Very nice.   Man, you can't call that camping.   That is living high on the hog.   Woo Hoo.


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## NorthernRedneck

Yes.  It is nice.  Our new home away from home.  cost a bit but compared to having a summer camp and all the costs associated with it this is on the cheap side considering camps around here go for the same price as houses in town.  Plus, it's the whole experience.  Having friends out there to spend time with.  etc.

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## NorthernRedneck

I'm going to have to take a nighttime picture of it to show you guys. Because it's got the elite package it has led lights outside. There's a full string of white lights under the awning that'll light up the neighborhood alone then on the front there are two shorter strings of led lights bright neon green. Fancy stuff. 

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## Rusty Shackleford

Damn, man, that thing is pretty spiffy!


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## NorthernRedneck

So we picked this up just in time. We are heading out for over two weeks on the road with the new camper. No long driving days as the most I can handle is about 4 hours in a vehicle and that's stopping every hour to stretch. 

So we will stop the first day near where a buddy of mine lives. Then on to Winnipeg Manitoba for three days to take in an amusement park and zoo. Next is on to brandon Manitoba about 2 hours west for two nights to visit family. 

We then swing south east about three hours to take in a weekend long street festival. After which we haven't decided yet but plan on going state side to a campground for a couple days where we will take in a day of tubing down a river. 

Drive a couple hours east and we will be in Hibbing Minnesota to take in the labor day weekend dirt track shootout where the top dirt track racers across the northern states and Canada meet to put on one heck of a show.  It's a short 4 hour drive from there back home afterwards. 

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## NorthernRedneck

I'm quite excited about tomorrow. I grew up going on rv trips every summer. I haven't been since I was a teenager aside from a quick trip to a family reunion in my parents motor home a few years ago. I basically worked my butt off this week getting ready. Thankfully the camper was already set to go. Just doing things like making sure we have nicer clothes for the trip. All id's and passports etc. Papers for the dogs. Then there's the truck. I gave it a good cleaning inside and out then topped up the fluids, did an oil change. The lift for the scooter wasn't in yet so I resorted to my fold up at ramps to get it in the back of the truck. I also had an old bbq cover that fit perfectly over the scooter  so it will be protected.  The kids still don't know we have a new camper. Should be neat seeing the look on their faces. 

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## Jim_S RIP

Enjoy your trip!

Sounds like you are ready!


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## NorthernRedneck

Thanks. I'm sure we will. We have the whole route planned out and campsites booked along the way. The only night I didn't account for was tonight as we originally planned on going the Canadian route through Dryden Ontario to get to Winnipeg. After talking it over with "she who must be obeyed " we (she) has decided to go the southern route south of lake of the woods which takes us into northern Minnesota tonight crossing at baudette along what is known as the moms highway. Looks like there's a nice campground there on the American side of the border and only a 4 hour drive from our seasonal camp where we will be picking up the camper today. This will basically be our longest driving day today at 5 hours. Any longer than that and I wouldn't be able to move tomorrow. This getting old shit sucks. 

I still remember as a kid hauling out a map, koa campground guide, and a racetrack squedule. We travelled across the northern states like that going from track to track in the motor home basically from south Dakota to Maine. With technology today I have the GPS on the dash, koa campground guide at my wife's access in the truck, campground app downloaded on the phone showing most campgrounds in the area we are in, koa campground app on my phone, as well as a backup app showing allof the rv friendly Walmart parking lots.[emoji12]   I think we have it covered. 

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## Doc

Enjoy.  Sounds like a GREAT adventure that you and the kids will never forget.


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## NorthernRedneck

We've officially crossed over into Minnesota. Found a nice little campground just across the border. Tomorrow morning we'll be crossing back in to Canada heading up to Winnipeg. 

The truck hauled the camper perfectly with very little sway in the worst of winds we encountered. Gas mileage wasn't bad either. Actually about the same as the old Durango without a trailer on. So somewhere between 11-12mpg

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## NorthernRedneck

Little state park. Gotta love it. There's even a nice pull through handicapped site for us old crippled farts right close to the shower house. 






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## NorthernRedneck

Forgot about the time change when we went to bed last night. So guess who was wide awake at 5am? Quick breakfast then on the road back to Canada. Today's drive was only about 3hrs to get to Winnipeg. We were in a time crunch though since we had to meet up with the oldest boy who was getting dropped off by his mother. This evening will probably be mini golf. Tomorrow we stay here and take in a place called tinker town. It's basically an amusement park just a block away from the camper. 

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## NorthernRedneck

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## NorthernRedneck

Spent the afternoon at tinker town. It's basically like the fair that comes to town. The kids had fun. Not bad for the end of August. 36celcius in the sun. [emoji2] 












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## NorthernRedneck

We did the zoo yesterday. Today we are on the road for about 2 hours heading west to a campground where we plan on relaxing for a couple days before heading southeast to the corn and apple festival in morden Manitoba. http://cornandapple.com/schedule















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## NorthernRedneck

K. Prairie driving with a camper sucks. Speed limit of 110km and I could barely hold 100km due to the wind. I swear if someone farts 20km away I can smell it within seconds. We made it though. This is one time I was glad to have construction most of the way. It's a 2.5 hr drive. Get here to find out the area is under a tornado watch.   

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## NorthernRedneck

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## OhioTC18 RIP

100km is not bad with a heavy wind. The kids look like they're having a good time. Beautiful scenery.


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## NorthernRedneck

It was a struggle at times with wind coming in sideways. The kids are having a good time so far. We're in the middle of a thunderstorm now though for the next few hours. That's alright. The truck needed a wash. 

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## NorthernRedneck

Rest day today. We'll be staying put for the most part. The campground we're staying in was flooded two years ago. 

http://thumbnails.cbc.ca/maven_lega...floodcampground-140716_620x350_2474214118.jpg

There are still signs of the flood. One of the shower houses remains closed with water lines about 5 feet up the walls. Some of the other facilities such as an obstacle course and basketball court remain closed strewn with trees and debris from the flood. 

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## NorthernRedneck

We made it to morden Manitoba for the corn and apple festival. Only a short 2hour drive but I'm feeling it today. We took a connector highway for 60km. The speed limit said 100km but I wouldn't do 70 even without the camper. Once again if someone farted 70 miles away the camper would sway. My mind is definitely made up that a 3/4 ton is in our near future. The ford pulls the camper OK but a little more weight in the truck would be nice. 

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## NorthernRedneck

I toughed through the day today for the kids despite being exhausted and sore. We took in the corn and apple festivities today which included the fair a long parade and an even longer line up for the free corn. Tomorrow will be a car and bike show in the afternoon followed by dirt track racing. 

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## NorthernRedneck

We took in a car and bike show yesterday. No pictures of cars though. Must have been over 100 cars and just as many bikes to see. 












Afterwards we went to a local dirt track for some good racing. It was the end of season show. Couple of classes I had never seen live before including the little slingshots and the super trucks. 


















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## NorthernRedneck

Our last couple days were great. As a child I went tubing downriver with my family in somerset wisconsin. I always remembered that and finally got the chance to take my family. We made our way to red lake falls Minnesota where we stayed at a very nice campsite for a couple nights in order to go tubing downriver. The campground has open buses they use to shuttle people up river to a drop off point. The run was about 3 hours. We had a great time. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	







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## NorthernRedneck

Today we moved an hour east to Bemidji Minnesota  where we will stay till Saturday morning when we head another two hours east to Hibbing Minnesota for the labor day dirt track shootout. 

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## Jim_S RIP

Hope you are getting some time to rest between all the activities and driving.

Jim


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## NorthernRedneck

Yes. Thanks. We kinda planned the last week of the trip with shorter drives and longer stops. We got here yesterday and the most exciting thing we did today was find a park for the kids to play at and do some shopping. Otherwise it's been relaxing at the camper. Yesterday was only an hour drive. Tomorrow is 2 hrs then we stay for two nights before making the final trek for home which is only a 4 hour drive. All in all we will have been on the road for 17 days with the longest drive being a 4 hour day. Before my accident I would have been able to do this drive in 2 days. Now....17 days with rests in between and I'm sore and tired. Goes to show how much stamina I've lost 

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## NorthernRedneck

We just got back home a few hours ago. Basically a week in the states with little to no cell service aside from a couple days at a campground with WiFi. Good trip overall but we're tired. The old ford performed very well all things considered.  I did have to bring it in to have a wheel bearing changed out in Bemidji MN. But that's just normal wear and tear for a vehicle with 185k kms. When it let go, I decided that the other one probably isn't far behind. So I  ordered one and had it shipped to the border for me when we passed through today. I'll be changing it out sometime in the next few weeks. 

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## NorthernRedneck

I forgot to mention one of the huge highlights of the trip. We went to the dirt track races in Hibbing MN were we won a door prize of a brand new Ford f150. 

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## NorthernRedneck

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