I hate carpet

[skojolt]

Hi guys, I'm still in the 'careful planning' stage of my conversion because I don't actually have any money.

I really can't stand carpet, but I don't want to install hardwood or pergo on my bus. I live in an apartment with all wood floors and I fill bags with dust and junk every month, mostly because I cant walk on the floor barefoot without sweeping constantly. I hate walking on a wood floor and stepping on that tiny seed or whatever that has absolutely no give. It's not a fun way to find things with your feet, especially sharp tiny things. Is there something in-between, would Tatami work? pebbles? sand? I want something that isn't a slab of plastic, but at the same has some give.

[Lady Franklin]

Vanguy,

I have had several customers request cork flooring. It has some give, not to mention beauty. Its not the cheapest in the world but could be had at $3.00/sq ft material only. You can get it in two forms, the first installs like laminate and clicks together in tiles. The second is like sheet vinyl where you glue it to the substrate. The former would be easier to install for the do it yourselfer. I Have heard from the people with it nothing but good. You can even drop a knife into it point first and the hole just kind of closes when the knife is removed, very durable. Here is a link to ebay where you can pick it up cheap,

http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid ... Categories

lots of styles and colours too, just make sure it was harvested sustainably

[SeanF]

Also Google recycled rubber flooring as an option.

[skojolt]

Thanks Lady Franklin, I think cork is what I'm going with, in fact it's a perfect match. My bus will be a studio so it has a lot of goodies for me:

can be glued down
Can be cut into custom tiles with a razor ( you can guess what I'm going to do there)
doesn't out-gas poison, even when burned
provides some thermal insulation
absorbs sound
It is hypoallergenic and water/rot resistant because of a wax that permeates it
It doesn't crack from being on the floor of vehicles because it acts like rubber

from what I read it is normally sustainable because it's a bark peeled from a type of oak tree. If the tree dies a considerable investment is lost.

I wonder if it can take mineral paint?

[TygerCub]

Vanguy67,

Before you go through all the trouble of pulling everything up, why not just take a circular saw and cut an 1/8" space between the sheets without pulling them up? Obviously, set the blade to the width of the OSB. The first cut along the joint would relieve the stress of the expansion. Add weight to the rises in the board and give it a day to settle back down. If there is still any buckling left, run your circular saw along the seam again, add weight, wait a day, etc....

Might take a couple of days, but shouldn't be as hot to do 10 minutes of cutting versus a full day of prying and relaying the flooring .

[paul iossi]

I have always been a firm believer in "if all else fails read the directions" , even the tongue and groove osb subflooring needs to be installed with room to move on the end joints.
it sounds like you're on the right track with the gaps for movement now.