Flooring questions

[ol trunt]

Should not crush with 1/2 " plywood on top to spread the weight--did I miss the plywood somewhere in the discussion?

[kimberlink]

Originally Posted by ol trunt

Should not crush with 1/2 " plywood on top to spread the weight--did I miss the plywood somewhere in the discussion?

I agree it will not crush with the plywood on top of the foam board, If you just put foam board down it will crush.

I plan on using the 1/4" pink board sandwiched between some house wrap and under the 5/8 tongue and groove plywood. I wanted tongue and Groove as I dont want the floor to move as you walk across it, I want it to be like one very large one piece of plywood.

I'm wanting the same from my bus. Handle all kinds of weather from summer desert to the Mountains in the winter. However I was going to put down Carpet everywhere except the Kitchen and Bathroom where I was putting some vinyl tile that I got from Home Depot. This stuff comes three tiles long and sticks together but not to the floor, it wears great. All this was going to sort of float, except the walls were going to be attached to the metal sides of the bus and a short screw to go through the sill plate and into the plywood floor just enough to keep the wall rigid.

I as little as possible to penetrate the steel floor because that is the only place my bus rusted, where the old seat bolts went through the steel floor. Where I have to go through the floor for plumbling and electrical, I was going to tar/seal the heck out of it.

[jkronmiller]

When everyone States that their floor will float am I correct to assume that the flooring won't be screwed to the floor firmly? In the case of the t&g plywood I assume you would attach the sheets together at the grouve until the floor is covered but then not attach the whole "deck" to the bed. Or am I way off base. Also having a floating floor would be an advantage because?

[Accordion]

In my first bus the floor was just the original rubber floor. In the winter it became an aisle of ice. The second winter I had put 3/4 inch styrofoam and plywood on top of that. I also put hay bales around the bottom of the bus on the outside. That solved the problem.

In my present bus, I put 3/4 inch styrofoam board. I just laid it down without gluing or screwing. On top of that I siliconed 3/4 inch wood tongue and groove wood flooring onto the styrofoam board. Aside from the wood boards shrinking a little, it is still in place.

When walking barefoot in the winter, the floor does feel cold. I use rugs to keep my feet warm.

Something that I do not understand is why my feet feel warmer when I walk into the back room of my bus where there is just the foam board and carpet on top of it.

I do not weigh much, so I have not squished the foam board with just the carpet on it.

[bansil]

most of the "felt" cold is thermal bridging and thats a good example.
Same reason if it's cold in you car,you touch the glass or metal and it's an iceberg...touch the headliner it will "feel" warmer since the cold isn't soaking in.

The bus metal gets cold,transfers that to the insulation board and then the wood so the wood will be the same temp as the metal with no heat in the bus,

if you have a heat source in the bus it will heat the wood floor if it can overcome the cold that is soaking in.

Since carpet doesnt have any mass to "store" the cold the heat will be felt easier

My .02

[kimberlink]

Originally Posted by jkronmiller

When everyone States that their floor will float am I correct to assume that the flooring won't be screwed to the floor firmly? In the case of the t&g plywood I assume you would attach the sheets together at the grouve until the floor is covered but then not attach the whole "deck" to the bed. Or am I way off base. Also having a floating floor would be an advantage because?

In my case that is correct. the tongue and groove will be glued together in one continuous sheet (So to speak) and the sides will be under the studding and the studs screwed to the floor(plywood) but not penetrate through the plywood into the metal floor. My thinking on a floating floor is this, the rust I do have on the floor is from where the bolts/screws went through the metal floor, so after I seal them all up I don't want to put holes back into the metal floor to allow a possible place for the floor draw moisture and rust again (my advantage). Of course I will have to have some holes for plumbing, electrical and propane however I was going to make a circular metal flange/grommet that would be sealed to the underside of the floor, pass through the foam and plywood where it would be sealed again against the plywood hopefully keeping out the moisture. other than trying to keep the moisture from the metal where it could be trapped and cause rust I couldn't think of another advantage of a floating floor in this case.

Techically its not a true floating floor since the side are going to be attached to the side studs and any perpendicular wall/object that protrudes out from the sides. A true floating floor would not be attached allowing it to move under/near the floor sill boards if it ran underneath.

In the case of finished hardwood flooring. A floating floor would allow it to breath and not buckle as the wood expanded and contracted.