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07-02-2018, 11:11 AM
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#1
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Skoolie
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: SE WI
Posts: 118
Year: 2002
Coachwork: American Transportation Corp
Chassis: International 3000
Engine: International T 444E
Rated Cap: 71 pass., 12 window
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Laminate Flooring... Is there something better
Maybe you guys can help us out. BIG DEBATE OVER HERE...
I like the idea of Laminate Flooring. I've seen lots of YouTube videos of folks that put it in their bus. RV's have it. Easy to install, easy to clean, looks good, etc. etc.
My hubby (who is really an immense help in my whole bus project and a "handy fix it" type) has brought up some concerns about laminate. We're now at a crossroads. So I ask you...
Did you glue it or nail it down? I've seen videos of the floating floor idea.
Have you had problems with moisture (that you know of) under your floating (assuming you nailed/screwed it down) laminate floor?
Have you had any resulting issues with loosening/movement of the floor from the shaking of the bus in motion?
How about with the floor swelling/shrinking in various temps? We're in WI and bus will never be protected from weather... -0 in winter, 90+ (and humid) in summer.
Any other floor better than laminate??
Any other tips are welcome!!!
Thanks and have a terrific day!
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07-02-2018, 11:20 AM
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#2
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Bus Geek
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: Weeki Wachee, FL
Posts: 3,056
Year: 1997
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: TC2000 FE
Engine: Cummins 5.9
Rated Cap: 72
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Are you talking about roll or plank?
Roll you have to glue down. Plank you don't want to glue down.
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07-02-2018, 11:37 AM
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#3
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Bus Crazy
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: The West
Posts: 1,209
Year: 1998
Coachwork: MCI
Chassis: 102 EL3
Engine: DD 60
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I installed cork laminate ( details here) and it is neither glued or nailed - it floats. Has been working just fine for about 1.5 years.
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07-02-2018, 12:14 PM
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#4
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Bus Geek
Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: Essex, MD
Posts: 3,738
Year: 1999
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: Blue Bird TC RE 3904, Flat Nose, 40', 277" wh base
Engine: 8.3L Cummins ISC 260hp, MT643, 4.44 rear
Rated Cap: 84 pax or 1 RV; 33,000lbs
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Trail Fairy
Maybe you guys can help us out. BIG DEBATE OVER HERE...
I like the idea of Laminate Flooring. I've seen lots of YouTube videos of folks that put it in their bus. RV's have it. Easy to install, easy to clean, looks good, etc. etc.
My hubby (who is really an immense help in my whole bus project and a "handy fix it" type) has brought up some concerns about laminate. We're now at a crossroads. So I ask you...
Did you glue it or nail it down? I've seen videos of the floating floor idea.
Have you had problems with moisture (that you know of) under your floating (assuming you nailed/screwed it down) laminate floor?
Have you had any resulting issues with loosening/movement of the floor from the shaking of the bus in motion?
How about with the floor swelling/shrinking in various temps? We're in WI and bus will never be protected from weather... -0 in winter, 90+ (and humid) in summer.
Any other floor better than laminate??
Any other tips are welcome!!!
Thanks and have a terrific day!
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What's our budget?
Hardwood > laminate
I'm not sure how terrazzo would hold up in a flexing bus. Apparently there is a flexible version now as well.
Fritztile - Flexible Terrazzo Tile
The fancy RVs even use tile.
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07-02-2018, 12:23 PM
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#5
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Bus Geek
Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: Essex, MD
Posts: 3,738
Year: 1999
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: Blue Bird TC RE 3904, Flat Nose, 40', 277" wh base
Engine: 8.3L Cummins ISC 260hp, MT643, 4.44 rear
Rated Cap: 84 pax or 1 RV; 33,000lbs
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07-02-2018, 12:54 PM
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#6
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Skoolie
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: SE WI
Posts: 118
Year: 2002
Coachwork: American Transportation Corp
Chassis: International 3000
Engine: International T 444E
Rated Cap: 71 pass., 12 window
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I didn't want to spend much figuring laminate flooring planks are laminate flooring planks. The bus will be used for short camping trips and for child's friend sleepovers in the backyard. We're not living in it. I would install much nicer stuff if it were my house, but I was looking at this...
https://www.menards.com/main/floorin...9979243&ipos=1
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07-02-2018, 01:08 PM
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#7
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Skoolie
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: SE WI
Posts: 118
Year: 2002
Coachwork: American Transportation Corp
Chassis: International 3000
Engine: International T 444E
Rated Cap: 71 pass., 12 window
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JDOnTheGo, your cork looks great, but I'm thinking much cheaper. (Like that handy-dandy everything tool) I'm really trying to put together something that looks nice, but see how inexpensively I can do it. I feel I got a great deal on the bus itself so I'll keep that "deal logic" going! Hubby still thinks I'm crazy to get a bus even tho now he wants to take his friends to tailgate a Brewers game in it. Haha
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07-02-2018, 01:15 PM
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#8
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Bus Crazy
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: The West
Posts: 1,209
Year: 1998
Coachwork: MCI
Chassis: 102 EL3
Engine: DD 60
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I wasn't meaning to advocate cork - only sharing that a floating laminate was working well for me.
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07-02-2018, 01:21 PM
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#9
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Bus Geek
Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: Essex, MD
Posts: 3,738
Year: 1999
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: Blue Bird TC RE 3904, Flat Nose, 40', 277" wh base
Engine: 8.3L Cummins ISC 260hp, MT643, 4.44 rear
Rated Cap: 84 pax or 1 RV; 33,000lbs
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Trail Fairy
I didn't want to spend much figuring laminate flooring planks are laminate flooring planks. The bus will be used for short camping trips and for child's friend sleepovers in the backyard. We're not living in it. I would install much nicer stuff if it were my house, but I was looking at this...
https://www.menards.com/main/floorin...9979243&ipos=1
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That's what I figured.
If you're going laminate, I wouldn't do the tiles or planks. Get the sheet cut to 7 1/2' wide and give the roll a kick. Cover the entire floor wall to wall and front to back in a single sheet. Your hubby and buddies spill a beer, no biggie. The kids spill cherry Kool Aide and you can wipe it up. Mark the spill in tape and say it was a crime scene because there's nothing Kool Aid can't stain!!
I would put down plywood and glue the laminate to the ply. Whether you screw the ply down or leave it floating is up to you. Leave an 1/8" cap along the sides. Flex expansion shouldn't be a problem. Cabinets and what-not will keep it from moving and even if it didn't, it's only going the 1/8".
You could even cut the laminate a foot "too wide" and up it up the walls 6" both sides. Make a "bowl" out of the flooring. Said beers and kool aids aren't going to get under it.
Condensation would be the only way water is getting under it.
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07-02-2018, 01:44 PM
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#10
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Skoolie
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: SE WI
Posts: 118
Year: 2002
Coachwork: American Transportation Corp
Chassis: International 3000
Engine: International T 444E
Rated Cap: 71 pass., 12 window
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JDOnTheGo, but the cork really does look nice.
BrewerBob, so you're thinking a big sheet of vinyl. I'll look into that too. I believe the concern was the condensation. Although beer and Kool-Aid would be pretty gross under a floor too.
How do we make sure there no condensation under there... you know, "growing" things?
We're registering as an RV (with the bare minimum requirements being met) the end of July and taking it out for a spin the beginning of August. I won't be able to do the floor before then. So I'm thinking cleaning the existing (nasty) floor REALLY REALLY REALLY well and work with it until fall when we have time to do the floor.
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07-02-2018, 01:54 PM
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#11
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Bus Geek
Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: Essex, MD
Posts: 3,738
Year: 1999
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: Blue Bird TC RE 3904, Flat Nose, 40', 277" wh base
Engine: 8.3L Cummins ISC 260hp, MT643, 4.44 rear
Rated Cap: 84 pax or 1 RV; 33,000lbs
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Trail Fairy
BrewerBob, so you're thinking a big sheet of vinyl. I'll look into that too. I believe the concern was the condensation. Although beer and Kool-Aid would be pretty gross under a floor too.
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There are far grosser things under there already!! Plywood acts like a sponge when covered with the bullet proof vinyl that the OEM uses. My floors were wet from driving 12 hrs in the rain... weeks later when I was ripping all of it out.
Quote:
How do we make sure there no condensation under there... you know, "growing" things?
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Excellent question and one I'll leave for others to answer.
Personally, I'm using spray foam. It will seal all of the bolt and nail holes while also being a moisture barrier. I've yet to hear anything better.
Quote:
We're registering as an RV (with the bare minimum requirements being met) the end of July and taking it out for a spin the beginning of August. I won't be able to do the floor before then. So I'm thinking cleaning the existing (nasty) floor REALLY REALLY REALLY well and work with it until fall when we have time to do the floor.
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OEM covering and plywood has to go if your bus is from anywhere other than AZ. I had rust holes in mine. Some fairly large. Pay special attention around the wheel wells and the entrance/exits of the heater hoses.
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07-02-2018, 04:16 PM
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#12
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Brevard County, FL
Posts: 911
Year: 1990
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: Ford
Engine: 6.6 New Holland Diesel
Rated Cap: 60 kids, 10 window
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If you go laminate or Luxury Vinyl, install it almost last. You don't want to build walls or put cabinets over a floating floor. It all needs room to breath (contract and expand).
If you go this route, you'll buy significantly less flooring as well but you may have some fun cuts to make. [emoji846]
__________________
Nick
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07-02-2018, 06:12 PM
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#13
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Bus Geek
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: Dawsonville, Ga.
Posts: 10,482
Year: 1999
Coachwork: Genesis
Chassis: International
Engine: DT466/3060
Rated Cap: 77
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Trail Fairy
I didn't want to spend much figuring laminate flooring planks are laminate flooring planks. The bus will be used for short camping trips and for child's friend sleepovers in the backyard. We're not living in it. I would install much nicer stuff if it were my house, but I was looking at this...
https://www.menards.com/main/floorin...9979243&ipos=1
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Not all laminant flooring is the same. Some is all wood and some are composite/particle board base with a laminate top. These types don't take kindly to water saturation. That's why laminate floor pricing ranges from $.50/sf to $7/sf.
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07-05-2018, 08:07 PM
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#14
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Brevard County, FL
Posts: 911
Year: 1990
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: Ford
Engine: 6.6 New Holland Diesel
Rated Cap: 60 kids, 10 window
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Peel and stick vinyl tile if it's just a camper for weekends and what not. Durable and easy to install. All you really need is a clean floor, a straight edge, and a razor knife.
__________________
Nick
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07-05-2018, 09:25 PM
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#15
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Skoolie
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Pasadena Tx
Posts: 150
Coachwork: 1991 bluebird
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Look into the all vinyl click lock flooring. Various manufacturers out there and the make it from water resistant to completely water proof. Cuts with a regular utility knife, easy to install. Same as the "wood" laminate, it stays roughly a quarter of an inch away from any wall so it has the ability to expand and contract. Baseboard/trim goes down after the floor is installed and covers the 1/4" space.
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07-06-2018, 08:42 AM
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#16
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Bus Geek
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Houston, Texas
Posts: 8,462
Year: 1946
Coachwork: Chevrolet/Wayne
Chassis: 1- 1/2 ton
Engine: Cummins 4BT
Rated Cap: 15
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Roger the spacing for expansion. Oddly, vinyl expands more than wood. On siding you have to allow 1/4" per 10 feet and all the screw/nail hole are slotted to accommodate the movement (if installed correctly).
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07-06-2018, 09:37 AM
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#17
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Skoolie
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: SE WI
Posts: 118
Year: 2002
Coachwork: American Transportation Corp
Chassis: International 3000
Engine: International T 444E
Rated Cap: 71 pass., 12 window
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All really good info. I'll look into the vinyl option. Hubby would be happy about just rolling something out and done.
Thanks Everyone!
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07-11-2018, 06:49 PM
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#18
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: May 2018
Posts: 12
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After trying the sticky floor and then ripping it up and returning it, we then purchased vinyl tiles that you have to glue down. The first started curling up when the heat came in. The glue works great but i recommend doing it when its not hot and sunny to avoid minor separation. Dont have to worry about water either.
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07-12-2018, 10:12 AM
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#19
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Almost There
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Port Townsend, WA
Posts: 89
Year: 1969
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: Ford B-750
Engine: 390 BB
Rated Cap: 2 humans, 1 cat
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1969 Bluebird. We have laminate floors on insulated pad and it's floating. On a 1400 mile drive no movement no issues.
Other than all the sawdust that the vacuum missed!!
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07-12-2018, 11:14 AM
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#20
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Connecticut
Posts: 262
Year: 2003
Coachwork: International
Chassis: Amtran
Engine: T444E
Rated Cap: 71
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Used peel and stick vinyl plank on the shelf at lowes and pretty affordable. Henry's makes a primer that improves adhesion which I would recommend. This is the second year it's down and so far so good. I also used a roller when installing because I had one, probably not necessary though.
__________________
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~Morpheus
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