Flooring

[Tiger Bus]

I have a 1988 Chevy C30 shorty. New to schoolies and conversions. I am not sure how to post pictures yet , but as soon as I figure that out I have a few to post. I have the seats and rubber floot out. I have a couple of bad spots in the wood floor which I am in the process of fixing. I just not sure what to use for flooring on top of the plywood. I am thinking carpet tiles. Any suggestions that would be easy install, I am learning as I go. Lol. Thanks

[nat_ster]

Allure Trafficmaster vinyl plank flooring.

My Home depo just got in some that looks just like laminate flooring. The advantage would be there is no pressed wood product to swell and go bad with moisture exposure.

They also have one that uses a gluing strip down the edge. It is a great product, but not quite as tough as the click lock laminate looking stuff.

I would contact cement it right to your plywood. Should last the life of your bus.

When I get back from town I will post links and such.

Nat

[Diesel Dan]

Originally Posted by nat_ster

Allure Trafficmaster vinyl plank flooring.
Nat

I used this stuff in my bus, and so far I have been very happy with it. I also glued mine down in addition to using the built in sticky strips on the planks. The install was relatively easy, and the vinyl is easy to cut when you have to work around existing cabinets, etc.

[nat_ster]

I can't seem to find a link for the new stuff that go's together like laminate.

All of the links are for the stuff that uses the glue strips.



After installing the glue strip vinyl plank in a few residences, this is what I found.

Glue it down. It tends to try to wonder around a large room in say a living room where people are imposing sideways forces from walking, and playing.

Make sure your floor is as smooth as possible. The glue strip vinyl plank is only twice as thick as a good lino. Any irregularity in your sub floor will show right through your finished floor.

It's not rated for hot water in floor heating. If left as a floating floor, it will expand and contract enough to pull it's self apart at the glue strip, every 6 joints or so.

If people are going to be wearing foot wear that may contain rocks in the sole, use rugs, or mats to protect it. It's tough, but rocks will gouge through almost anything.

Nat

[Tango]

Question...has anyone here put down bamboo flooring? Costco has it in typical T & G strips. It is pretty tough, looks great and I've been told it doesn't shrink/swell like regular wood products.

[Malkieri]

We have considered Bamboo, but I haven't spent the time to do the research on it. 1 thing I am a bit concerned about is it seems to be as much "binder material" as wood product to bind. I have often wondered what they use to glue it all together and I think that is an important component for wear resistance. I think it would be easy to claim the bamboo qualities and ignore deficits in the glue.... just sayin'

[nat_ster]

Originally Posted by Tango

Question...has anyone here put down bamboo flooring? Costco has it in typical T & G strips. It is pretty tough, looks great and I've been told it doesn't shrink/swell like regular wood products.

All the home owners that have decided to have it installed against my advice regretted it.

Way to much glue and such. Moisture causes swelling, buckling, delamination, and unlike wood, when you pull a loose fiber, it pulls up a foot long strip.

I recommend against Bamboo Flooring.

IMO go synthetic. Wood on a floor of any kind will lead to mold, and having to replace it.

Synthetic flooring mimics the look of real wood to the point that it's sometimes hard to tell.

Nat

[Tiger Bus]

[url]



Running a test to learn how to upload photos, please bear with me.

[Tango]

Thanks Nat --- my first choice was/is Pirelli style industrial rubber with the raised dots but I was curious about the bamboo. I did a kitchen in red Pirelli a few years ago and it is amazingly durable stuff. Far from cheap but hey...it's a Shorty...maybe a dozen tiles?

[ol trunt]

Tango, could you give me a lead on that flooring (Pirelli)? Jack

[Tango]

Howdy Jack --- got tricky to find for a while. Looks like an Ozzie outfit bought the company sometime back but they have an office in New Jersey and some distribution around the US (none here in Houston, but they will sell direct). Contact info below. Also...ask them about any "closeouts" they might have sitting around. Talked a while back with a chap that got several cases at about half-price. Me...all I need is one box. The standard tiles are 50cm x 50cm (about 20") and cover about 53 sf per box. More than enough for my Shorty.

BTW...this is the same material that was laid down in parts of the Paris Metro...over 40 years ago...and still looks great. I saw it last summer when I was there. Ya think it can handle the traffic in our buses? I used it in a kitchen years ago and used their recommended two part epoxy adhesive. On the bus, I think I'll go with just a good grade of contact cement. The epoxy is some really bad-ass stuff, but also really expensive, a bear to work with, and way overkill for this application.

FYI...If you use the epoxy adhesive to put the tiles onto wood...you WILL have to tear the floor out to remove or repair any tiles, cause the tiles won't let go...ever.


PRF (USA), Inc.
217 Washington Avenue
Carlstadt, NJ 07072
T: 201 804 5565
(Talk to John...here is a better direct number...201.355.5472)

(You can see it best here on their Ozzie Corp. site...)

http://www.rubberflooring.com.au/studdedbr.html

[ol trunt]

Mr. T, thanks for the info. I really like their roll goods best but I'll have to try to talk them into selling me something less than a 30' roll. Jack

[Tango]

Hey Jack --- just spoke with John...they happen to have a closeout deal going on some very high quality roll goods. Black marble...at just $250 a roll. Almost half price. JUMP!

[Tango]

And just as a "PS" --- Rubber flooring absorbs and dissipates a LOT of vibration and sound.

[gbstewart]

I have vinyl plank flooring I like the look of it but still haven't put it in yet, it glues down and im not sure I want to do that, so I might rethink it the flooring, maybe one pc rolled vinyl flooring, seen some nice stuff at the hardware store.
gbstewart

[ol trunt]

Still draggin' my feet on the flooring. Tango, I really like the Ozzie's roll flooring but with shipping--we'll see.

GB,while I'm a fan of roll goods, many (most) of the roll goods have a finish about as thick as Hummingbird skin and won't stand up to any sort of rough (skoolie) usage. Get a piece of your chepo flooring and test it out before you commit. Also, roll goods take a little more thought (and look better) than squares----but the learning curve isn't too bad. Jack

[nat_ster]

Originally Posted by ol trunt

GB,while I'm a fan of roll goods, many (most) of the roll goods have a finish about as thick as Hummingbird skin and won't stand up to any sort of rough (skoolie) usage. Get a piece of your chepo flooring and test it out before you commit. Also, roll goods take a little more thought (and look better) than squares----but the learning curve isn't too bad. Jack

I completely agree Trunt.

Availability, durability and cost are the most important factors.

When I test a flooring sample, I don't play around. I take a house key and I do as much damage as I can. Both on the dent, gouge and scrape test.

Vary few flooring samples survive my testing.

I install ceramic, stone, or porcelain tile in 95% of the square footage we build. I hate almost all other flooring systems. Too fragile, not worth installing.

I will not install laminate flooring of any kind. My reputation as a contractor in the community is worth more than any money made installing junk.

We cant, or should not install tile in a bus for common sense reasons. There for the next best of the important factors point to the vinyl plank.

Vinyl plank also gets used in heavy commercial environments. Walmart, Superstore, Safe way, ect all use it in their stores. It lives through a life of gravel, sand, and salt getting stomped into it 16 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Nat

[Tango]

I have to agree on the laminates --- I have yet to find any that would, as Nat noted, even stand up to a fingernail test, let alone several years of feet grinding sand and such into it. That's what attracted me to the Pirelli. I have used it and seen what it looks like after years of abuse and it still looked terrific. And personally, I like the idea that they are tiles. That way, even if you do manage to somehow destroy an area, you can get by with only replacing what is damaged instead of ripping out the whole floor.

That said...making a host of choices based on our individual wants, needs and/or expectations is what building our own rigs is about.

Onward!

[juliol]

Hey Tango, please give me information on pirelli floor tiles sound interesting.
J

[nat_ster]

Originally Posted by juliol

Hey Tango, please give me information on pirelli floor tiles sound interesting.
J

It was on page one.

http://www.rubberflooring.com.au/studdedbr.html

Nat