Rubber flooring

[Whywalk]

Newbie here with a quick question:

I've pulled all the passenger seats on my shortie and am starting to consider plan the remodel.
I notice many--if not all--of you remove the rubber flooring before beginning any new floor; why?

It seems to me that that rubber might serve as a noise buffer underlayment.
What am I missing?

Great bunch of people & skoolies here, by the way!

[EastCoastCB]

You're missing the possible rot and funk going on underneath it.
And most of us want insulation under the flooring.

[Tango]

The vast majority of Skoolies leak. And the water finds and collects in the plywood under the rubber puke mats. You really need to know what condition the floor (your foundation) is in before building on it.

[Whywalk]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

You're missing the possible rot and funk going on underneath it.
And most of us want insulation under the flooring.

I am going to insulate, just thought the rubber underneath would add to that.
Hadn't considered what could be trapped underneath the rubber.
Thank you

[Whywalk]

Makes sense to me now.
Thanks

[EastCoastCB]

Is it just rubber or rubber over plywood?

[Whywalk]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

Is it just rubber or rubber over plywood?

I think it's just rubber with no plywood on top of the metal floor (no plywood)
I'll check.

[captnredbeerd]

This is a really interesting thread to a newbie here too. I think mine is just rubber over metal (I can see straight thru the seat bolt holes in the floor) and had considered leaving the rubber. Underside of bus is free of rust and been in the south its whole life...

[EastCoastCB]

The rubber is good at trapping moisture underneath.
I pulled mine up. Foam board and plywood will be a whole lot better at killing heat and noise than any puke mat.

[Hott76]

I recently pulled out my rubber flooring and found plywood in great condition, its spring now and getting pretty warm, i tried vinyl adhesive tile but when it warmed up during the day,they started popping up, i ripped them out, i am trying to find something not so temperature sensitive, any suggestions?,what did you end up using?

[captnredbeerd]

Though i initially thought (like the newbie I was) that leaving some of the existing floor material in place (rubber in my case) would be ok, after pulling it up we could see how it was trapping moisture (and general nastiness) and several rust spots that needed treatment. Also, the rubber i've learned has almost zero insulation or noise reduction value. Its work (but isn't this whole project that!) but having done it, its worth it to start with a clean floor, then build up with insulation, fresh plywood and (haven't done this part yet) then likely some click together flooring.

[Hott76]

I have all the wood subfoor in however im running into the temperature sensitive problem with vinyl floor, afraid to go with sheet vinyl because of all the cuts, im afraid wth regular laminate that if i spring a leak,that it will ruin it, ill keep you posted on how this works out! Thanks

[ComfortEagle]

Originally Posted by Hott76

I have all the wood subfoor in however im running into the temperature sensitive problem with vinyl floor, afraid to go with sheet vinyl because of all the cuts, im afraid wth regular laminate that if i spring a leak,that it will ruin it, ill keep you posted on how this works out! Thanks

I will be using this SmartCore Vinyl flooring from Lowes. It is waterproof... and looks awesome. Although it is technically a "floating floor", since it is waterproof it shouldn't expand and contract, so putting stuff over it shouldn't be a problem either.