Thinking About Replacing Carpet With Tile

GG1 · 10-01-2013, 07:14 PM

Looking for input reference above. We are thinking about doing it but I am not sure about the floor height when the slides come in because putting down tile would mean installing subfloor. Someone suggested a composite tile flooring made by Congoleum. It looks and feels like tile but its lighter.

EDALLSAILS · 10-01-2013, 07:37 PM

We are in the process of doing swapping the carpet for tile. just order a box of this from Home Depot.

203616663

Ivory Porcelain 10 mm Thick x 15-1/2 in. Wide x 46-2/5 in. Length Click Lock Laminate Flooring

$77.08

It is a laminate flooring material that may be the answer for us. I'm concerned about installing tile and having the grouting break up from the movement of the MH. This stuff looks like it might just work. Some Mh have slides that have a roller that moves the slide over the floor. Others have a "pad" or flat pad and we have heard that the pad scratches the flooring. Using the "Porcelain" laminate floor will prevent this. Safe travels... ed

Ernie Ekberg · 10-01-2013, 07:42 PM

tile weighs 5 pounds a square foot. will compromise your CCC

charliej · 10-01-2013, 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GG1

Looking for input reference above. We are thinking about doing it but I am not sure about the floor height when the slides come in because putting down tile would mean installing subfloor. Someone suggested a composite tile flooring made by Congoleum. It looks and feels like tile but its lighter.

I have not done mine yet, but I hear a lot of people use Allure Vinyl Plank. I was at Home Depot the other day and checked it out. Looks good. The have some the look like tile, and some that look like wood. Post picture if you change it out

Tom N · 10-01-2013, 09:48 PM

My 2005 Itasca Suncruiser utilizes rolls where there is tile and teflon strips where there is carpeting. If I replaced my carpet with tile I would have to replace the teflon strips with rollers and readjust the slide height.

My front slide is 16' long. The front of the slide uses teflon because this area is carpeted. The rear of the slide uses a roller because this area is the kitchen and is tiled. My front slide also raises up when retracted and lowers when extended to make a flat floor complicating replacing carpeting with tile.

Most bedroom slides use teflon and do not raise up when retracted.

There is more to replacing carpet with tile that meets the eye.

-Tom

Hikerdogs · 10-02-2013, 08:04 AM

We have vinyl flooring in our 2013 Adventurer. It's much easier to keep clean than the carpeting in our old motorhome. There are a couple downsides however. You have to sweep the floor to make sure no sand or gravel gets under the rollers on the slide befor closing it. If a particle gets stuck on the roller it can scuff or gouge the vinyl.

Another thing to consider is the height of any fabric upholstered furniture. We have fabric on the dinette that goes all the way to the floor. You have to be careful when mopping the floor not to hit the fabric. The fabric will soak up any water or other liquid on the floor. If you drop some dark colored liquid on the floor it could get wicked into the fabric. If we had a chance to do it over we would have ordered (or special ordered) leather or vinyl material on the dinette.

Steve Ownby · 10-02-2013, 08:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GG1

Looking for input reference above. We are thinking about doing it but I am not sure about the floor height when the slides come in because putting down tile would mean installing subfloor. Someone suggested a composite tile flooring made by Congoleum. It looks and feels like tile but its lighter.

We had this done over 2 years ago and couldn't be happier with the results. We used Mannington Adura which is one of the " Luxury Vinyl Tiles" on the market. It's in 16" squares and glues down and grouts like real tile.

The rollers on the passenger side work fine and we use 4 slide slickers on the drivers side level floor slide. No problems and the tile still looks like the day it was installed.

HD4Mark · 10-02-2013, 08:36 AM

If your Itasca has the same Store More flat floor slide out I would suggest not doing it. There is a glide bar all the way across the bottom that supports it by dragging on the rug. The bar has a plastic strip to allow it to do so. Models with linoleum have carpet on the glide strip. I know this after just having our slide repaired to the tune of $2600 and the bar replaced.

We had just replaced the carpet so changing to the other glide bar was not an option. I also would wonder about the clearance. In our case I do not believe we could have gained enough for tile especially if any more sub floor needed to be installed.

smlranger · 10-02-2013, 09:58 AM

Just before we traded our 2002 Journey, we had all the carpet replaced with vinyl plank flooring. I know....why do that if you are just going to trade? Short story....we did not know we would be blessed with an opportunity to trade up a bit when we agreed to have the flooring done.

So, they used Allure vinyl. We had the flat floor slide and they partially extended the slide, tilted it out at the top, and removed the metal runners. They covered a thin (1/4") panel with short nap carpet (looked like the indoor/outdoor stuff you see at Lowes) and attached it under the slide. The slide moved easily over the new vinyl floor but it did raise the slide a bit (just over 1/4"). They did install a thin underlayment under all the vinyl since they told me the level of the wooden subfloor and the metal floor in the front of the coach was not the same. The end result looked really good and the folks that bought our Journey were impressed.

CJ7ole · 10-02-2013, 12:33 PM

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f101/allu...all-91826.html

Mike and Pat · 10-02-2013, 01:36 PM

smlranger, did you see themtilt your slide? If so how did they get it to tilt? I got the covered glide from winnebago and was planning on replacing the vinyl glide but am having problems figuring out how to access it.

smlranger · 10-02-2013, 03:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike and Pat

smlranger, did you see themtilt your slide? If so how did they get it to tilt? I got the covered glide from winnebago and was planning on replacing the vinyl glide but am having problems figuring out how to access it.

One day I stopped by the shop to check on progress (the job took forever) and yes, I saw them tilting the slide. One guy was laying on the floor working under the slide while two others were pushing the slide out at the top. They had the slide room about 1/2 way extended. I do know they used a sawzall to cut the screws holding the metal runners to the bottom of the slide floor. I do not know how they secured the thin, carpet covered panel to the underside of the slide floor. However, the slide moved easily over the new vinyl floor.

Pusherman · 10-02-2013, 07:01 PM

We just did a Winnie Voyage with opposing flat floor slides. Replaced the carpet with Pergo wood planking. On each side where the slides are, had to hyper-extend the slides to get under them to do the work.

We built a ramp on the inside so when the slide floor came up it would glide over the ramp next to the Pergo edge to make sure it wouldn't scratch.

Underside, on the leading inside edge of the slide, we removed the vinyl glide strip on each slide, and wrapped it with the low-knap carpet smlranger refers to, like what's in the compartments.

New carpet on top of the slides. Pergo on the main floor. The final job looked outstanding, and the customer was very happy.

It was a lot of work, but it was done right.

bachler · 10-02-2013, 08:12 PM

Must share our expreiance... We replaced our plush carpet with tile; We had no weight worries; However when/after we had the tile installed and were in colder temp. and you get up and your poor feet hit that cold tile . You wake up in a hurry and say to your whife , Now why did we take the carpet out;; We made a carpet to cover the tile in the colder conditions. After a waste of the tile by covering it up everythings OK. Something to think about;;

clyon51 · 10-02-2013, 09:18 PM

I'll share my experience. Carpet had to go, decided on Allure vinyl planking. Have a 16x3 foot slide using nylon skids. Had 5 skids along the 16ft width.

The first experience was the skids scratched the vinyl floor. I quickly determended the weight of the slide on only 3x1 inch skids was still too much PSI on the vinyl. I tried using felt on the skids and that failed. I then removed the skids and replaced with six 6x2 wood blocks covered with carpet. That worked good for a year, as long as the floor was swepted clear of sand.

This past year the weight on one end of of the slide (dinette) began buckling the flooring when retracting. This was due to in part by not glueing the planking to the subfloor (didn't want to do this as this was an experiment) and inability to secure the edge of the planking under the slide.

Conclusion: Do not use vinyl if you have skids. Not sure if you have rollers would make much difference as the weight in a 16x3 ft slide has a tremendous weight per PSI.

My next step would be to use a very hard surface flooring, secured to the subfloor. Then use more and larger skid surfaces with a non-abrasive surface to distribute the weight.

Now understand this is a '99 power gear system with skids on a National RV. Your coach may be different as far as the weight (PSI) on the individual skids or rollers.