RVflooring

                                 What did you do last Summer?
                                        by Fred, WK1F 11/17/18

When we purchased our “used” RV several years ago, the vinyl
flooring in the kitchen area was worn and had a rip at the kitchen
slide area. I covered it with a “peel & stick” tile, but a couple
squares would never completely stick over night. After much
procrastination and a visit of a friend with 8 cases of commercial
grade vinyl plank tiles, I decided to remove only the “peel & stick”
stuff and install vinyl glue down plank flooring over the original vinyl
flooring. This was an easy decision on my part at that moment,
however, this turned out not to be a 4-6pack job!

The old tiles were easily removed with the aid of a heat gun, but the
adhesive was another story. I tried every solvent known to mankind
plus scraping but it stayed put. A visit to Home Depot and
consulting with the “Lady who knew all about the subject” led me
to the isle with flooring stuff. We read every can, bottle, package
etc. and finaly decided on a eye caching yellow gallon bottle of
Sentinel 747 Plus Adhesive Remover. Folks, this stuff works! I
mixed up the solution as per directions, rolled it on the glue with a
paint roller, waited a few minutes, then scrubbed in a circle with a
scrubby (Patti's donation), soaked for a few more minutes, wiped
with a rag, and PRESTO! - glue gone. Beer time! I might add, there
was no odor from the remover and the RV was inside of the barn, I
needed no gloves or masks.

Installing the tiles was rather fast and easy after applying the
Roberts 2057 VCT Adhesive with a notched trowel. This is a slow
drying “to the touch” adhesive – about 12 hours and it dries clear.
Before applying the adhesive, I cut all tile planks to fit and numbered
the pieces with corresponding numbers on the floor. I made a wood
transition strip that covered the seam of the tile and old carpet
under the main slide which anchored the planks on that side. Under
the kitchen slide a few hidden staples anchored that side – this
keeps the planks from moving when you walk on them.

This tile job was nearing completion when my wondering eyes
noticed the table seat upholstery fabric was rather thin on the
corners and the window valances could be replaced also. I removed
the seats and the valances and took them (minus the cushions) to a
local shop for a “new look”. With the seats out, and moving the
couch off of the slide, I was able to rework the area. The most time
consuming job here was that the slide out old carpet was wrapped
over the edge of the slide – I made a wood covering for this that
clamped the new tile and old carpet under the couch to the slide
floor. I had to rebuild the seats before taking them to the upholstery
shop as most joints were broken or loose. After the upholstery and
valances were repaired and installed, again my wondering eyes
noticed that the small led light fixtures were inadequate. A little
internet searching, led me to another adventure. . . .

With the vinyl tile plank flooring installed, slides repaired, new
dinette seats and valencies completed, my last job on “my original”
list was to replace the carpet under the pilot and co-pilot chairs,
dash area and engine cover. I removed the chairs and this gave a lot
of room for my fat *## to get under the dash areas. The carpet
wasn't too hard to remove as it was on a padding and only stapled
at the edges – still there was about 10 pounds of staples to remove
here! I removed the carpet carefully in one piece as I would use it as
a template for the new carpet. Next the old padding was removed
and some adhesive was left behind. Using the adhesive remover it
was clean in no time. I checked   Home Depot for carpet remnants
and found a piece to do my job plus I still have some left over.
(wonder how this would look glued on the ceiling??) I replaced the
padding and using the old carpet as a template, I cut the carpet and
all went in easy. I will say right here the right tool for cutting carpet is
a CARPET KNIFE, not a box cutter, tin snips or scissors! Using the
right tool, the cutting of the carpet curves, angles ETC was easy. I
did apply a small amount of adhesive in spots under the padding to
hold it in place. I started by stapling the carpet around the engine
cover hump, and then stretched it to the outer edges where I
stapled it as close to the wall as possible. Simple molding hides the
staples.

I took the engine cover out side and removed the old carpet in one
piece. The lid is made of heavy plastic and 110% covered with
adhesive from old carpet. The adhesive was easy to remove with
the Sentinel 747 Plus. Using the old carped as a template, a new
cover was cut out. I applied Henry 650R Carpet Adhesive to the
cover and bottom of new carpet. After awhile the glue was tacky
and the new carpet was installed. It stuck good except in a few
places on the edges and this stuck by pressing later on. To finish
the job, I used a standard gold color carpet edge strip at the end of
the carpet and new tile.

About the lights – after researching the web, I found a 3-tube LED
fluorescent style fixture. It is the Mings Mark #9090103 LED 3-Tube
light fixtures: 19.7”L x 6”W x 1.6” H 10.8 Watts with two switches.
There are two drawbacks, and that is the size and no channel or
valley to lay the wires on back of the fixture. Also, in my opinion,
these fixtures should be mounted length wise of the coach due to
the approx 150 degree light spread. I channeled out the back of the
fixture for the wires to keep the fixture flat to the ceiling. I installed
four fixtures in same area of old fixtures but length wise of the
coach using the same ceiling power leads and insulation cut outs.
Still have to repair the old screw holes.

This took most of the summer, but we also made a trips to upstate
NY and SC. Also, I had to do it in small steps as we were planing on
camping in September and the hurricane threats. It would have
been quicker if I took every thing out first and stayed with the job.
The results are satisfying and well worth it. Major cost was for
upholstery. Beer Time!