Replaced Carpet with vinyl

mrbill2 · 07-23-2009, 06:14 PM

I replaced the carpet with Allure floor(like Vinyl) and now I think there is a problem with the slideout rubbing the the new floor. Does anyone know if there is a fix or replacement for the hard plastic shoe that is hooked under the slide in the kitchen/living area? I'm not sure but I think it is a weight bearing shoe. When I moved the slide in a out I didn't see any scratch marks but I'm worried about later it might start to show. Also with the slide in and traveling down the road there could be a long wear mark due to vibration. 2004 Winnebago Advenurer. I should have done some research first thanks for any input.

Ernie Ekberg · 07-24-2009, 06:10 AM

Get a long piece of hard plastic and let the slide rest on that when you travel. If you don't see any marks you may be ok. I am currently installing vinyl tile and carpet in a coach similar as yours and will post results on completion.

Clay L · 07-24-2009, 07:27 AM

Winnebago uses a wooden shoe covered with the same material used to line the storage bays. They look like a 1 X 5 X 3 or 4 feet with a slope on one edge and the other edge rounded. The material is glued to the wood.
To install the new shoes they extend the slide about half way and pry it up enough to put a small air bag under it in at least one place, maybe two. When inflated the airbags hold the slide high enough to remove the screws in the old shoes and install the new shoes.

mrbill2 · 07-24-2009, 08:45 AM

Hey Ernie, Do you mean something like a piece of countertop laminate? The shoe under the slide is hard plastic and i'm afraid it will rub the floor till it wears though the finish. I wish there was a way to attach something soft under the slide so I could have a piece on mind. Anyway here are some pictures of my work. Started from the back of the captains chairs and went to the end of the hall even with the bedroom doors and in the bathroom.

mrbill2 · 07-24-2009, 09:30 AM

Clay, sounds like a plan but hard to do too! Do you think I could do this myself ?

Dmiles · 07-24-2009, 10:46 AM

I replaced the carpet in my 2001 Brvae with the Allure flooring, and I have not had any serious problems so far. In the kitchen, I replaced existing vinyl with new vinyl, so I have the proper slide material in that area.

Where there was carpeting, due to the lower thickness of the vinyl, it looks like the slide material is not even touching the flooring, so I have not had a problem there. The thing I was most worried about is that since the old slide material was obviously load bearing, I was concerned about the operation of, of doing damage to my slide out mechanical drive system.

So far, everything seems to be working fine, knock on wood. If you are concerned about protecting your flooring, you might consider finding some type of material thin enough to put down on the floor before you pull the slide in, and then remove it when you are camping with the slide out

mickey53usa · 07-24-2009, 12:36 PM

The coach that Ernie refers to is mine. There does seem to be a little problem with anchoring the carpet under the slide. Mine has the raised slide, so it it not level when extended. Because the carpet that my DW choose has a higher pile, Ernie had to use a thinner (1/4") pad. His original idea was to use a tackstrip on the floor under the slide, but found that does not work. He is working on alternatives. Now, back to the main question - will the slide mark the vinyl tile? I hope not, I know that he has run the slide in and out a couple times since getting the tile down. I have heard of people putting a piece of carpet over the vinyl so that the slide would run over that. If that's what it takes, I'll put up with it.

Clay L · 07-24-2009, 01:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrbill2

Clay, sounds like a plan but hard to do too! Do you think I could do this myself ?

I got the instructions and info on the shoes from Winnebago when I was at the factory for service but I didn't go that way.
I installed laminate flooring two years ago and other than a scratch from a paperclip that Damncat batted under the slide before the trim got put on and one from a tiny rock that somehow got under or was under the slide and got vibrated to where the shoe is, we have seen no wear or problems.

I gave the info about the shoes to Pace89 here on the forum and when he put his flooring down he did lift up the slide to look under it.
You could send him a PM and ask him how difficult it was.

Clay L · 07-24-2009, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mickey53usa

The coach that Ernie refers to is mine. There does seem to be a little problem with anchoring the carpet under the slide. Mine has the raised slide, so it it not level when extended. SNIP.

I cut the carpet far enough in front of the slide so that it could be stapled down securely. I covered the exposed carpet with a thin T transition piece that covered the exposed carpet and the edge of the laminate. The transition piece (along with several other types) was available from Armstrong.

If the carpet is already cut maybe you can lift the slide as I described in my post above and staple it down.

Ernie Ekberg · 07-24-2009, 05:10 PM

Update on carpet and slide. I experimented with a piece of new carpet. Under the slide is a piece of plywood that has a bevel to the centerline of the coach. I installed tackstrip like a regular job, but after running the slide in, the leading edge of the underslide impacted the tack strip.
Plan B: Take up the tack strip and cut the 1/4 inch high density 8 pound pad back a little. I installed the carpet to butt up to the edge of the bevel of that plywood. After some serious thoughts and lots of sweat-- IT WORKS!!.
Ieven called the dealer- and asked if there was a way to increase the travel height on this slide. Wrong- do you think they would give out that information to an old carpet installer? You guessed it- figure it out for yourself, which we did. Who needs a dealer when you have a creative mind?
So, tomorrow, the carpet will be installed on the floor from mid-slide forward to firewall.
Oh- that carpet job that you did looks great. That coach looks pretty much like the coach I'm working on.

mrbill2 · 07-25-2009, 10:59 AM

Ernie, Well I called Winnebago twice,first call the he guy told me that Winnegago has a replacement shoe with carpet. He said to call the dealer to order the new shoe replacement. To install the shoe you would have to take the trim off around the inside of the slide,then jack the outside up so that the slide will tilt out and then you could get to the old shoe and replace it. So I called the dealers parts department and they have no knowledge of a replacement shoe. I called winnebago for the second time and got a different person. When I told him about my problem he said that when the new Winnegago's went to vinyl they put rollers under the slide. He suggested that I could get a piece of plywood put a bevel on one side glue some carpet to it and screw it back on under the slide. Now he also told me another way to get to the shoe without jacking the outside of the slide. He said to get some help about four strong people, push up under the top of the trim lift the slide up and wedge some wood under the slide to keep it from dropping. Once that is done I might be able to get to the screws to remove old and install the new shoe. If I should go thru door#2 I'm going to try a heavy duty innertube. Im taking my time and looking for all suggestions before I make my move because it looks too good to screw up now!

John Hilley · 07-25-2009, 01:18 PM

I have a thread going about removing the dinette and replacing the carpet with tile. I got the same answers from Winnebago about using the air bags to jack up. My slide was to wide where the dinette was so I cut off about 16" including the shoe. There is also a shorter shoe father back and towards the back end of the slide. The slide is made of 1 1/2" square aluminum. I cut out a section and then refastened it to the the rest of the slide by cutting down a 2 x 2 to fit inside the square tubing. I then put the deck back on and screwed it down into the 2 x 2's. I am going to put 1/2" plywood on the slide to further strengthen it. I fastened the original shoe to the piece that I reattached. I think if you keep it clean it will work fine on tile. If it doesn't contact the tile for load bearing, you can put a spacer under it. I was at GNR this week and talked to someone who had done the same conversion. He made a new shoe of wood and carpet and attached it to the leading edge of the slide and at the right height to provide load bearing. The new Vista slides are not level, but like the older slides. Winnebago has gone to vinyl sheet flooring in the Vista and they used a wood an carpet shoe. I took several pictures of the Vista shoes as well as various stages in my conversion. If someone wants some of them I will be glad to email them. The new table and chairs version of the 2010 models has a nice sliding table which is easily copied for a conversion.

mrbill2 · 07-25-2009, 04:59 PM

John, I may have found the solution for my problem. I'm thinking that if I extend the slide all the way out ,remove a few bolt that hold the floor to the slide rails, then I can lift the slide high enough to slide a piece of carpet over the top of existing the shoe,then screw the carpet to the bottom of the slide using a piece of aluminum 1/8''X3/4''x144'' to cover the existing shoe. Before I do this I'm going to think hard and ask questions to make sure that its the best fix for the problem. I will also take pictures to make it easy for everyone that wants to replace old carpet with new vinyl floor.

Ernie Ekberg · 07-25-2009, 05:55 PM

Update on carpet with the slide. No worries, Mate!! I butted the carpet to the lower part of the beveled plywood. Instead of using tack strip, I stapled with divergent staples. These are stronger then regular straight staples. The trim edge of the slide will cover these up, quite nicely. The slide moves over the thicker carpet just fine. No wrinkles. It does graze the carpet with its movement. Tomorrow the slide area will be completed.

mrbill2 · 07-25-2009, 08:06 PM

John, If you get this you can send me some pictures. My email is [email protected].
Thanks Bill

Ernie Ekberg · 07-26-2009, 03:17 PM

The slide is completed, without a hitch. I had to re-engineer the slide where the vinyl tile was lower then the carpet. this involved lowering the wood edge and lengthing the carpet where it slides over the vinyl tile.

Ernie Ekberg · 07-26-2009, 04:22 PM

another photo os the slide showing the carpet is lower over vinyl and just grazes new carpet