Replaced carpeting with vinyl, am I asking for slide problems?

Dmiles · 06-08-2009, 07:19 AM

Great forum, wish I had found it before I replaced the carpeting in my 2001 Brave with Allure vinyl flooring.

Don't get me wrong, we love the new floor, but I just read the service tip for our slide room that was posted in a sticky here. By the way...great post on that service information. I have done field service on xray equipment for 29 years, so I am able to do a lot of my own service work, and we plan to continue remodeling our coach. But even on those times when I take 'er in for service, it's still nice to have as much information available as possible. Thanks much for all the great info.

I already had vinyl flooring in the kitchen, so I know I have the correct material under the slide on that piece of it, but since I read the article I now know I have the wrong slide support where there was carpeting before. I am attaching a before and after picture to save a couple thousand words describing what I did.

The slide seems to work exactly the same, and we haven't had any damage to our new floor. I'm simply asking the experts here...do I need to replace the support under the slide where the carpet was with the one designed for vinyl, and if so, does the slide room need to come out?

Above all, THANKS!

sknight · 06-08-2009, 08:05 AM

I'd think it is a height difference, the place where the wheels contact have lost an 1/8" or so to ride on.

Wherever there were wheel tracks on the carpet maybe you can get a small rug or mat to place there when you run the slides in, then put away when in use. It'll also protect the floor from the track that will eventually wear there.

John Hilley · 06-08-2009, 08:33 AM

We are getting ready to do the same on our Winnebago 99 Brave.

Actually there are shoes not wheels on the Winnebagos.

What did you do with the carpet edge? Did you get the vinyl under the slide when fully out?

Dmiles · 06-08-2009, 09:22 AM

Yes, what I did was cut as much of the carpet as I could out from underneathe the slide, and then my wife actually took a razor and a pair of needlenose plyers and cut every fiber of carpet that she could possibly get to. I then put the flooring right up to that point. You can't see the old carpet or the end of the flooring even if you lay flat on the floor, or look in from outside the door while standing on the ground.

Thanks to the link to the service tips that were posted in this forum, I now know that there are 2 different types of glides under the slide on my motorhome. One is the proper one for vinyl that I have under the kitchen portion of my slide, but the other one Winnebago uses is a piece of aluminum with a plastic insert for carpet surfaces.

I'm afraid what I have now is the slide riding properly on the kitchen side where there has alwyas been vinyl, but I suspect the glide is not making contact at all due to the thickness difference where there used to be carpet.

Like I posted previously, the slide seems to work as well as before when there was carpeting, but I'm wondering if the lack of support where there used to be carpet will cause problems with my slide down the road.

sknight · 06-08-2009, 10:58 AM

BTW I didn't mention, that looks really really good in there. How about a few more shots?

Dmiles · 06-08-2009, 08:37 PM

Sknight, thanks for the kind words. We are thrilled with the results, and I must admit it turned out better than I expected. My dad, who is a dealer for Charriot Eagle park models, always tells his customers that the floor is always the first thing that is put down when these things are being built, so you will never be able to get it to look like it did when it came from the factory.

I think somewhat because he was so sure I wouldn't be able to do it,I went to great lengths to make it look like this floor was down before anything else, and I think I was able to do it. Even he had to ask how I was able to do it, especially in a couple of places.

Again thanks for the comments, and I am more than happy to share some more pictures. I'm even going to throw in a couple "during" pictures along with the "before" and "after" because I think the folks who read these forums might find it interesting to see it with the carpet and existing vinyl stripped off.

Dave from MN · 06-09-2009, 04:37 PM

I don't know anything about the slide issue but I do like your work. Especially the entrance. Carpet in bad spots like kitchen & entry. What did you do around the dog house area?
My wife has been after me to do something like this. She is not going to see these pictures.

Dmiles · 06-09-2009, 05:52 PM

Dave,

The dog house will probably have to be re-carpeted. I don't know if you are familiar with what I used, but it is called Allure flooring. It comes in one foot by 3 foot sections, and they interlock with a sticky strip on one side and one end. I would not be able to use this product on the dog house, and since we have already started camping, the wife has given me a temporary break time, but I can tell it will not last long.

Thanks for the comments, it was a lot of hard work but I don't know of an easier product to lay than the Allure. I must admit I would rather put the time, effort and money into a project that is going to increase the performance or fun factor of the coach more than just the looks of it, but that carpet had seen its better days, and the floor does look really nice. You wouldn't be sorry you did it after it's done.

sknight · 06-09-2009, 09:44 PM

I've got to say it's very impressive. I can screw up a home style project faster that you can think.

Belgique · 06-10-2009, 06:07 AM

In my book, you should be banned. Look at all the trouble it is going to cause for us guys when DW's see this project! not only is there the work involved but then we will be forced to endure "your's doesn't look as good as the one on IRV2".

Nah...

...a first class job and appreciate you sharing. I traded in the last coach before taking this on but don't think I can get away with that again. This will be a good plan to follow. Expect questions. Thanks!

Dmiles · 06-10-2009, 06:39 AM

I do appreciate the kind comments, and I'm more than happy to help with any questions. After all this was said and done, I think the one thing that made the biggest difference as far as being something I was happy with as opposed to something we were not, was actually done before any of that old carpet was ever ripped out.

That was the time spent agonizing over what product to use. I honestly don't think there is another product aside from the Allure floating floor that would have been as easy to make it look like it was a factory job. And no, I have no financial interest in the company that makes this product, this is just my honest opinion after doing this project.

Oh one last note...my DW has asked that I make it clear that the carpeting in the before pictures actually looked worse when we bought the 2001 coach a year ago. She wants everyone to know that we were not the ones who let that carpet go so badly. Just trying to stay out of the dog house for now.

Fakrwee · 06-12-2009, 06:39 PM

DMiles, first of all congrats on a great job. I guess one of the biggest compliments is it not only looks awesome but looks like factory installed.

Please keep us updated if you find an answer to your original question. "Is there any long term effects to the slide out by floating and not resting on the floor?"

Dmiles · 06-13-2009, 06:24 PM

I will not only post here if I find any answers to my original question, I will report back on how it goes while we are using our MH. We are at one of our favorite lakes right now. so far not a hint of a problem...knock on wood!

Darlene7 · 06-14-2009, 03:43 PM

Beautiful job on your flooring - we have a Winnebago Class A, 2004, Brave Model and have wanted to replace our carpeting with tile as you have done - we have been told that because of our slideout, being made for carpet - that we cannot replace our flooring with tile because of the runners on the slideout and that it will not work, but yours seems to be fine - cannot figure out why they said we cannot do it without replacing our slideout runners. Can someone help me with this issue, would love to do what you have done.
Darlene

Dmiles · 06-14-2009, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darlene7

Beautiful job on your flooring - we have a Winnebago Class A, 2004, Brave Model and have wanted to replace our carpeting with tile as you have done - we have been told that because of our slideout, being made for carpet - that we cannot replace our flooring with tile because of the runners on the slideout and that it will not work, but yours seems to be fine - cannot figure out why they said we cannot do it without replacing our slideout runners. Can someone help me with this issue, would love to do what you have done.
Darlene

Darlene,

All I can tell you is it has not been an issue for us so far. Keep in mind that we already had vinyl in the kitchen, so that portion of the slide already has the correct runner. Given that, it appears to me that having the slide suported by the rails (which I'm sures bears the majority of the load), and the correct runner on the kitchen portion is enough. Like I said I have not noticed any difference in the opration of the slide, and we use it a lot. In fact when it's parked in our yard, the slide is out for loading and unloadind as we go somewhere every weekend.

By the way I have the long slide with the dinette and galley, but you probably gathered that from the pictures.

jupoa · 06-14-2009, 05:37 PM

Great job on the flooring. I especially like the way you did the entry.

We just completed replacing our carpet with vinyl tile as well. Had the same concerns about the slide damaging the vinyl, especially after the manufacturer rep. said the slide would have to be removed to do the job

.

We proceeded anyway, removing the carpet much in the same way as you described. Our slide has no shoes, wheels or runners under it as others have described, just a smooth, slick metal bottom which rides on fixed rollers positioned along the outside wall. We purchased some roles of "ultra" service peal and stick felt from the local Home Depot. This we applied to the underside of the entire leading edge of the slide.

Over the subfloor, we put 30lb roll roofing material and 1/4" plywood specially designed for vinyl tile underlayment. We primed the plywood and applied Armstrong peal and stick tile as per the manufacturers recommendations. It wound up just a little thicker than the carpet and pad when the carpet was matted down.

It worked out great and the felt under the slide leaves no marks on the tile. Not only that, there is no more flex in the edge of the slide when it is pulled in for travel.

I installed x-ray machines in hospitals myself for a couple years back in the day. It was a great job but too much travel to suit me at that time. Now I work with radar.

Happy trails.

reday · 06-23-2009, 04:10 PM

Great job. I have done a couple of carpet removals on Airstream MH's I've had and will eventually do one on my 2008 Aspect when I get tired of cleaning up the dog hair. A suggestion on the dog house... I had mine painted with bed liner paint to match the leather of the seats. Asked them to go light on the non-skid texture. Thought it turned out well.

Dmiles · 06-23-2009, 05:33 PM

Reday,

That looks great! Thanks for the suggestion, I would never have thought of that! I'm going to give it a try. Worst case, if I don't like it, I can still go with carpet, but I have a feeling that this is what we will end up doing.

reday · 06-23-2009, 05:56 PM

They will probably charge you as much as you would pay for an entire truck bed. With that in mind, I took a small boat in at the same time and had them spray the inside of the hull (more texture for non-skid purposes this time). That turned out well too... They did ding me for prep on the boat, but not for the materials.

I was very pleased and as far as the dog house goes when I would tell someone what I had done, they would typically say that they thought it was "factory done".

rvten · 06-23-2009, 07:56 PM

We replaced the carpet in our 2001 Adventuer 35U. One thing we found out the hard way. Is to make sure floor is clear of any small stones. We had one get pinned under the slide and it put a gouge in the vinyl flooring.

I cut 2 small pieces of Plexiglas about 6" wide and long enough for the slide to go over. I would put them down when putting in the slide.