update needed on allure flooring

munchie · 08-05-2009, 07:07 PM

Been reading about the allure flooring material some of you have used when replacing your flooring. How has it worked? Is it holding up under use? Have you had any scratching or other problems from the slides?

mrbill2 · 08-06-2009, 09:57 PM

Hey Munchi, I replaced my carpet with allure flooring material about 2 to 3 weeks ago. I love the floor it is durable looks great and it is user frendly.But there could be problem for the future if you don't do something with the shoe under the slide. All slides are different and I don't know if this would apply to your coach. Mine is a Winnebago Adventurer 2004 35u. I replace the carpet with vinyl from the bedroom bath inc, all the way to the back of the captains chairs and I think it looks so gooooood!!!! After I did this change or half way in the middle of the change I started thinking about the shoe, and what kind of damage it could do to the floor. So I did a special mod that I though was going to be impossible. I took the existing shoe off and rapped it in the carpet that was taken off the floor. Here are some pictures. If you need more info I will try to help but sometimes I'm slow to respond because of work.

munchie · 08-07-2009, 07:39 AM

Mrbill2,

Thanks for the info and pics. I'm still not sure what you have done. How did you manage to make the seam between the slide and main floor, without the gap showing. Your work is really great. Everyone that does this type of work on rv's has told us they can't do what you seem to have done. They all leave the carpet on the slide portion with a flap that falls over or covers the gap. How did you get the carpet on the shoe? Was it really needed or did you just do this as added protection?

mrbill2 · 08-08-2009, 02:29 PM

Munchie, What I did was to leave the carpet on the slide itself, about the gap between the slide and the main floor it is not that much to even worry about. The carpet on the front of the slide turns under and is secured down with a flat bar. If you was to overlap the carpet around the seam of the slide and the main floor, you would have to recarpet the slide and let the carpet overlap when slide is fully extended. Personally I don't think that would look good and unless you need new carpet on the slide it just a waste of money. As for what I did about the transition between the slide and the main floor, there is a angle on the floor for the slide to rise up and come in. I followed the angle and cut my allure flooring at that angle so the slide wouldn't hook it on the way in or out. There is a gap between the two floors but it doesn't look bad because most of it is covered with the couch. The part with the dining table we have a clear plastic runner under it which overlaps the slide by a 1/2'' looks great!! Now about the shoe, I think it will rub a line across the vinyl in do time because of the vibration going down the road, it rubbed a imprint in my carpet! Also I think if a small rock gets under the shoe it will scratch the vinyl. After all this said if you think you want to do change over to vinyl and change the shoe I will need to get with you with more pictures and more detail. I don't mind it but I am slow to respond on the computer because of being so busy.

BattChief · 08-13-2009, 05:57 PM

We just replaced our carpet in our 2001 Horizon with wood. The "shoe" is definitely a problem. Can you tell me how you got to the shoe? I can't get to mine to replace the plastic, or to cover it. And it DOES scratch the floor!

mrbill2 · 08-14-2009, 07:40 PM

Hey BattChief, I don't know if your coach is like mine when it comes to the slideout. What I did first was to extend the slide all the way out, There is a metal runner that the shoe rest on when the slide is fully extended, It stays tight against the shoe until it begins to slide up inside the floor. You need to lower the metal runner and remove it, I think you can get the shoe off without removing the metal runner but I don't think you can replace the shoe with the carpet on it without removing the runner completly. After you zero in on the shoe you will see a plastic cover in the center, mine is a cream color. At one end take a screwdriver, slide it between the metal and the plastic, then pull the plastic out at one end, the whole plastic cover needs to be removed. This is the piece that is scraching your wood floor!!! You will now see the screws that hold the metal shoe to the bottom of the slide. Use a battery drill and a 4'' to 6'' Philip to take the screws out, the shoe should drop. Here is a picture of the shoe with the carpet on it, I thought I had a picture of the shoe with the plastic but can't find it. Let me know what you think so far and if you want to do this I will tell you how to put the carpet on the shoe without using wood.

BattChief · 08-14-2009, 08:02 PM

I'll have to take a look at that. I would love to hear how you attached the carpet. We are currently out of town, and I'm not sure it's something I want to tackle until we get home. How long did it take you to do the "shoe" job?

mrbill2 · 08-15-2009, 06:51 AM

BattChief, I had no guidence on this so it took a looooooong time. If I'm to guess on it I would guess about 8-10 hrs. The hard part is when things are going back together, because the metal runner under the shoe may need to be adjusted on height. Is your shoe like mine?

BattChief · 08-15-2009, 09:26 AM

Best I can tell it's like yours. Mine is a plastic shoe, what I would call a "lazy u" shoe. How to you adjust the metal runner? I'm concerned once I wrap the plastic, it will be too tall and continue to rub on the floor.

two2go · 08-15-2009, 09:37 AM

Back to the original question, how is anybody else's Allure doing? Is there any tendancy for the flooring to shrink and open up at the seams, or the seams separate? Did you put anything under the flooring as extra padding? Do floor imperfections show through? I was wondering about using the thin foam padding like under laminate flooring, or maybe roofing paper?

mrbill2 · 08-15-2009, 04:05 PM

Hey two2go, What I have notice is that when the airconditioner is on and it gets to somewhere about 70 degrees the seems open on some of the tile connections. It is not much but enough to be alarmed about,so I will call allure first thing monday. The installation instructions says no need for any thing under the floor.

mrbill2 · 08-15-2009, 04:09 PM

Hey BattChief, If you decide to do this it might be easier if we talk on the phone.

Jim28730 · 08-19-2009, 11:41 AM

I have had no issues with seam seperation since putting down my Allure floor. Once I pulled up the old vinyl and carpet (and a bizillllon staples), I put the Allure directing down over the OSB. There is NO NEED to put anything between Allue and the sub-floor. Allure is thick enough and very forgiving. There are no flooring imperfections showing through the Allure. It's easy to maintain and looks great! It was a one weekend project.

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