Flooring fitter

[Fulltiming Felines]

We want to replace the carpets on our 1991 Hymer 534 with hard flooring. Haven't decided between vinyl, linoleum, cork, etc. We have four cats and their fur on carpet is difficult to vacuum.

I'd rather not do this myself. I'd probably do a crap job around the joins and where it meets the wall and furniture.

Has anyone used a professional fitter to do this? I'd imagine it wouldn't have to be a motorhome-specific company but maybe the big companies would refuse to do a motorhome. Perhaps I'd just check on Gumtree or Facebook to find a small-time sole trader to do it.

 

[Jaws]

Yes, we went to the local carpet / vinyl floor covering place.
Told em what we wanted, that it is in a motorhome, that we wanted the old carpets removed ( in our Autotrail this meant carefully cutting them out ) and the new cushion vinyl covering fitted and edge sealed right round
Fitter charged £40 and made an excellent job I cold not fault ( canna remember how much the vinyl was )

He said they get 2 or 3 motorhomes a year to do.. it made no odds to him as it was no different to doing a kitchen

 

[Figaro]

I'd thought of having karndean flooring put in which is a type of vinyl tile.
What's put me off so far is the floor hatches, I'm not sure how neatly it would be possible to cut in for those.
Having said that Ive not spoken to fitters.

 

[Riverbankannie]

You may find the Karndean flooring tiles are the wrong look for a MH as they are designed to look “right” on a larger expanse of floor and the designs are larger tiles or flooring planks.
If, like us, you like the feel of carpet, you could consider rubber backed mats. They can be cut easily to size and hair vacuums up easily.

Last year I bought 15 ex Initial contract door mats to “carpet” my daughter’s concrete tiled patio which was getting dangerously hot for her toddler in that sun we had.
Now taken up for the winter we are using them all over her house and ours as the dog has back problems and cannot keep his feet on slippery floors. They clean up beautifully and look as new even after being covered in dog hair.

 

[Geo]

If your thinking of "Hard" flooring such as the interlocking laminate floors at home
Do some more research I have seen many a perfect job go south in the damper/ changable climates such as a motor home has to endure
In a flexing moving vehicle id think twice, you have to leave a 0mm gap under skirting at home to alow movement

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[bigtree]

If your thinking of "Hard" flooring such as the interlocking laminate floors at home
Do some more research I have seen many a perfect job go south in the damper/ changable climates such as a motor home has to endure
In a flexing moving vehicle id think twice, you have to leave a 0mm gap under skirting at home to alow movement

That will be a nice tight fit then.

 

[Geo]

Oi who nicked me 1
I could edit it but why

 

[Figaro]

You may find the Karndean flooring tiles are the wrong look for a MH as they are designed to look “right” on a larger expanse of floor and the designs are larger tiles or flooring planks.

There are thousands of designs to choose from, some probably not suitable for motorhome but many would be.

 

[busby]

Having mine re fitted tomorrow by a retired carpet fitter. Removed my old carpet and the table sockets as we don't use them..Stayed with carpet because its warmer..Modern carpets are easier to clean also only have a small van.Carpet was £96 and the fitter wants £40...BUSBY.

 

[Minxy]

We've tried all sorts over the years and have some contract door mats ... like the dirt grabber ones but a LOT cheaper and bigger. I cut one to fit over the vinyl-ish floor covering in our camper, not difficult to do so long as you take your time. Use a good pair of strong scissors with fat hand grips otherwise you're hands will soon get sore, plus metal ruler (metal door trim strip works well) and a Stanley knife to do the long straight runs ... you could make a pattern first with some thickish paper/thin card and use that (remember to put it on the carpet the right way when cutting ... carpet face down and pattern face down too), or just gradually do it with small cuts and a marker pen to put dots where you need to cut to.

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[Minxy]

This works well for cleaning hair/fluff off carpet, when we're away in the camper for 2 months this is what we use to remove the hair/fluff along with a small dustpan and brush for the usual muck.

 

[busby]

Carpet now fitted,,van looks much better. Downside better half is making be take my shoe off before entering..BUSBY,,

 

[Minxy]

Busby ... did you take before and after photos?

 

[Fulltiming Felines]

Thanks all for the tips! This should be within my budget.

Seems like vinyl is the way to go. Is it important to do sheets, or tiles ok? What's more resilient to the flexing and movement of a motorhome?

How about luxury vinyl tiles? It doesn't seem to come in sheets, only tiles and planks.

I'll be sure to take before and after photos.

 

[Figaro]

How about luxury vinyl tiles? It doesn't seem to come in sheets, only tiles and planks.

Do you mean the karndean type flooring I mentioned above ?
I think they would be fine. It should go straight onto existing vinyl no problems with contact adhesive (evostick) much cheaper from eBay than DIY sheds.
Do you have floor hatches ? It's the only thing putting me off doing likewise.
Looking forward to your photos

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[busby]

Busby ... did you take before and after photos?

As usual i forgot,,,,Dont know how to post them anyway..Hopeless on a computer,,BUSBY.

 

[Figaro]

As usual i forgot,,,,Dont know how to post them anyway..Hopeless on a computer,

Very simple, put photos on you pc, click on upload a file, select the photo and then upload and either full image or thumbnail.
It's even easier if your using a smartphone

 

[busby]

Very simple, put photos on you pc, click on upload a file, select the photo and then upload and either full image or thumbnail.
It's even easier if your using a smartphone

Now i bet that sounded simple and obvious to the majority on here, but unfortunately lost on me.I don't understand cut and paste,,Thanks for trying though,,BUSBY..

 

[Fulltiming Felines]

Do you mean the karndean type flooring I mentioned above ?
I think they would be fine. It should go straight onto existing vinyl no problems with contact adhesive (evostick) much cheaper from eBay than DIY sheds.
Do you have floor hatches ? It's the only thing putting me off doing likewise.
Looking forward to your photos

Yes, I'm looking at LVT from Kardean and Amtico. A lot of articles including this one say those are the two best brands.

I've spoken to a few fitters and gotten quotes. LVT seems like it'll be ok as long as it's completely flat. We also want to redo the dashboard which I think has a small curved lip, so that might have to be done in regular vinyl sheet.

No floor hatches. But for your floor hatches I'd imagine something could be done. At least vinyl sheet.

 

[Riverbankannie]

Yes, I'm looking at LVT from Kardean and Amtico. A lot of articles including this one say those are the two best brands.

I've spoken to a few fitters and gotten quotes. LVT seems like it'll be ok as long as it's completely flat. We also want to redo the dashboard which I think has a small curved lip, so that might have to be done in regular vinyl sheet.

No floor hatches. But for your floor hatches I'd imagine something could be done. At least vinyl sheet.

We have the Amtico riven slate effect tiles in our kitchen and they are brilliant, after about 10 years as good as new. You can request 6 free samples from their website and that is worth doing.

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