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Topic: Has anyone replaced the carpet w flooring?  (Read 671 times) previous topic - next topic
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Has anyone replaced the carpet w flooring?
We replaced the kitchen/dining tile yesterday with this waterproof vinyl flooring, but I’m wondering if folks have had success (or not) replacing the carpet with flooring? Does that kill insulation at all? Thanks!

Sasha
05 26.5 Mid-bath
2005 Mid Bath
Re: Has anyone replaced the carpet w flooring?
Reply #1 –
Sasha, We removed the carpeting from our 98~MB last fall but left the carpet in the lounge and front similar to what you did in the picture.  We used vinyl planks over 1/2" of foam underlayment with foil reflectix on one side.  The vinyl definitely feels colder then the carpet did.  We have camped in below 20s for at least 20 days this past year and plug in when we can and use electric hydronic heaters which do warm the vinyl floors in the main area.  We now use a small bath rug in the bathroom when its cold, although the bathroom floor should not be colder then the old floor since we added the underlayment and vinyl right over the old floor but now the bath rug works.  We wear slippers/house shoes in our LD so we do not notice the floor as colder except in the bathroom which was always colder especially in the Mid-Baths.  When we camped with our 98~MB in cold weather before we replaced the carpet we mostly used the furnace and when plugged in we used a ceramic forced heater.  I do notice a difference with just the furnace running, I would say it is the same.  The big difference is now when we plug in and use the hydronic radiators its Way Better! 

         Karen~Liam
           98 ~ MB
             NinA



1998 ~ MB  WanderDaze
previously a 1984 Winnebago itaska- The Road Warrior, before that several VW Buses and before that a 1965 Chrysler Convertible Newport or our 1969 Chrysler La Barron with an ice box and a couple sleeping bags
Re: Has anyone replaced the carpet w flooring?
Reply #2 –
Thanks so much, Karen and Liam. And nice photo with the scorpion btw.  Wow I've never heard of hydrionic radiators. That sounds complicated. I appreciate the tip though and will look into it.
2005 Mid Bath
Re: Has anyone replaced the carpet w flooring?
Reply #3 –
Liam
Are you using a heater like this?
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Cadet-48-in-1-500-Watt-Portable-Electric-Baseboard-in-White-120-Volt-4P1500W/309567927

Where do you put it, under the dinette, in the lounge or?
We have a similar one permanently mounted in our dining room, in a corner surrounded by two sliding glass doors, it gets drafty on cold nights. The heater works great, killing the drafts. Being mounted at floor level, it sucks up the cold air, helping to keep our feet warm.
In the LD, when dry camping in very cold weather, our two Wave 3 cat heaters keep things warm but neither they nor our electric heaters keep the floor warm, an electric hydronic heater should do a better job of it on the few occasions we have hookups when power is available.

We went the opposite way with the flooring. Steve wouldn't consent to install solid flooring and we knew the blue interiors carpet would show dirt almost immediately, so it was covered up, when new, with custom-fitted indoor-outdoor carpet. It comes out every summer, on a hot day, for a good scrubbing on the driveway. The carpet is easy to replace when worn..
The second layer of carpet adds noticeable insulation. To enhance it more, and to make things easier to clean, we have an 8' carpet runner in the lounge, easy to take outside for a good shaking.
If we owned a new rig with solid floors, it would have removable carpet inserts for winter camping

I got involved in one carpet removal job and that was enough, it was held down with hundreds of staples, none that didn't want to come out without a good fight.

Larry
Larry
2003 23.5' Front Lounge, since new.  Previously 1983 22' Front Lounge.
Tow vehicles  2020 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, 2001 Jeep Cherokee
Photo Collection: Lazy Daze
Re: Has anyone replaced the carpet w flooring?
Reply #4 –
Hi Sasha,

Your flooring looks great! I also removed carpeting from my highest traffic area and replaced with vinyl planking a couple years back. The bare floor is definitely cooler than carpeting but after experimenting with a few different types I have found that braided rugs like the ones in the pic below do really well at insulating even bare feet from the vinyl planking below. I just use some of those 2 sided carpet tape strips to keep them from moving around. The other thing I have noticed since replacing carpet with vinyl is how important it is to isolate your living area from the cab in cooler weather and in particular, obtaining a good seal at the floor level. That cold air just loves to  go low and creep along that vinyl flooring. I have had good luck using insulated drapes with a weighted bottom hem that is a few inches longer than floor level so they pile up a bit. No regrets here on the remodel.

Matt
2004 26.5 Island Bed. Gumby
2006 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon
Re: Has anyone replaced the carpet w flooring?
Reply #5 –
We use the small Optimus oil 700W heater in the lounge stuffed between the RV Queen bed and couch.  It heats the bed nicely so we do not use a bed warmer anymore.  In the main room Kitchen and dinette we use a larger oil heater like the one below although ours has a remote control and is not offered from amazon anymore.  We like that we can put clothing or boots on it to warm-up them up and use the remote & timer when it is not as cold and only need supplemental heat.  When we travel we roll it under the flip up table in front of the fuse center and have two straps to strap it securely in place, the table flips down on top of it in our 98~MB completely out of the way.  The smaller lounge heater just stays in between the bed and couch.
At home we have the lower style heaters like what Larry showed but they take up to much space!  We may add an additional standup heater like in the main 1500W but have not figured a place to stow it easily.  Sofar at Zero degrees with wind the two Heaters we have now do the job with some additional heat from the LD furnice or 1500W ceramic heater in the morning but those are noise.  We would like to figure a place for a second 1500W standup for these ski trips.

        Karen~Liam
          98 ~ MB
             NinA

Smaller lounge heater -

Larger 1500W heater -




1998 ~ MB  WanderDaze
previously a 1984 Winnebago itaska- The Road Warrior, before that several VW Buses and before that a 1965 Chrysler Convertible Newport or our 1969 Chrysler La Barron with an ice box and a couple sleeping bags