After much worrying on Jim’s part, the flooring installation went quite well. We pulled up carpet on Tuesday and Wednesday, just a couple hours of working each day, and it wasn’t too bad. There were a zillion staples along the edges of the carpet, but because we have the Anniversary Edition of Lazy Daze, ours had an upgraded, very dense carpet. When we ripped it up all those staples pulled right up along with the carpet. The only ones left in the floor were the ones holding the pad, so there were not but a couple dozen to remove, which we were quite happy about. Using a small prying tool, screwdriver, and needle nose pliers we worked them all free. That was the most time consuming part and we were glad the number of staples was small.
Carpet and pad pulled up on one side of the bed.
The foam pad stayed under the staples so it made them a bit easier to spot.
As expected, pulling up the carpet revealed a few problems. In the bedroom there was an angled metal strip along the base of the bed, and another one along the bathroom wall. Carpet covered it nicely but vinyl sure wouldn’t. I called the Lazy Daze factory and was told they were there for support of the bed and support of the wall. My inclination was to take them up, but Jim thought we should wait to see what the floor installer thought.
Having heard from other people that we would find bolt heads, we weren’t too surprised. The frame bolts were recessed but in the living room there were three huge bolt heads sticking up from the floor, and they are what holds the propane tank. Jim thought maybe they could be countersunk, but wanted to wait for Kevin, the installer, to see if he had any other ideas.
On Thursday morning they were scheduled to start around 8:30. When no one showed up by 9, Jim left to take our sofa seat cushion back to Action to sew in a button that had come out. The installers came a short time later, so I showed them our problem areas. They decided to take out the metal strips in the bedroom and see what we thought. After much pushing on the bed and wall we all decided to leave them off and hope it doesn’t cause any problems. When Jim returned he wasn’t sure that was the right thing to do, but I feel that Lazy Daze tends to use overkill in their construction methods, so hopefully the bed will not move, nor will the wall come down. Guess that remains to be seen when we actually drive down the road the next time!
Here is Kevin (in the gray shirt) and his crew figuring out where to cut the vinyl. I wish I had taken a photo of the piece after they cut it down but forgot. There is a huge amount of waste when installing sheet vinyl in an RV. By the way, fortunately the owners of the property agreed to let us put the cats in their screened porch for the day. They were not happy kitties.
As to the problem with the propane tank bolts, Kevin said he did not feel comfortable trying to countersink them, considering that we were dealing with propane. So we just decided to leave them as is and cut around the heads. Not an ideal solution, but they are under one chair and the table, so not really visible. Besides, we left the seat belts in behind the chairs, which don’t look so great, either.
And now the before and after photos. I didn’t take too many before shots, since the carpet was just too disgusting.
It is impressive what they can do with vinyl these days.
Along the bed they just put a strip of carpet back where the metal piece was, and it looks fine.
They had to cut out the vinyl under the table for the bolt head. It was just too high to lay the vinyl over without causing a wrinkle. Luckily we have a cat scratcher under there so it is covered. I am working on coming up with something to cover it with at a later date. They were able to lay the vinyl over the other two bolts, so they are not visible.
Of course we still have the carpet in the doghouse area, but that is not an easy thing to replace, so we will just live with it. Instead of a metal strip they just rolled the carpet edge and stapled it down, which is how Lazy Daze did the transitions originally. It’s a nice clean look.
We still have another issue to deal with and that is how to cover the exposed portion of the wheel well in the bedroom that was covered with carpet. The cats had done a number on it so I just removed it. I didn’t want to put carpet on it again, and Kevin said the vinyl would not adhere, so I’m thinking after I get the adhesive off I may just paint it white or find some contact paper that’s a close match to the walls. There is also a strip of adhesive along the bottom of the wall where the metal strip was but we haven’t tried to remove it yet. If it won’t come off we may just put a vinyl molding strip along there.
I must say we are thrilled with the job and the floor. Kevin Favreau was the installer, and he worked with Bob’s Flooring in Yuma where we bought the material. He and his crew did a great job. I forgot to mention they put caulk along the junction of the floor and wall, and used white caulk where there was wallpaper, and brown where there was wood. To us it looks much better than molding. I am so happy to be rid of that nasty carpet!
Late yesterday afternoon Kim and Debbie stopped by to check out the floor, since they are still hanging around the Yuma area, too. We went out for pizza and beer, and some much needed laughs after a couple of stressful weeks.
Kim, Jim, me and Debbie.
This morning we headed back to Algodones for my last dental appointment. Dr. Hernandez finished the root canal and put in a permanent filling. He said everything looked great, there was no sign of infection, he found no other canals that were missed, and said time will tell if the tooth settles down and quits bothering me. I am just happy to be finished and am hoping for the best.
Looks like we can finally get out of Yuma!
Over the years people have asked Lazy Daze about an all vinyl option. Now I see why it won't work: the bolts.
ReplyDeleteA dab of matching brown paint would make the heads less visible.
Nice looking job.
Enjoy your travels
Ed
I, too, am very glad my current home does not have carpet in it. Carpet is a big nasty in an RV by the time it is a few months old. Good choice in patterns. Now go have tooooo much fun.
ReplyDeleteI found this very informative. Thanks for posting about replacing the carpet.
ReplyDeleteYay!!! Your new floor looks fab!
ReplyDeleteSo long to both germ-infested roots and carpeting ...
The flooring looks great, they did a superb job. So now it's time to get out of Dodge, I mean Yuma.
ReplyDeleteWow, I really love that flooring. Glad it all worked out. Hopefully, the dental problem is solved, as well.
ReplyDeleteNice job on the floor - it looks really nice! I'll bet it's lighter weight than the carpet & pad.
ReplyDeleteThe floor looks fantastic! Worth all the trouble. I'm sure you'll figure out some decent fixes for the few remaining issues. Maybe now you can head for cooler weather?
ReplyDeleteThey did a great job and the carpet strip looks like the perfect solution. Since the wheel well isn't going anywhere maybe you could "enhance" it rather trying to hide it? I keep picturing it painted like a rock with a lizard on it :-)
ReplyDeleteI like your idea, Jodee! If only we were more artistic.
DeleteWe once had to take up wall to wall throughout a house. It was a bear. We were not as lucky as you. Staples EVERYWHERE. But luckily beautiful wood floors underneath. I too found this post very informative. Everything looks great. Well deserved pizza. Looking forward to seeing how you deal with the well. Thanks for the post.
ReplyDeleteFloor looks great. Makes me wonder what we'll find if & when we pull up the carpet in the bus........Yikes!!
ReplyDeleteThe floor looks great! So much nicer than carpet.
ReplyDeleteNina
Really nice.
ReplyDeleteI immediately thought of the cats during this process. Glad you had a nice neighbor that you borrow their porch:)
ReplyDeleteYour new floor looks wonderful! It will be so much easier to take care of with the cat hair. You certainly deserved pizza after all that work for three days.
Home Improvement in an RV home is tough… no place to hide.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful job. What an improvement. Paul wants to do something like this to our 5er. Only the downstairs.
ReplyDeleteThanks for showing the remodel, the one thing I hate about RVs is all that carpet. So impractical for people living an active lifestyle full of sand and mud and never really clean. We have zero carpet in our home for over 20 years and someday hopefully the RV too!
ReplyDelete