carpet removal

[jrabbit]

I want to remove all the carpet in our 5er. It is the Mountaineer 345DBQ with the 12' sofa option. I have a serious allergy to the materials found in carpeting, plus I just don't like the feel of it on my feet. (Our first RV had no carpeting at all.)

When we found this floor plan, we tried to order it new without carpet, but Keystone wouldn't do that. . We decided that since older carpeting is less of an allergen for me than new carpeting, this was our best choice.

So, now I wonder how to proceed. The carpet under the couch was removed when we discovered it was infested with carpet beetles! When they did that, we elected not to have them replace the carpet. Unfortunately, removing that section of carpeting revealed a strip of insulation to the edge of the slide, and under the slide is a disgustingly filthy section of carpeting.

I think I can cover the insulation with some peel and stick vinyl. I know it won't match the current flooring, but I hope I can find something compatible. I know that there is not vinyl under the carpeting in the kids bedroom, so we will have to completely refinish the floor there.

I know I am in the minority preferring no carpeting, but I was hoping that maybe someone here has worked through this problem. I don't want to bungle up the slides. Would I be better off having it professionally done?

[1retired06]

I replaced the carpeting on my 2002. Used a heavy vinyl that looked like wood planking. I had no problem with the slides, as the vinyl was not as thick as the carpeting/pad, and I was able to tack and glue down the vinyl in front of and extend under the slides when open and then the slides came up and over the new flooring when closed, with no drag either direction. The carpet and pad came out fairly easy. I made myself a template with thin cardboard for the entire fifthwheel, and cut the vinyl to that template and had a perfect fit. Then edged it out with molding from lowes. Left the carpeting inplace upstairs, which in that model was the living room. If you are handy, I see as a good do it yourself project.

[CamillaMichael]

quote:Originally posted by 1retired06

I replaced the carpeting on my 2002. Used a heavy vinyl that looked like wood planking. I had no problem with the slides, as the vinyl was not as thick as the carpeting/pad, and I was able to tack and glue down the vinyl in front of and extend under the slides when open and then the slides came up and over the new flooring when closed, with no drag either direction. The carpet and pad came out fairly easy. I made myself a template with thin cardboard for the entire fifthwheel, and cut the vinyl to that template and had a perfect fit. Then edged it out with molding from lowes. Left the carpeting inplace upstairs, which in that model was the living room. If you are handy, I see as a good do it yourself project.

So, do you have pics of your completed project? Sounds like something we would be interested in...especillay how you handled the area where the slide meets the interior floor.

[CamillaMichael]

quote:Originally posted by 1retired06

I replaced the carpeting on my 2002. Used a heavy vinyl that looked like wood planking. I had no problem with the slides, as the vinyl was not as thick as the carpeting/pad, and I was able to tack and glue down the vinyl in front of and extend under the slides when open and then the slides came up and over the new flooring when closed, with no drag either direction. The carpet and pad came out fairly easy. I made myself a template with thin cardboard for the entire fifthwheel, and cut the vinyl to that template and had a perfect fit. Then edged it out with molding from lowes. Left the carpeting inplace upstairs, which in that model was the living room. If you are handy, I see as a good do it yourself project.

So, do you have pics of your completed project? Sounds like something we would be interested in...especillay how you handled the area where the slide meets the interior floor.

[jrabbit]

How did you remove the carpeting under the slide?

[1retired06]

No pictures, that was our first Montana, a 2002 and ancient history. Two new Montanas since. I did not remove any carpeting under the slides. There is a teflon strip under each slide just in front of the slide on the inside, that the slide lifts up and slides over. It is the length of the slide and couple of inches wide. You can see it if you lift up the carpeting on the slide where it meets the floor carpeting. I removed the floor carpeting to that strip and then installed the vinyl. As indicated previously, because the slides lift up and over, and the vinyl was thinner than the carpet/pad, there was plenty of room so there would be no drag either direction. I forgot to mention, that we did not pull the carpeting from the slides interior floor, but left it in place. Carpeting was a light brown and blended well with the replacement flooring. We know a couple of folks who have installed laminate flooring, who handled the slides the same way we did, although cutting to specific dimensions was a bigger challenge for them.