We've decided to put down new flooring in the bath area. The coach has a centre hall plan with the shower, head and vanity on the street side and the big mirrored wardrobe on the curb side across the aisle connects the rear bedroom to the kitchen that is towards the front.
The whole floor area of the coach is currently carpeted. We will leave the bedroom carpeted but are looking for ideas for the bathroom area and kitchen.
The toilet sits up on a raised plywood platform with about a 3" stepdown to the floor. Another area that would be complicated is the mid-entry steps.
I'm leaning towards tile in the bath area and hardwood or laminate foreward to the driver and co-pilot seats.
That's the expensive route. What about vinyl flooring and laminate? Or go all tile or vinyl or laminate? We want it to be practical and long lasting but easy to maintain.
Your opinions and suggestions are appreciated.
Don

This is an area that I've put a lotta thought into and done quite a bit whether in the RVs or houses. The RV presents quite a challenge because of the irregular spaces. The smaller square footage will keep the cost down whatever material.

The first piece of advice is to go with premium material whatever you choose. The labor cost will far outweigh the material cost due to the small sq footage.

Materials worth considering:
* Tile - easy to work with, well within the do-it-yerselfer realm, but cold and slippery and prone to cracking. If used, smaller tiles will resist cracking better than large. A must is to use latex thin-set and epoxy grout for durability.

Carpet - very easy to install, but wears quickly and not so good for wet spaces. In my view, great for the bedroom only. Consider the "corn" based carpets that can be cleaned with pure bleach with no adverse effect.

Laminate - Easy for D-I-Y, very durable, available in a billion colors and styles. Use premium brands and I recommend a product with indented grooves to hold the dirt and hide any lamination "popping" that can occur along seems. In a house sized application, laminate is supposed to float, but I have been successful gluing it down with something like
liquid Nails that stays semi permeable. I think the material expansion problem is nullified in the RV as it all heats and cools together.

Wood - Great stuff, but creates transition issues with thickness of material. Bamboo is a popular choice these days.

Vinyl - Sheet vinyl is cheesy! There are some that are solid through that are good quality, but it still looks like sheet goods. Heavy vinyl squares are a great alternative. A little harder to handle, but have the look and feel of a quality material.

Cork - I have not used it, but it is likely to be my next floor in the Wanderlodge kitchen/hall. From what I've read it is super durable and great looking. I will likely put several coats of satin urethane on top to keep any stains out.

Creative materials - When I was converting a bus, people on the bus forums did some inventive things. Canvas painted in urethane paint, cement, polished glass, polyurethaned post cards,jigsaw puzzles..... you could probably use anything that comes in a relatively flat form factor.

Don't fall short on the under-layment, whether that is preparation or installation. A crappy, uneven under-layment will telegraph through the new floor making you very unsatisfied.

I put a small square tile down years ago and it's held up fine. No cracks or loosening or anything associated with flex. Don't recall what I used for glue or grout, but it was nothing special. Use good stuff, and you should be OK.

BTW, I started tearing out the shower area today, and we're re-doing it in white plastic panelling. The bricks didn't really like the shower area. This is the last area of the coach to receive remodeling. Pix will be posted.

Don,
I really love the look of hardwood. I have four kids and this is our lake house so hardwood or laminate was just not practical. I ended up putting down a vinyl plank called Mannington Adura. It has worked out great. I installed it in the kitchen down the hall and in the bath. We continued the vinyl into the entry way and entry step. We put carpet on the three sides around the back of the step. The living room, cockpit and bedroom I went with carpet. I have attached a pic. The vinyl plank is glued directly to the floor and sealed around the edges. After several spills there have been no leaks.

Great looking floor treatments!
I found another site with pics and descrition of an rv done with something called Allure Ultra plank vinyl flooring. (see below.)
Sold at Home Depot so should be easy to get but has a 95 degree heat limit which is not good. We are going over today to see what they have.
Thanks for all the responses.
Don
http://www.irv2.com/forums/f10...e-install-91826.html

Hey Bill, looks like another website terrorist has arrived here. I suggest you off him!

It's been listed in the mod queue. Action to follow.

Update: Linked website is apparently legit, but in Hebrew, based in Israel. Because virtually none of the site translates easily, and because of the distance involved, I've removed it as it's of no current use