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Thu Mar 15, 2007 5:01 am

Ok, I'm about ready to reinstall the interior and I'm going with the laminate flooring in the cargo area. I've done my research and I think that I'm going to lay a some dynamat covered by 1/8 inch luaun subfloor and then the laminate flooring. But I have a couple of questions:

1. How should I secure the subfloor to the cargo floor; and, how do I secure the laminate to the subfloor? I'm thinking I'll just use some sort of adhesive.

2. How close to the sliding door did people take the edge of the subfloor and laminate and did you leave a strait edge on that edge as well?

Thu Mar 15, 2007 9:16 am

I recently put laminte flooring in my bus.
I just left the original subfloor, because it was in great shape.
Then I put down the foam padding that comes with the flooring installation kit.
And then the floor.

Then I just placed the cabinets in there correct position, drilled holes and secured them with the proper lag bolts. The weight of the cabinets and securing them to the metal underbody keeps the flooring nice and snug.
I wouldn't glue the flooring down because some day you might need to remove it.

- Ben[/img]

Thu Mar 15, 2007 12:55 pm

I put the pergo style wood down also.
I cut a peice of 1/4" plywood to size because I didnt already have a sub floor and then glued the pergo to that and then put the cabnits on that. Now if I need/want to take the floor out I can take it out easily in one big peice.
The pergo I got would not of stayed down if I didnt glue it.

Thu Mar 15, 2007 1:49 pm

I notice that both of you seem to have a gap or rough edge where the flooring ends at the sliding door. Any thoughts on what you might do to seal that area. They both look real good though. Thanks.

Thu Mar 15, 2007 2:16 pm

I would get a nice oak threashold at Lowes/Home Depot and cut it to fit, stain to match and then maybe try to press-fit it in or glue it to the laminate flooring. Then maybe tack it to the subfloor with silicone or something you could easily remove later. (if needed)

You could buy a matching threashold to the laminate flooring, but they are made of softer wood/materials and oak would last a lot longer and still look good.

Or just buy a brass or aluminum piece of threashold, trim or just angle stock and install it for a more, say, contemporary look?

Thu Mar 15, 2007 2:43 pm

I have a piece that is pretty much like a threshold that i just have not put on yet. There is plenty of room there though. Even with it on I have a good inch, inch and a half space between the door. A little liquid nails and its not going anywhere.

Thu Mar 15, 2007 2:56 pm

Most of the laminate flooring is designed to snap together. I put the piece in place starting behind the front seat pedestals and worked back. I used several screws to hold the first piece in place; locating them where the cabinet would cover them and also where the threshold would too. Be careful drilling holes near the door as there is a track that the door rollers must slide in.

I worked back, snapping each piece into place until I was under the Z-bed. The last piece was screwed to the floor with stainless sheet metal screws. The cabinets were put in and bolted down (this holds that side down) and a metal threshold was used along the doorway. The metal threshold was secured using stainless sheet metal screws also. Be sure you seal this and any other exposed edges, as you do not want water getting under the flooring- it will ruin it. I load bikes and other crap in the bus so I wanted something durable.

Speaking of- you need to treat any rust issues of course but you also need to seal any openings in the floor that moisture could get through. This means putting gaskets around the drains. I used a piece of old inner tube, cut square gaskets and glued them in place with contact cement. The plumbing then got pushed through forming a tight seal; the bus originally used what looked like some sort of closed cell foam that had long since dried and was crumbling.

Before putting the flooring down, I covered the entire floor with 30# felt.

Be sure you wipe up any spills as soon as possible; while the material is water resistant, it is not waterproof and water will seep into the joints and can cause bubbling if water gets under it (at least that’s what I was told by a flooring guy).

Thu Mar 15, 2007 3:09 pm

Here is an updated pic.

I just used the existing aluminum trim piece. Cut a little off to fit and moved it up on the edge of the floor.
Seems to do the trick.

Just need to polish it up a bit.

- Ben

Sat Mar 17, 2007 4:45 am

I do have an edge piece bought from home depot too, laminate was like 25 dollars for a box, enough to do whole floor. Bought a roll of green subfoam for laminate flooring too, used a fresh 1/2inch piece of ply under lam.

Seems to have worked alright........

Sun Mar 18, 2007 6:38 am

Ah, you guys are great! I was just putting in my Pergo flooring today. Good timing. thanks for the pics, I'll put mine up soon.

The threshold thing does seem like a bit of a trick to fit properly...

Sun Mar 18, 2007 9:59 am

I was just wondering if you had to use longer bolts for the cabinets or Z-bed to make up for the added height of the flooring?

PS - The pics are great.

Sun Mar 18, 2007 2:39 pm

I did not. If your sub floor is the same as the original then you should be fine with the original screws. Did you remove the old flooring?

I did not use glue either. I bought locking pieces from Ocean State Job Lot. I think these need to be free to move when they get exposed to different temperatures.

The foam was a good idea but I did not use any. I don't think this will be an issue as long as the sub-flooring is level.

Tue Mar 25, 2008 12:11 pm

Did anyone laminate the small flooring area between the front seats, or did you all just stop with the main cabin? Can't tell from any of the pics...

Tue Mar 25, 2008 6:08 pm

Chillable wrote: Did anyone laminate the small flooring area between the front seats, or did you all just stop with the main cabin? Can't tell from any of the pics...
I didn't. Left the rubber mat there. That area gets really hot if you use the heater... so leave enough room for it to expand and contract. You'd have to make some sort of molding for the ends. Not sure how you would do that, unless you drill into the vent space below.

Tue Mar 25, 2008 6:20 pm

What wood has everyone used for their subfloor? The stuff in my bus was definitely not original and needs replacing.

Lauan or Tempered Hardboard seemed the cheap options from home depot. My fear is that either of them might swell like crazy if they were to get wet.

Any thoughts?

Sat Mar 29, 2008 2:41 pm

I got two full boxes of pergo flooring from the guitarest in my band. i put it in the bus and its lasted better than i thought, even with the massive amount of people and music equipment theres only one visible ding when one of my drums went flying off the seat. i put a little vw bus rug down and now its a party wagon.

Sat Mar 29, 2008 5:19 pm

Nice work guys!

One question, for the stock Westy interior, did the flooring go under the z-bed and fridge/sink cabinets?

Sun Jun 22, 2008 10:28 am

Quote: for the stock Westy interior, did the flooring go under the z-bed and fridge/sink cabinets?

It does but only about 4 inches not the full length.

Thu Jul 03, 2008 6:53 am

Priority one was to get the stinky, wet particle board floor out of my bus when I got it. It was wet and causing (further) rot in the floor.

After welding up the holes with the assistance of an Alan Schofield replacement panel, I have put down a layer of silver bubble insulation, then loft boards. These come in 14 inch widths and lock together, so it made fitting them in the bus WAY easier. They are however only particle board (chip board). So they needed some protection at the edge (the PO had used duct tape. mmmm nice).

Wickes is a builders merchant here in the UK and I got a length of industrial step edging and a piece of aluminium angle.

I first drilled some holes in the angle and screwed it to the edge of the board, with the angle underneath. Then I overlapped the face of the angle with the step edging after trimming it to fit nice.

I am really pleased with the result. It is extrememly durable because it was designed for a harder life than I am giving it, and it looks pretty stock. A bonus is that the vinyl tiles I laid on the floor butt perfectly up to the lip of the step edging.

Here are some pics.

You can see where I had to trim it to fit around the (left side) sliding door.

No laughing at the sills. These were the work of the PO.

Slightly blurry, but you can see the profile of the main piece (I could not find a bit of the angle to show you)

The final effect.

Cheers
Max

Mon Jul 21, 2008 1:50 pm

Orangeena wrote: Priority one was to get the stinky, wet particle board floor out of my bus when I got it. It was wet and causing (further) rot in the floor.

After welding up the holes with the assistance of an Alan Schofield replacement panel, I have put down a layer of silver bubble insulation, then loft boards. These come in 14 inch widths and lock together, so it made fitting them in the bus WAY easier. They are however only particle board (chip board). So they needed some protection at the edge (the PO had used duct tape. mmmm nice).

Wickes is a builders merchant here in the UK and I got a length of industrial step edging and a piece of aluminium angle.

I first drilled some holes in the angle and screwed it to the edge of the board, with the angle underneath. Then I overlapped the face of the angle with the step edging after trimming it to fit nice.

I am really pleased with the result. It is extrememly durable because it was designed for a harder life than I am giving it, and it looks pretty stock. A bonus is that the vinyl tiles I laid on the floor butt perfectly up to the lip of the step edging.

Here are some pics.

You can see where I had to trim it to fit around the (left side) sliding door.

No laughing at the sills. These were the work of the PO.

Slightly blurry, but you can see the profile of the main piece (I could not find a bit of the angle to show you)

The final effect.

Cheers
Max

Oangeena,
I like the edging treatment a lot. How thick was your total floor? I have 1/2" plus vinyl roll flooring. Yours looks thicker and I wonder if the same system would work for me.