As we headed into Week Six of our Pop-Up Camper Renovation, we found ourselves excited about flooring. Perhaps it was the challenge of transforming our camper into something that didn’t just say “functional” but actually “home away from home.” We were determined to lay down something that didn’t make us cringe so we opted for vinyl wide look wooden planks (water-resistant and Schmidt-proof) and we dove into the world of flooring with a positive attitude…sorta.
Type/Supplies
After looking at many different floorings we decided on Smart Core Ultra from Lowes. It was a tongue and groove and we opted for a glue down application which is perfect for us because we were also going to lay trim down around the edges which will lock them into place as well. Here is other supplies that we used that you will also need tile adhesive, LVT flooring knife, notched trowel, rubber mallet, floor installation tool, and a weighted roller.
installation
Before you start throwing pieces down you first will need to measure and also do a dry run and remember you will have trim as well so make sure you account for that.
Laying the first plank was a momentous occasion followed quickly with a definite yes that we picked the right flooring pattern and that it was fairly simple just messy.
The steps went pretty much like this:
- Step 1: Measure the space you want to place your first piece of flooring then cut it to size using the LVT flooring knife.
- Step 2: Using a notched trowel you will then apply the vinyl tile adhesive to the floor in said spot.
- Step 3: Place your first piece of flooring down.
- Step 4: Repeat with the glue application and second piece.
- Step 5: Lay second piece down creating a brick pattern (stagger your pieces) locking it into your first piece.
- Step 6: Using a rubber mallet and floor installation tool tap it till sides are snugly fit together.
- Step 7: Using your weighted roller roll over said pieces to help press them down evenly.
We continued on keeping in the front of our mind the motto “measure twice, cut once”. Surprisingly, what emerged from the chaos was a floor that looked intentionally designed and was going to be able to handle the life of camping. We than placed the trim on top nailing it down along the the exterior of the entire floors edges.
completion
Ta da!! We are in love with how it turned out! It looks so beautiful with the black cabinets and it also will not show every little thing that we track into the camper so I won’t have to worry about constantly sweeping.
Now before we finish this up we wanted to give you a few tips that we learned while doing the floor.
tips and tricks
- (Cutting) When cutting your pieces to size you will want to score it with your floor knife and with the scored part on the ledge of a piece of wood press downward which will break across scored spot (pic above for reference).
- (Glue tips) Be cautious it’s messy. Just when you think you’re doing fine it will end up everywhere.
- (Layout of pieces) Make sure you do a brick pattern and also we ran our pieces the length of the camper which elongated the camper.
- (Shift) Make sure you leave at least a 1/8 to 1/4 inch of space between the ends of the flooring and the camper sides (walls, bunk ends, cabinets, etc.) because you need to remember that the camper does move while in use and don’t worry the trim will cover it anyways.
Well there you go laying flooring down and just think last week you conquered a lift system!! I hope this helped with any questions you may have had about camper flooring. If you do decide to lay flooring tag us we would love to see!
As always in closing I want to thank you beautiful people for always coming and hanging out in our little corner of the world. We hope you come back next week because we are going to dive into the cushion update as well as the curtains. Which brought all those memories of Home Ec from my school days to the front…..just when you thought the brain didn’t store them. See you then!
