Log In | Register
Skip to main content
Topic: for those who have replaced carpet (Read 14 times) previous topic - next topic
0 Members and 3 Guests are viewing this topic.
for those who have replaced carpet
Yahoo Message Number: 111890
I'm sitting in AZ, waiting to return to LA for the following....supposed to be there Monday am.

I have ordered my new floor materials, and WAS going to have Tim install it...however he is now quoting me $1,000 to remove the carpet and just lay the flooring...floating, underlayment, no glueing or finish trim.... it's about 85 sq. ft., and this seems awfully high to me. I called Home Depot and they are charging [in a home] $1.15/sq. ft...I realize there is little in the way of comparison here, but even if i jack it up to $3/sq.ft., that works out to a great deal less than $1,000.

For those of you who did this yourselves, how long did it take to remove the old stuff, prep, and then lay the new? This stuff needs an 1/8th in. of flex space, so somewhere along the way, I will need to use some type of coving or trim thru out the rig...I plan on removing all the carpet in the living space--not the cab or inside step entry, leaving the vinyl in the bth.rm as is....just looking for some basis for time/labor.
 I do not have the tools or experience to do this myself so I HAVE to hire it done...sigh...the finish trim I can handle afterwards. Off to check the archives....
Gini Free and Junah, canine xtrodinaire "Kooch" our little red home on wheels "Growing old is mandatory. Growing wise is optional."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gini Free and Junah, canine xtrodinaire
"CHERRYOTTE" our little red home on wheels
"Growing old is mandatory. Growing wise is optional."
Re: for those who have replaced carpet
Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 111892
Quote
I have ordered my new floor materials, and WAS going to have Tim install it...however he is now quoting me $1,000 to remove the carpet and just lay the flooring
Gini -
 Like you, I have neither the tools nor the skills to do this myself, so I hired it out.  I pulled out the carpet myself (not a difficult job) and pulled up the million or so staples Lazy Daze uses to keep the carpet down, then hired someone to lay the new floor.  It took two men all day to install, including all the trim.  For this I paid $800, which works out to $50/hr/man, not a bad rate for the work done.  Most of the time was spent measuring, cutting and installing trim, as there are *lots* of corners.  Plus they came to my house and did it in my driveway.  I am happy with the work and feel it is a fair price.  As usual, YMMV.

--Al in Bremerton --2002 26.5 MB
Re: for those who have replaced carpet
Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 111893
Last Fall I did quite a bit of this type of flooring in one of our apartments. Comparing what I did there with what would be required in a motor home I'm thinking there would be a lot more cutting and fitting of the floating flooring in a motor home per square foot than in a stick house. That's the hard part. Once I got the flooring with the required 3/8 inch clearance at edges or obstacles the trim was easy.

Our eldest son is a master carpenter. He would have done it a LOT faster than I did - and with less wasted material.
 This is no a direct comparison, but it is informative. Back in 2003, the previous owners of our second Foretravel had carpet replaced with tile in all areas but the bedroom. I'd say the area is about 5 times that in an LD. The cost? $8K. The cost in a stick house for the same area (but not the same intricate geography) - a LOT less than $8K.
 You might get a bid from a good carpenter to compare. Make sure they see the job before they quote.
 Anyone here know of any surprises that appear once carpet is removed in a LD? That is, problems that would not be expected when carpet is removed in a stick house.

best, paul ___ 'Thriving not Surviving' See our websites at www. LazyDazers.com    www. Bike70th.net
www. SMARTERyellowpages.com & www. ReformUSCongress.org
Re: for those who have replaced carpet
Reply #3 –
Yahoo Message Number: 111894
Dear Gini, Here's info in the Links: http://tinyurl.com/43wt66 Links > Improvements > Interior rig improvements > Flooring

From my notes:

Difficulty Levels:
 Ripping out the carpet and removing staples from the padding were EASY with moderate exertion (not as hard as I'd feared).  Took 15 minutes max.
 Placing the boards the length of the RV, snapping them together and cutting just one board straight per row? Easy as pie.
 Cutting boards to go around the edges and on the steps? Difficult but do-able for someone who likes that sort of thing (think Engineer-type).
 Gini, the only tool you need is a power miter saw, which you can borrow or rent.
 I personally did all the trim in an afternoon and I'm neither skilled nor a spatial person.
 For the angles, I just did one piece at a time, then nailed (or you can hot glue gun) it into place.  I laid a trim piece up against the wall in place.  Then mark with a pencil its inside point and draw a line the correct angle direction (out or in).  Your line doesn't have to be perfect, just the right direction, which is easy to see as you're holding it there.
 Then take the trim piece to the power miter saw, get the 45 degree angle the correct direction (to match my pencil line) and cut it.  Take it in, nail it into place.  I'm telling you, if I can do it, you can do it.

Now I see that it's all in my follow up message here:
 http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/lifewithalazydazerv/message/86472

or Msg #86472
 It all depends on what you want to spend money/time wise.  I'm betting you'd do great yourself, but at least try one step at a time and see if you surprise yourself with what you learn/enjoy along the way.

Hope that helps and keep us posted, Tessa in TX '92 MB- Ciao Baby!
Re: for those who have replaced carpet
Reply #4 –
Yahoo Message Number: 111895
Tess, you are truly amazing!  I wanna be like you when I grow up.  Your report on flooring ought to inspire anyone who is thinking of getting new flooring.....

k
Re: for those who have replaced carpet
Reply #5 –
Yahoo Message Number: 111907
"I have ordered my new floor materials, and WAS going to have Tim install it...however he is now quoting me $1,000 to remove the carpet and just lay the flooring...floating, underlayment, no glueing or finish trim.... it's about 85 sq. ft., and this seems awfully high"

Gini
 I will not give a quote on this type of job since you never know what you will find once the carpet is up.
If you think his quote is too high, have him to do it by the hour, that way neither of you will feel cheated.
 Take it from someone who has spent a lot of time working on RVs, jobs always take a longer than what you estimate due to the difficult working conditions.

Larry
2001 MB
* Not to be confused with Larry W (3000 of my posts are actually from expert Larry W due to Yahoo transition mis-step)
Re: for those who have replaced carpet
Reply #6 –
Yahoo Message Number: 111911
In my vintage LD RD, when the carpet and padding were removed there were areas with tile and areas without tile; and the tile edges were not finished.
Finishing the tile edges, removing all traces of staples, and laying tile to even up the surface probably took more time than the rest of the job.
Tessa's technique, leaving the padding and installing over it would save a lot of time.  GP Austin, Texas Registered antique LD driver

"

Anyone here know of any surprises that appear once carpet is removed in a LD? That is, problems that would not be expected when carpet is removed in a stick house.
"

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: for those who have replaced carpet
Reply #7 –
Yahoo Message Number: 111912
The finish trim is what holds the floor down.  It isn't installed until the trim is in place.
? ? ? ? GP Austin, Texas Registered antique LD driver

I have ordered my new floor materials, and WAS going to have Tim install it...however he is now quoting me $1,000 to remove the carpet and just lay the flooring...floating , underlayment, no glueing or finish trim.... it's about 85 sq. ft., and this seems awfully high to me. I called Home Depot and they are charging [in a home] $1.15/sq. ft...I realize there is little in the way of comparison here, but even if i jack it up to $3/sq.ft., that works out to a great deal less than $1,000.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: for those who have replaced carpet
Reply #8 –
Yahoo Message Number: 111913
Just to clarify, we didn't leave the padding on the carpet (it was nasty and disintegrated).  Rather, the Pergo that we bought from Lowe's came with padding attached to it. So we didn't need to use additional underlayment.  This did make installment fast.
 Also, as I'm combining emails here, I'm pretty sure the floor was stable before the trim was added.  Our trim was more for a finished look than to structurally hold down the floor. So, I don't think trim was needed, but is nice.

Hope that helps, Tessa
Re: for those who have replaced carpet
Reply #9 –
Yahoo Message Number: 111919
Gini, I did have a quote on the Pergo floor before I did the work myself just to get an idea. For the area from the driver's cab (left carpet there) to the back room in a mid-bath where we also kept the carpet, was $750. By doing it myself it cost about $300 with the high end flooring from Lowe's (or Home Depot).
 It took me a lot longer than I expected to lay the floor and cut the molding primarily because I did not have good saws. As Tessa said, a power mitre saw really helps. And there are many unusual angles to the molding. Lots of measuring, fitting, and securing. But...I love the finished product. Considering the time involved, $1000 for everything including molding and materials would not be out of the ball park in Southern California. But...you don't need a Lazy Daze specialist for this work. Just go to a quality floor store and ask them to give you a quote for the work using one of their installers. I suspect it will be the $700-$800 price category.

You'll love the end result.

David (Eugene, OR) 1998 MB LD
Re: for those who have replaced carpet
Reply #10 –
Yahoo Message Number: 111927
If you're talking about replacing the overcab carpet, I can beg
Re: for those who have replaced carpet
Reply #11 –
Yahoo Message Number: 111928
"Ken"  wrote: If you're talking about replacing the overcab carpet..
--- "Overcab carpet"....???
2003 TK has a new home
Re: for those who have replaced carpet
Reply #12 –
Yahoo Message Number: 111930
The carpet trim for the cab overhead (headliner?) and bed area.
Re: for those who have replaced carpet
Reply #13 –
Yahoo Message Number: 111931
"Ken"  wrote: The carpet trim for the cab overhead (headliner?) and bed area.
--- Duh; of course. Sorry for the dumb question.

Joan
2003 TK has a new home
Re: for those who have replaced carpet
Reply #16 –
Yahoo Message Number: 112900
Alrighty, Ken, we are ready for those pictures!
 Did the carpet kit you ordered come with the headliner replacement?  Ciao Baby is begging me to replace at least the lovely overhead shag carpet!

Also, where did you source your new captain's chairs?

Inquiring minds want to copy,

Tessa
Re: for those who have replaced carpet
Reply #17 –
Yahoo Message Number: 112911
Alright Tessa,
 Now that she's back from her maiden (for me at least) voyage and cleaned up, I took some photos for you to check out.
 photos/album/458383635/pic/list

The carpet kit doesn't come with anything but carpet for the floor, not even replacement carpet for the engine cover!
 Oh, and I got the captain's chairs from a seller on eBay.  I'm pretty sure he purchased all the surplus inventory from when Chinook/Trail Wagons went out of business and has been selling it online - anyway, I got the seats for a smok
Re: for those who have replaced carpet
Reply #19 –
Yahoo Message Number: 112945
Great work, Ken!  Thanks for the pictures.

Tessa in TX

'92 MB - Ciao Baby!

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]