FLOORING: Flooring options

the tiles were what was there originally, so many probably go for that.
Tiles are harder and toughter than the sheet vinyl, if you get a rip in vinyl it is there forever
unless you want to try and pull it all up. thats really the only thoughts I have on it...

Today's VCT tiles are much thicker and heavier and stiffer than the ones that were originally in the trailers. I suspect that if Shasta were doing it today, they'd probably use vinyl sticky tiles and not VCT. Others have used real linoleum (Marmoleum, Marmorette, or Harmonium), which was in the earliest Shastas (1960 and before). It is more expensive than VCT, but is a natural, biodegradable product made mostly of linseed oil and sawdust. If you use VCT, you will need to apply several coats of finish to bring it to a gloss, and redo it once every few years. Linoleum comes pre-finished in a softly glowing finish, so if you like the really shiny look, go with something else. If you want to do something artsy with the floor (other than just a checkerboard look), you'll need to use linoleum, or something equally flexible. The one thing to be said for sheet flooring (despite the difficulty repairing it if it gets a divot) is that there are not a lot of seams. This can be a boon if you do a lot of boondocking or camp in sandy, or very dirty areas.

Keri I'm surprised at your question... I have at least 3 or 4 videos on VCT installation. It cuts with a razor knife very easily. There are two ways to cut it. One is to just scribe it with the razor knife and then break it. The other is to heat it up with a $19 heat gun and then it cuts like a hot knife through butter. Each method has it's place in the installation. Go take a look at the website. It's easy really. It usually takes me around 6 hours start to finish for an average sized trailer once the floor is ready for glue. Two hours of that is just waiting for the glue to dry before installing the tiles.

Armstrong VCT is what is used in Walmarts... So it's really tough. I put 5 to 6 coats of polish on it when finished and it looks great. You can do it with just 3 but you know how I am...

OK Keri... LOL... It takes about two boxes to do an entire trailer under the bed and cabinets and everything. Keep in mind that if you do all one color, you will see the lines where they all connect very quickly because no matter how much polish you put on the floor, the seams will collect a little dirt. I think that is the main reason for alternating colors in a checkerboard pattern. You can see an example of that in the big motor home that I tiled last month. That one is in Trailer Tidbits. It still looks great but I don't like being able to see the lines.

I'm definitely going to do the checkerboard--it just looks more fun! Now the chore is to decide which colors!

The lady at Home Depot said it would take about 2 weeks to get the tiles in--just for anyone wondering. And they had plenty of the glue in stock. So that was good.

I'm looking forward to doing the floor!!!

Unless ou are doing a frame-off, then the flooring goes in before the walls go on. It helped us to have it done as it made it look as though there was really going to be a trailer on top of it someday!