Replacing carpet with industrial flooring in a Born Free

This forum is for Born Free owners to detail modifications that they have made to their coach that might be of interest to other owners. Since this is a locked forum, submissions must be made to and approved by the forum administrator (email: bfadmin@bornfreervclub.org).
User avatar
bfadmin
Site Admin
Posts: 562
Joined: Thu Aug 11, 2005 10:45 am

Replacing carpet with industrial flooring in a Born Free

Post by bfadmin »

I purchased a used 1999 RB 23 footer last spring. The people who previously owned it rarely used the coach part of the rig, so the generator only had 30 hours on it and the stove was unused. I wasn't crazy about the green carpet, but I figured i'd deal with that later. After a couple of shake down trips to the beach, I decided that the carpet had to go. I found myself spending too much time getting all the sand and dirt out of the carpet after each trip. What I wanted was a low maintenance floor covering that could handle the salt water and sand that frequently accompanies me into the rig.

Here's a photo of the rig before any changes.

Image

Notice that the carpet needed stretching. It was in fine shape, but it was just too tough to keep clean.

So, step one remove everything. The carpet is rolled under the bench seat, so I took it all out.

Image

If you decide to tackle this job be advised that you must remove all the seat belt bolts as well as the pedestal stand for the coach seat. In order to get at all the bolts, you have to crawl under the rig and remove the heat shield that is glued and screwed to the underbody. That was a pain. Fortunately, everything came out undamaged even after prying things off. You might notice the water stain on the lower left corner of the luan plywood. There isn't a leak. I checked. But it is clear that there was a spill on the carpet that was there for a quite some time. I'll be sealing that in with some stain lock before covering.

Here's a picture after all the carpet is out.

Image

And another.

Image

A couple of observations:

Likes - I thought the build quality was very good. I was pleasantly surprised to see a gel coat finish on the plywood. Nice touch. The plywood looks to be ¾" and is very solid with no rot anywhere. Also, very nice. The step pan is also very heavy duty and well-made. The steel frame is very cool to see. Welding is very good. This rig is solidly built.

Dislikes the bench seat is screwed to the floor with 2" wood screws. The screws were not all well seated and many split the wood. A pre-drill would solve that issue. I thought a couple of carriage screws to hold down would have been better, but I tend to go heavier duty than necessary. The use of staples is prolific. Staples are used to secure the carpet to the floor and to the walls. Wow. After pulling the carpet, I spent a couple hours pulling all the staples out. Around the step pan the use of staples got a little ridiculous.

Next step was to remove the carpet from the cab portion. This required removing the seats. With everything out of the coach, removing the seat was easy. The trim panels all snapped out easily. The felt under layer was a pain to remove. Here's a shot of the cab. You can't see it, but the cab floor is covered in glue. All of that had to be removed with an industrial solvent. You can't get MEK in California anymore, but the available substitute was fine. I removed all the body trim panels in the foot wells. They just snap right out.

Image

I decided to coat the cab with a product called Monstaliner at monstaliner.com. This product is generally used for truck bed liners. It is a two-part formulation that creates a textured surface. I did a fair amount of research before picking this liner. I'm sure other liners will work, but the consensus was that this was an excellent product. I concur. Here's a pic in progress.

Image

As you can see, I've taped everything I didn't want to get the goo on. It's pretty simple. Mix it up and apply with their special roller. I picked a dark gray. I purchased mats from weather tech that are black for the foot wells. The liner takes two coats and ends up being up to 4mils.

I thought a long time about whether the lack of sound deadening material would matter and ultimately decided it wouldn't since there are all manner of noises in a motor home.

Here's a close up of the resulting texture.

Image

And here we have the trim reinstalled and the wire loom fitted and installed. I put the original loom into a ½ vinyl covering that I got at my local hardware store. I decided since it would be partially exposed that I'd give it another layer of protection.

Image

One note is that the doorstep pans are configured to go over carpet so I added a strip of weather strip under them to make the fit a little nicer. Time to reinstall the seats.

Image

Overall, I'm very happy with the cab floor pan. It looks great and I wiped it down with a little water and simple green. It cleaned up easily. I started the motor and could not tell the difference in sound, so we'll see if road noise is an issue once I get done and back on the road.

Next up is the coach floor. I've decided to go with a flecked vinyl surface from Lonseal. For those interested, I'm using the Onyx 150 which can be seen here:

http://www.lonseal.com/show_product/LON ... I%20FLECKS

It's a coin patterned finish that is black and flecked with white. A lot of the expedition vehicles are using it for durability and clean ability. I'll put a ¼" underlayment pad and then the vinyl. I'm hoping the pad will give the floor some softness as well as insulation from the cold. The vinyl is one piece, so there will be no seams in the surface. I'll glue it up with a premium adhesive supplied by Lonseal. I was going to go all the way back with the lonseal, but decided to stop at the original lino. If I don't like how that looks, I'll go with another Lonseal product in a lighter gray to go the rest of the way back.

I'll add more pictures as I progress through the next phase.

Damon
dkali@hotmail.com

NOTE: If you have any questions, please contact the author directly by clicking on the email address provided above rather than clicking on the blue Image button at the bottom of this post. All info above was posted for the author by the Website Administrator (bfadmin-2) and clicking on the blue email button below will address your email message to the bfadmin-2 rather than to the author.
Last edited by bfadmin on Tue Oct 08, 2013 1:53 pm, edited 5 times in total.
Born Free Leap'n Lions RV Club Website Forum Administrators
(bfadmin-1) Dave Moffat - Primary Administrator
(bfadmin-3) Sandy Perley - Assistant Administrator
(bfadmin-2) Bill Hemme - Backup Administrator
(bfadmin) Email: bfadmin@bornfreervclub.org
User avatar
bfadmin
Site Admin
Posts: 562
Joined: Thu Aug 11, 2005 10:45 am

2nd Installment of Born Free Coach Flooring Modification

Post by bfadmin »

The underlayment and the flooring were a fun challenge. Here’s a first shot of the initial fit of the underlayment

Image

To get the pattern, I made a pattern with craft paper. I cut the pattern to fit and then marked the underlayment a little larger than the pattern. The underlayment was six feet wide, so I had to piece together a couple of pieces to make it all work out. The blue tape includes some registration marks to make sure I put the underlayment in the correct position with respect to the pattern

Image

Here you can see the seams a little clearer now. The underlayment is about ¼â€
Last edited by bfadmin on Mon Jan 14, 2013 12:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Born Free Leap'n Lions RV Club Website Forum Administrators
(bfadmin-1) Dave Moffat - Primary Administrator
(bfadmin-3) Sandy Perley - Assistant Administrator
(bfadmin-2) Bill Hemme - Backup Administrator
(bfadmin) Email: bfadmin@bornfreervclub.org
User avatar
bfadmin
Site Admin
Posts: 562
Joined: Thu Aug 11, 2005 10:45 am

Final Installment of Born Free Coach Flooring Modification

Post by bfadmin »

Image

Above is a shot of the edge treatments. On the linoleum side, I used a vinyl transition piece that is made to go from ¼ to 0. I used contact cement as an adhesive on all trim pieces. With contact cement, you apply the cement to both surfaces, allow to dry, then press the surfaces together. It’s a one-way trip because the cement bonds instantly, so you have to pre-trim and fit. Cutting was done with a utility knife. If you decide to do this, please take care. The vinyl is hard to cut and it’s easy to slip and cut yourself.

For the wood transitions, I used a fillet piece that I think looks pretty good. I looked at ¼ round, but decided to go with the fillet because I thought it looked a little more sleek. I intended to use the fillet along the carpet wall and floor, but the fit was so nice that I decided to just caulk the corner and leave it at that. If there are wear issues, I’ll put the fillet down.

I still haven’t decided what to do about the stair edge. I was originally going to use the corner stair trim, but that didn’t fit up well. Additionally, it created a bump that I am sure would catch sand and dirt. I think I may just caulk the edge and leave it. That way I can just sweep the dirt out without catching on any trim.

Image

Above is a shot of the benches after aligning and screwing them down. I went ahead and pre-drilled new guide holes for the screws and used new decking screws. You’ll notice an opening in the bench on the wall side of the bench. I didn’t realize that was there. I carefully lined the benches up and checked the distances and interferences. Then I marked the spot with some tape so if something moved, I could easily realign.

Image

Above is a shot of the bench with a drawer in it. You can see the space behind the drawer. I’m going attach a wire basket there to hold valuables. It makes a pretty cool little hidey hole.

Image

At last. Above is a shot with the cushions in. I had the cushions done in a vinyl textured to look like leather. I hope that will hold up better in the environments I plan to visit. The greens really look good as an accent now as opposed to the main theme. The black ties in well with the appliances, so everything is looking integrated. I’ll put in the extra seat and then we’ll be ready to roll. I’ve got more mods planned, but I’m done for the moment.

Below are shots of the original and new just for comparison.

Image

Image

Damon
dkali@hotmail.com

NOTE: If you have any questions, please contact the author directly by clicking on the email address provided above rather than clicking on the blue Image button at the bottom of this post. All info above was posted for the author by the Website Administrator (bfadmin-2) and clicking on the blue email button below will address your email message to the bfadmin-2 rather than to the author.
Born Free Leap'n Lions RV Club Website Forum Administrators
(bfadmin-1) Dave Moffat - Primary Administrator
(bfadmin-3) Sandy Perley - Assistant Administrator
(bfadmin-2) Bill Hemme - Backup Administrator
(bfadmin) Email: bfadmin@bornfreervclub.org
Locked

Return to “Coach Modifications”