Click Flooring

[Viper]

It's time to replace our carpeting throughout and my thoughts are leaning towards a wooden plank look rather than carpeting again. I'm looking at solid vinyl click planks rather than an engineered wood product because I simply don't want to worry about moisture, spills, leaks, etc.

Of the samples and instructions I've seen, it seems none of the household choices are designed to be exterior installs. They seem to all be targeted to interior installations where temperatures are steady year round but the cost is in my budget. They all want about a 1/4 inch gap around the perimeter of the space, and it seems the ones I've looked at are all meant to float rather than be glued down and my preference is to glue them.

I've seen some pretty bad click flooring installations on boats so I can't use them to base a decision on, and the rest are products used by OEMs suited for the marine environment but come at a premium cost which I don't really want to get into.

Has anybody installed one of these products going against the recommended instructions?....
- Have you glued the product down, and what adhesive did you use? Has it lasted?
- Did you install flush up to walls and cabinets without it buckling?
- Has it survived seasonal temps with no ill effects years after the installation, or have large gaps developed around some planks?
- Would you do anything different?

[Phrancus]

not sure what type you are looking at but if it is like this:

laminaat.png

Many variations, waterproof, moist proof but even the simplest can handle a household spill for enough time to mop it up. Its durability comes from its lack of wood, it's all plastic with a print and some wax on top. Works fine.

I put that in our holiday 'house' and that get's humid, freezes up in winter and gets dry and hot in summer. No problems with cracks, folds and such. I did not glue it in place as it needs to expand and contract a bit. If I remember correctly it does so in its length so the more you put in line, the more space it will need.

To cover up the gap (few millimeters) I put a small 3 centimeters high plank against the wall and that is fixed to that wall, free from the floor so it can move with seeing the gap. I used the side most in sight to start, leaving the gap on the other side. The whole floor is floating and keeps itself in place. When it starts to float on water you have bigger problems on board.

the quality of withstanding moist comes from the tight groove fit. This is no problem in most areas, only when it gets too tight to insert it in the right angle you might need to get creative. Small parts can be glued together, it doesn't move that much anyway.

Dont think that you can dissasemble and reassemble, that will damage the groove and it will chip easily later on.

Whatever you do, don't do what the previous owner of ours did: screw wood to the floor in such a pattern that you can't open anything any more without destroying the floor.....

[KyleR]

I've done a lot of these types of floors over my life (both laminate and vinyl, including some with glue and others just click together) and there is generally always some shrink and swell to deal with. A small area like in most boats would probably be negligible but there would still be some.

With that said, I recently came across the following product that I have never used - but am quite fascinated by. We are planning to rip out our carpet when all of the other work we want to do is complete and I have been looking at this stuff.

Supposedly it does not experience the expansion/contraction like normal laminate and vinyl flooring, doesn't require glue and doesn't even click together. It's just held in place by its own weight and friction.

If anyone has used it - please weigh in as it looks pretty interesting!

https://www.expressflooring.com/blog/articles/Loose-Lay-Vinyl-Plank-Flooring-Pros-and-Cons-Updated

(FYI - I am not affiliated with this company or any flooring company. I work in the commercial nuclear industry.)

[Viper]

Thanks for the feedback guys. The problem with not being able to glue down is that my engine hatches are huge and I don't see how floating planks would work. I've seen people use floating planks on hatches just held in place by overlapping trim around the edges...didn't work to keep everything in place when hatches are removed so I'm not going there, I really want to glue the product down.

The idea behind the solid vinyl is more about handling leaks than anything. A perfect example is we got to our boat yesterday and all I wanted to do was have a beer. Five minutes later, the wife yells out from the forward head and says the rug is all wet. A fitting under the sink had started leaking and found it's way under the teak parquet flooring and squeezed through the seams when you walked on it. I have Qest plumbing and am slowly retrofitting sections but I expect leaks to pop up now and again. I scrambled to fix the leak which required retrofitting the plumbing there to the new stuff and half an hour later, bruised and scraped got back to my beer but I can't imagine the work I'd be in for if it was a wood based engineered product. I'm just not going to take that kind of chance so I'm only considering vinyl/plastic and was wondering how it has worked for others when glued down.

[KyleR]

I hear ya! I installed nearly 1500sqft of laminate years ago (before vinyl) in my father-in-law's house and his air conditioner drain developed a clog and overflowed while they were out of town. By the time he found it the floor had swelled and buckled like crazy! It was never "right" after that and ended up having to have all the bad areas replaced.

The reason I posted about that "Loose Lay" flooring was since it is not prone to shrink/swell, I don't see why gluing it down would be an issue. That was my thought as we also have three pretty sizable hatches to deal with.

On a separate note, what we are trying to figure out/decide is whether to put some sort of "trim" around the edges of the hatches or just leave a thin gap. The gap kinda looks un-finished to me but doesn't break-up the overall visuals of the floor, whereas having trim around each hatch looks more polished but draws attention to each panel (see pics below as examples).

[bud37]

On a previous boat the galley section and access to v berth was done with some vinyl stuff from H.D......it had a peel and stick back and fit together with each. Now it was just fine in the galley and hall, looked good..... the only issue was at the edges of the hatches the sticky back came loose and had to have that nice edging added to keep the edges stuck with handling the hatches in the fall. I would use that again, just not all over.

I still like carpet in a boat ( sound etc ), but that said I don't think this particular stuff would do well over a large area with the seasonal movement due to temp....remember the floor underneath will expand and contract at a different rate than the material applied if they are different.

Good luck man and keep the wife happy here.....

[KyleR]

Good luck man and keep the wife happy here.....

Definitely the most important part!

[Viper]

Thanks guys. I too like carpet but I'm constantly worried about it getting dirty, stained, etc. We'll likely have an area rug in the middle of the salon though but at least that can be thrown out if it gets too bad. The rug will also cover the engine hatches so how they're trimmed out won't be as critical but I think I will be trimming/framing out the edges of the openings and hatches with thin strips. I find that protects the edges better. Also considering piano hinges on the hatches because they're so large and difficult to handle. It's either that or cut them in half so each piece is more manageable. That would make more joints but more joints or hinges isn't a concern once it's covered with a rug.

I'm just at an impasse on how to proceed considering they don't want you to glue this stuff down and wonder if anyone has experience with long term results.

I'll have to ponder it over a few more beers HELP

[Delorean6855]

We replaced our carpet with stain resistant carpet. We thought about alternatives but decided against them. We still have wood around the galley but honestly, it’s just cozier having carpet…

[Phrancus]

A separate rug I would not choose, always gets loose sooner or later, makes cleaning less easy and so on.

Carpet does not have to be there forever though. I would prefer carpet too for sound and cosyness. Many variations, does not have to cost very much, easier to put in. As a boat has relative small areas and has sides, you don't need to glue (much) to keep it nice in place but still have the possibility to rip it out for cleaning our replacement. (Tip: make templates and keep them)
Design them in such a way that you can roll and tuck them off the hatches, not nice if you need to move two pieces just because the edges run over the hatch in stead of a few inches to the side.

I would spend my time, creativity and some money on the hard wearing areas: at the entrances, places where you always put your foot when entering the boat also with rain and so. Same in the kitchen area. nice wood grain, good strip between the two flooring types. Looks good and also tells the visitor: shoes/dirt up to here, not beyond this strip.

As for the hatches: I'm still looking for large hinges (found them) that can also be detached (not found them) so i can open a hatch for a quick check but also lift them off their hinges for more access. Simple for a hanging door but not for a flush hatch with flush hinges it seems. My engine hatches are in the cockpit outside, stupid sized, heavy, no hinges, no place to store when open... Next boat will have that sorted out better. One learns over time... (and boats)

I understand the spills argument but on the other hand: a spill on a plastic floor also requires a very good seal around it to prevent it from getting under and wreak havoc there. Better then to have manageable size carpet that you can pull out and dry outside. You won't have spills for many years I suppose, at some point youll have all the old stuff replaced...