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Post by tasmillard on Apr 8, 2015 14:17:08 GMT 10
More opinions wanted please:
I am in the process of buying a length of vinyl to recover the floor (old tiles already removed). I have read conflicting things about how the vinyl is cut and fastened onto the floor.
The idea I have so far is to create a template out of newspaper that follows the design, especially around the kitchen and bunks. Bed and dining table/chairs already removed so that will make life easier.
Once I have the template, I trace and cut the vinyl. Now comes the install... some say dont use adhesive at all, just fix the ends down with trimming. Others say use double sided tape, and even to use glue.
What is the consensus here? I prefer to lay loose with edges fixed to pin it down, thoughts? Is there any other way to create the template? I really dont want to take the roll into the van and cut as I go as I know ill stuff it.
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Post by Mustang on Apr 8, 2015 16:59:09 GMT 10
More opinions wanted please: I am in the process of buying a length of vinyl to recover the floor (old tiles already removed). I have read conflicting things about how the vinyl is cut and fastened onto the floor. The idea I have so far is to create a template out of newspaper that follows the design, especially around the kitchen and bunks. Bed and dining table/chairs already removed so that will make life easier. Once I have the template, I trace and cut the vinyl. Now comes the install... some say dont use adhesive at all, just fix the ends down with trimming. Others say use double sided tape, and even to use glue. What is the consensus here? I prefer to lay loose with edges fixed to pin it down, thoughts? Is there any other way to create the template? I really dont want to take the roll into the van and cut as I go as I know ill stuff it. Sounds like you are on the right track with a template, just join sheets of paper together (may need stronger than newsprint) with tape & trace around your new vinyl. I'm not going to glue mine down, too much work to remove if you have a disaster. Just hold in place with the trims.
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Post by tasmillard on Apr 8, 2015 18:03:08 GMT 10
Thanks for the confirmation. I am now wondering how smooth and flat the floor has to be. Given its age theres imperfections and undulations, so its not completely flat. Would a good quality vinyl (a few milimiters thick) go towards hiding imperfections?
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Post by tedalley on Apr 8, 2015 22:22:22 GMT 10
Thanks for the confirmation. I am now wondering how smooth and flat the floor has to be. Given its age theres imperfections and undulations, so its not completely flat. Would a good quality vinyl (a few milimiters thick) go towards hiding imperfections? I bought cheep vinyl from Bunnings and layed it down before I installed the cupboards & beds. Well I ended ripping it out because I couldn't get out the ripples - and I left it for 2 weeks (in the summer sun) but it wouldn't smooth out. I did find where I left flat timber laying on the vinyl it had no ripples.  Anyway its something to think about Ted |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2015 22:29:16 GMT 10
We ended up filling holes etc with liquid nails, laying thin ply sheets on the old Millard floor first as when the old tiles came up they pulled a few bits out of the floor sheets. Has been pretty good under vinyl tiles.
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Post by tasmillard on Apr 9, 2015 6:12:27 GMT 10
Thanks for the replies. Sounds like I need to do a thorough prep job. Mine has still glue residue from the original tiles, theres some areas of the floor where it feels raised, and then theres the usual damage like small missing chunks etc. I am confident that I can get the surface smooth, but the raised areas, or uneven areas I wont be able to do much (dont want to sand away too much). I will take some pics of the floor for your opinions  Also, the vinyl we are looking at is the expensive stuff, its around $110 a mtr (for the roll width) so we are looking at around $500. This stuff is a few milimiters thick and feels nice and plyable (unlike the bunnings ones where they are thin and feel like cardboard). |
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Post by pisces51 on Apr 9, 2015 8:28:19 GMT 10
tasmillard, I've used the newspaper method of making templates, but I found it to be too thin and flimsy to get a decent template to work with. I graduated to breakfast cereal boxes, which are thicker and more rigid than newspaper. The cardboard boxes are easy to cut with a retractable sharp blade, and then I tape the pieces together (both sides!) using 50mm wide tape in one of those tape dispensers that are used to seal boxes in post offices and factories.
If you are using the good quality 3mm vinyl flooring, you don't need to stick it down, even around the edges. It will sit nice and flat just because of its thickness.
If you're spending big dollars on the vinyl, I'd spend the time getting the floor base as flat as possible, even just filling depressions with a floor levelling compound or an acrylic gap filler smoothed out with a trowel, and then knocking the high spots off the floor with a belt sander or disc sander. Any bare timber spots showing after sanding should be sealed with a sealer before laying the vinyl. A sealer can be something as simple as mixing 50% of PVA adhesive with 50% water and painting it on and let dry.
The thicker, better quality vinyl is more forgiving on uneven surfaces, but it's worth it in the long run to have a good quality base to lay it on.
cheers,
Al.
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Post by tasmillard on Apr 9, 2015 10:36:20 GMT 10
As always, fantastic advice Al. Yes, I wont risk ruining the vinyl with a poor finished/prepped surface. Your idea of filling the floor with leveling compound, will look at that also. As for timber sealant, I have been suing decking oil to seal these, and thinking of using it again inside. just to add to my workload, we have decided to paint the interior now that most of the furniture is out... so still got a few months of work ahead of me but at least it will be done |
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Post by tasmillard on Apr 11, 2015 16:42:30 GMT 10
Spent basically all day today sanding the floors and walls. Floors were a bit of a challenge, with tile glue still being thick in some places but overall I am happy with the result. Before:  After:   The stains are still there and some glue, but running my hand over the surface indicated a nice flat surface with some slight imperfections. I have also unscrewed the base of the remaining furniture pictured as I want to try and slip some vinyl under it where possible. |
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Post by tasmillard on Apr 11, 2015 19:55:29 GMT 10
Another question. As I said I will be painting the inside of the caravan. I have been trawling through photos and noticed many examples have agreat high sheen/gloss finish. What paint is used to achieve this result? Here is an example from the Vintage caravan site (member hilldweller - vintagecaravans.proboards.com/thread/8474?page=4) |
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Post by atefooterz on Apr 11, 2015 20:47:33 GMT 10
Going gangbusters on that floor!
Regardless of paint type a high gloss is best done over flawless preparation, then depending on paint choice & aplicator depends on the way forward. Old school brushed enamel with 3-4 coats using 1000,2000 wet and dry then power buff the final coat can be as good as spray! All depends on time frame plus patience. My money is those cupboard faces were done removed then layed flat and sprayed with a 2 pac poly, or colour coats then a few gloss coats.
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Post by pisces51 on Apr 11, 2015 21:31:05 GMT 10
Nice job on the floor, tasmillard!  That should be more than adequate for the good quality vinyl to sit on. cheers, Al. |
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Post by tasmillard on Apr 12, 2015 7:29:43 GMT 10
Reading more in it does require almost perfect surface. so ill stick to acrylic but basically the white night tile and laminex paint is the one recommended. I would have to make up all new cupboard doors as mine as chipboard type and are breaking around the edges.
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Post by tasmillard on Apr 12, 2015 13:41:04 GMT 10
OK, so I have the dreaded chipboard cupboard doors and draw faces... stupid thing is starting to fall apart and I really dont want to paint them up (wasted money). Anyone had this type of material, and if so did you replace them all with ply?
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Post by Rattles on Apr 12, 2015 14:36:18 GMT 10
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Post by Deleted on Apr 12, 2015 14:38:44 GMT 10
You can plane around your doors and get rid of the rough bits if you have enough overlap,and then run new black stain around the edges.
I have done this a few times and they look good as new.
(Only on the ones that aren't disintegrating of course)
Cheers
hughdeani
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Post by tasmillard on Apr 12, 2015 17:11:09 GMT 10
Thanks Rattles, will consider this option also if required. Hugh - some already have that black paint around them, check the pics. But more are faryed and damaged on the front side as a result of the chipboard falling out. I will pretty much make new ones when the time comes.   Whilst im at it, do you think this fire extinguisher is past its used by date??  www.directorypatent.com/GB/951763-a.html |
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Post by tasmillard on Apr 12, 2015 17:13:17 GMT 10
So I removed the cupboard doors (obviously as above) and heres how it looks: Numbering the doors  Doors out, looking much cleaner.  By the way, you may have noticed I love pics, both seeing others and posting mine in return. |
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Post by atefooterz on Apr 12, 2015 19:45:56 GMT 10
Heya Tasmillard i opted to repair, in situ, the crumbling doors on mine, link to resto Since then they have been slightly beter colour matched to the original stock brown, that alongside mission brown were colour icons of that time. what i will do is put up some pics of how nearly 3500klm later and 24/7 living in the thing has affected those areas.. all good and only issue was a few bits falling out from door undersides where i just blindly applied some of the sample pot brown acrylic paint. The choice of just masking off the areas and building up/sealing the chipboard with builders bog polyester filler was due to time restrainsts of getting to Adelaide how plus i did not have my lightweight filler to make custom mixes, the small amount used (1/3 small tin of builders bog) and about half a sample paint pot means about 350gramms material added, much sanded off during the shaping process. Now after summers end the, light has changed i might be able to get pics where the paint does not glow and looks like what the eye actually sees haha! |
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Post by pisces51 on Apr 12, 2015 20:39:35 GMT 10
If you don't want to go to all the bother of making new doors, another option to think about is glueing an external moulding around the outside of the doors. You'd need to trim back the return side of the moulding (the side that wraps around the edge of your door) to be flush with the backside of the door. You would also have to chisel a bit out of the moulding where the hinges are fitted, otherwise they won't go back into the original holes. Once you've got the moulding glued on, it's a matter of repairing the gaps around the chipboard door at the back of the moulding, where chunks have come off, so that the moulding and the old door face become one solid block again. Fill those gaps with bog as atefooterz describes, sand everything back, and then paint anything that doesn't move (so keep hopping on one leg yourself!  ) You would end up with doors that had an appearance sorta kinda like what atouchofglass did to his benchtop in his Olympic. Bunnings stock the Porta moulding timber. It ain't cheap, but it may be cheaper in the long run when compared with the time and effort to make all new doors. cheers, Al. |
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Post by atefooterz on Apr 12, 2015 21:36:47 GMT 10
Al posted a link to a mob in Victoria that supply 10mm anodised angle bar, if i had the cash i would grab a few metres & get a framer to perfectly cut all the mitres then glue around all my dodgey work, something i did allow for with my patchwork. It would however look way fancier than an Arrow was/is meant to look like but in gold it would sparkle and glow a treat againt the original ply that remains in great condition plus a lot easier than painting everything, thus losing an imprtant part that is salvageable in my van, of asthetics. If only my interior was more trashed i would go for a theme of matt black with a few fluro posters etc and fit some black lights to give it a full on Led Zep or Uriah Heap feel. |
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Post by tasmillard on Apr 13, 2015 6:55:41 GMT 10
Thx again for your input. The reason ill most likely make new ones in the future is because we are going with paint theme internally, that is we are not leaving it original. Given doors make a big difference in look, thats wht ill do. ill most likely repair the current doors to minimise further damage but not to have as keepers. Looks like work either way really so may as well do new ones. arefooterz - i have been following your thread (and others) and its been valuable for me during my build. This is my first caravan, and an oldie to boot so learning on the fly |
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Post by atefooterz on Apr 13, 2015 12:48:20 GMT 10
Thx again for your input. The reason ill most likely make new ones in the future is because we are going with paint theme internally, that is we are not leaving it original. Given doors make a big difference in look, thats wht ill do. ill most likely repair the current doors to minimise further damage but not to have as keepers. Looks like work either way really so may as well do new ones. arefooterz - i have been following your thread (and others) and its been valuable for me during my build. This is my first caravan, and an oldie to boot so learning on the fly Me too (my first ever caravan) without this and the VV site life would be much harder with a lot of trail and error! Living in mine makes it more of a challenge to do big jobs though. Keep making your great vids!! Bogging mine in place as the fasterners were ok meant that the job was quite fast, longest job was masking to protect the surrounds but possibly helped speed up the process overall,as no huge lumps to sand down, using tape lines as a guide. |
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Post by tasmillard on Apr 13, 2015 16:02:00 GMT 10
Its always very interesting to see what others are doing. I must admit, I do get envious when I see people do excellent work, they have the tools and skills and the results are great. Hope to be able to achieve something close even. Speaking of videos, I just uploaded a few more on the floor and walls/cupboards, both Part 1's. Happy to receive any feedback / comments / suggestions. |
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Post by camper2van on Apr 13, 2015 17:42:17 GMT 10
Hi Tasmillard
Nice work on levelling that floor .
Regarding your cupboard doors . You can get and l have used a light wait plastic board .
We use it for making drying cupboards and out side cabinets . Its much lighter than chip board and easy to work with.
Used it on my replacement cabinet doors .
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