Date:         Wed, 2 Apr 2008 00:14:34 -0400
Reply-To:     pyjme@AOL.COM
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Peter Young <pyjme@AOL.COM>
Subject:      Re: mystery floor attatchment
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Neil,
? Have you considered the composite laminate wood flooring from Ikea? Costs just over $30 for enough to do the whole passenger compartment!
Also, it's only a quarter of an inch thick so it will actually slide underneath the lip under the back seat and kitchen area that the carpet used to fit
under - you only have the edge towards the front of the van to contend with. I just installed this flooring in my van in January and it has been very
durable. I probably should have waited to do it until I did some other things inside the van but I was a bit impatient. On the upside, however, it really
?showed how durable the floor is. I have dropped hammers, nails, screws, car parts, etc on it and walked on it when it was covered in dirt, dust and
gravel. The laminate has held up to this incredibly well; I have yet to find a single blemish on the surface! The instructions say to avoid high moisture
applications like bathrooms, etc, but I have gotten this floor wet and it hasn't buckled or warped at all.
Installation notes:
1.) I installed it with the "grain" going side to side, using a hammer and block to push the flooring under the cabinet lip. You have to do this because i
t is "click" flooring so you need to be able to tilt the piece up to engage the lip and then swing it down to lock it, which you can't do under the lip.
2.) I didn't glue or nail the flooring to the plywood sub-floor at all, as they recommend. The only firm attachments are the screws that go through the
sliding door strip. In spite of this setup, the floor has no bounce when walked on and feels like it is solidly glued in place. This also allows for minor
seasonal expansion/contraction of the floor.
3.) I used a 3/8 inch quarter round to finish off the forward edge. I double-stick taped it on to the floor and wall as a temporary installation measure,
but probably won't change it unless it fails.
4.) I didn't use any of the recommended under layments that Ikea sells. I figured that they wouldn't do anything for this application so why waste the
money/time dealing with it.

Sorry for taking the thread in a different direction, I just couldn't let a fellow vanagon owner spend $100 on a floor without at least advising them of
the $30 option! I hope this helps you and Slloth (and others). Here is the Ikea flooring website - I used "Tundra" in "Maple effect":

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/range/10373/10748/


Peter
'81 Westy from Germany