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Installation of Hard Surface Flooring with HWH flat floor slides - Printable Version

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Installation of Hard Surface Flooring with HWH flat floor slides - Richard - 11-21-2016

I have gotten enough inquiries through the forum and privately that I should post a new thread about my experience replacing the carpet in a HWH flat floor setup. I did this two years ago, and I am not a good documenter, and I don't take the time during a project to take pictures. 

The essence of the challenge is that the moving pieces of the flat floor, and the slide which comes into the coach in the retracted position take advantage of the compressible nature of carpet with respect to clearances that a hard surface will not allow. As it comes from the factory, the surface plane of the carpet is level with the surface plane of the granite. If you look at the coach with the slides in, you will see the dinette extends over carpet on the fixed (non movable ) floor. Also some coaches have columns at each end of the couch that extend over the fixed floor when the slide is in. If you simply install a hard surface on the same plane as the granite in the galley, both the seat bases of the dinette and the columns on the couch WILL hit the hard surface of the fixed floor. You will not be happy the first time you retract the slide. 

The second challenge is that the flat floor does not raise straight up and down. It pivots about a hinge on the driver side. If the hard surface flooring is installed flush with the edge of the flat floor it will hit the edge of the fixed floor as it swings up and down. I am going to try to illustrated this with some hand drawn sketches.
   

If you will run the slide in and out a couple of times and observe the flat floor as it finishes it's movement, you will see the issue. Newell gets around the problem by slightly beveling the edge of the carpet with trimmers. That is not acceptable with hard surface so another solution is called for. The solution is move the hard surface back from the edge just a little and accept a larger crack when the slide is out, or to let the hard surface on the fixed floor overhang just a little to meet the hard surface or the flat floor. There is a limit to how far you can overhang the floor on the fixed floor. There are steel structure at both slide walls that come in when the slide comes in. If the floor overhang is too great the slide wall will hit the flooring. The HWH hydraulics are strong enough to move the flooring. Don't ask how I know this. 

Now that the two critical problems are in consideration, here are the steps that I used to install the floor. 

Step one, determine the overall level of flooring that will slide under the two columns of the couch when the slide is retracted, since those two columns can't be moved easily. Establishing that level of flooring will tell you how much you will have to build up the plywood floor under the carpet. Obviously what ever flooring and underlayment you will use is part of the equation. 

Step two, take this mock up stack of flooring and underlayment to the granite tile interface in the galley. It will not be flush with the top of the granite. You can live with a transition, or you can make a series of shims to shim the floor at the granite and gradually taper to the edge of the fixed floor. 

Step three, with the slide IN, determine the edge of the fixed floor by sliding the mockup, or a straight edge, up against the slide wall. That determines how far you can cheat the surface of the fixed floor to the driver side. This a critical dimension so mark it well on the floor. 

Step four, deploy the slide. With mock up flooring in place on the fixed floor, position mock up flooring on the flat floor. I would leave about a 1/8 gap. With the mock flooring lightly secured. Start the retraction of the slide and ensure the flooring on the flat floor does not hit the fixed floor edge. If it does, it is too close to the fixed floor. 

Once you are happy with those dimensions and thicknesses, install the floor. Use adhesive. Yes I know the instructions say floating floor, but do you want the floor to float when you have just spent half a day aligning the seam between the flat floor, the fixed floor, and the dinette floor? 

Once the floor is in, I had to install shims under the dinette sliding bases, and under the couch so that it would not hit and scuff the floor when the slide came in. Once the dinette bases are shimmed above the floor, you will need to install Velcro to keep the base together when driving. 

If you are contemplating this modification, then read the guidlines and then watch the slide go in and out a couple of times. It will make more sense to you when looking at the operation. 

I have not made any commentary about installing floors in general. You or your tradesman should be able to figure that out. 

This does not apply to Valid slide setups. I have NO experience with that. Ernie can tell you what he did on that one. 

The floor has been in for two years and about 15,000 travel miles. I have a few trivial places where cracks have developed between the vinyl planks. I think that was caused when the slide wall hit the excessive overhang I used on the fixed floor. Also I use a high end underlayment padding for floating floors. Big mistake, since it is a bit spongy, and the floor moves ever so slightly when I walk on it. In bare feet I can feel the relative movement in the seam between the flat floor and the fixed floor. 

I hope this helps you if you decide to install hard surface in your Newell.

RE: Installation of Hard Surface Flooring with HWH flat floor slides - smagown - 11-21-2016

Excellent article!!
Thanks, Richard.

RE: Installation of Hard Surface Flooring with HWH flat floor slides - Ernie - 11-21-2016

Like this:

RE: Installation of Hard Surface Flooring with HWH flat floor slides - Richard - 11-22-2016

That's beautiful craftsmanship @"Ernie"

Can anyone tell me, just out of curiosity, if the valid floor comes straight up or pivots like the HWH floor?

RE: Installation of Hard Surface Flooring with HWH flat floor slides - Fulltiming - 11-22-2016

Based on the photos I took of one cycling, the Valid floor comes straight up.

RE: Installation of Hard Surface Flooring with HWH flat floor slides - Richard - 11-22-2016

That would make it a lot easier to manage the seam between the fixed floor and the moving floor. Ernie did such a nice job that I can't see the seam in the photo.

RE: Installation of Hard Surface Flooring with HWH flat floor slides - Ernie - 11-22-2016

Thanks. The street side floor that retracts did not move in a straight line like the curb side floor did. So, I had to have a little wider gap. But on the whole, for my first Newell, I am satisfied how it came out- and clients were too.