Replacing That Old Carpet

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Ok. We’re just jumping right into the heavy blog renovations here because… well… thats kind of how Q and I do things in real life! I showed you guys all those lovely before pics in the tiny tour post and now Im going to show you the crazy mess we made. I promise there’s a good ending to this story (fantastic faux hard wood!) but lets start with the guts. Purging the fifth wheel carpet!

Replacing fifth wheel carpet.

The majority of the fifth wheel was covered in this bland beige carpet. It was fine. It was also used. Which made my brain start thinking about how many spills, layers of dirt, pet funk, and other scary things happened in its short lifetime… the answer: too many! Besides, the germ factor with carpet is also not our style.

Replacing fifth wheel carpet.

So I took to Pinterest and google and read as much as I could handle about ripping the stuff out. The basics were all the same. Get a utility blade, cut along the edges, use super strength to tear that sucker out! And to be honest, thats really what this part of the demo consisted of. Luckily, I had my Pops(with his 30 yrs of construction experience) and cousin(with teenage muscles and stamina) to help out since Q was gone for this portion.

Replacing fifth wheel carpet.

There were only a few places we had to take special care. One was the edges of the slides. The corners are actually just small pieces of plastic that extend the visual line of the slide. They’re not strong enough to hold any weight but we wanted to floor to extend in the same fashion so we were careful to leave them in place. Getting around all the corners and tucked edges was not the easiest job! We found a pair of needle nose pliers and a nail puller worked wonders!

Replacing fifthwheel carpet

In addition to the carpet, we also took out all the tile print linoleum. This was only in a small part of the kitchen, hallway, and bathroom. Removing this was a cinch compared to the carpet! It came up in big sheets and was so easy to cut with the utility blade.

Once everything was out I removed about a billion staples and all the remnants I could get a hold of along the edges. This detail work took a lot longer than the initial demo. But the prep work here was so important it was a non-negotiable job!

Replacing fifthwheel carpet

Now to the fun stuff! New Floors! We read so many articles, reviews, and posts about which flooring to install. The two things we were most concerned with were weight and durability. Weight… well thats obvious. Nobody wants to add unnecessary weight to their trailer. Durability is a little more complicated. Whatever floor we put down needed to withstand the weight and wear of 2 huge slides rolling over it. Frequently! In the end we went with NuCore from Floor & Decor.

Replacing fifthwheel carpet

Its a floating floor that snaps together in planks. Its waterproof, has an anti-microbial finish, cork backing and can be cut with a simple utility blade. There are over 30 colors to choose from and TBH I think its really well priced! *And no, we are not affiliates!

16 boxes, 3 helpers, and several hours later our fifthwheel subfloor was completely covered! We were under a bit of a time crunch so we were happy so find how easily this came together.Just measure, cut, and snap in place. The fact we did the whole thing with just a utility blade ended up being a huge perk! The floor of the fifth wheel had so many odd angles and tight spaces I just cant imagine how crazy the cuts would have been on a saw. It was also great to skip nails/hardware all together on a project!

Replacing fifthwheel carpet

When it came to finishing out the slides we used 2 different trims. At first I wanted everything to match but as you can see the slides are very different so that wasn’t going to work.

The small area in front of the fireplace was a continuation of the kitchen which has a thick white base. After seeing both options in person it was clear white was best. This one is a small 90 degree pvc wall trim we found at Lowes.

For the living room slide we went with an unfinished oak stair trim from Home Depot. At first we thought we’d stain it to match but it turned out to be the same color as our furniture legs(more on that soon!) so its most likely going to be left as-is.

One tip we used(several times!) while putting this all together: test as you go. Throughout the whole process we pulled the slides in an out many times. Its better to make sure everything is going to work before you’ve laid the entire thing. We’d lay a chunk and then test a slide, lay & test, lay & test… you get the point! Our slides glide right over these without any problems. No buckling, shifting, or scratching. All of which we were worried about!

Replacing fifth wheel carpetReplacing fifth wheel carpet

One major project DONE! We’ve been to a handful of places and temps and we couldn’t be happier with this flooring. It was a big project but we knew it was essential to this renovation.

So tell me about your fifthwheel, rv, tiny home, etc flooring. Do you love it? Hate it? Considered replacing it? You know Id love to hear all about it in the comments!

Replacing that old fifthwheel carpet with fantastic faux hardwood!
Replacing that old fifthwheel carpet with fantastic faux hardwood!
Replacing that old fifthwheel carpet with fantastic faux hardwood!
Replacing that old fifthwheel carpet with fantastic faux hardwood!
Replacing that old fifthwheel carpet with fantastic faux hardwood!
Replacing that old fifthwheel carpet with fantastic faux hardwood!

Replacing that old fifthwheel carpet with fantastic faux hardwood!

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106 Comments

  1. I’m of your mindset about used carpeting – eeech! In fact, we’re in the process of doing the same renovation job to our basement floor. Your 5th wheel looks great. Pinned this!

      1. We’re ripping out the carpet in our 5th wheel and want to use the luxury vinyl flooring but I noticed theres a noisy crinkling insulation under the carpet. Do we rip this out too or apply flooring over it?

  2. I can’t believe how big of difference the new floors made in this space. I got to the “after” picture and was floored (ha)! All jokes aside, it looks amazing. Excited to see behind the scenes of other change you made.

      1. Help! Looking for information on how to do the slide rail. We ‘ve removed carpet but husband says this isn’t possible. I want this floor in my 5th wheel!

        1. Hi Kadra, Every slide(and trailer) is different but I’ve yet to see one that cant accommodate plank flooring. Id take pictures into the flooring store and explain your concerns. The staff is generally pretty good at problem solving and they may have products to use around tricky areas that you wouldn’t have found otherwise. Our slides sit on top of the main floor(see pics in post) so ours was pretty simple. Sending you all the creative vibes to find a perfect solution!

      1. Just removed all the nasty carpet in our 5th wheel lighting and kitchen. I used glue down LVP leftover from our remodel. We’ve had a major delimnaon our slideout. You gave me a great idea in using stair treads. I’m going to see about that. Did you post your pics on doing that?

        1. Hi Teresa! We didn’t actually take pics of that step specifically because it was super simple. We literally just glued the trim on the edge of the slide with heavy duty construction adhesive.
          Great idea repurposing your leftover remodel materials! I love when those kinds of things work out!

          1. Hi Judy, Our slides work perfectly with all the changes and the furniture we put in is actually significantly lighter than what the trailer came with😊

      1. Love the new look. My question is how do you keep debri from getting under the lip of the slide out. We have a dog that sheds a lot and I vacuum a lot but am concerned about dirt and hair getting in that space

    1. I was told that replacing the carpet over the the that aren’t floor flush allows cold air to come in. Have you had this problem or heard of it being a problem?

  3. The flooring looks great! We just finished installing the same sort of thing in our bathroom. We’re coming out the other end of renovating our home now and I’m so glad. It has been challenging with two small children, but the house is looking fantastic, so it’s been totally worth it!

  4. Oh my gosh!! Gorgeous!! We live full-time on the road and have contemplated renovating our 5th wheel, but are going to make it a year before we do anything to make sure we going to stick with it. Would love to get started on it though!! Saving this for future ideas 🙂

      1. We have a 42 ft fifth wheel. The only carpet is on the slides and directly under the slide about a 1 1/2 ft. Everything else is linoleum flooring. Is it necessary to rip up the linoleum? Can’t we just lay the vinyl planks on top of the linoleum?

  5. Okay, wow! Can I live in your fifth wheel?? You guys did an amazing job! I don’t have a fifth wheel, but I want to rip up the carpet in my home and remodel. Hopefully it turns out just as great!

  6. Love it! Our camper has the rolled linoleum throughout and has begun cracking all over. It isn’t glued down so it seems to be easy to pull out. It runs under all the kitchen cabinets and our dinette set. Did you take your kitchen island or any fixed pieces out in order to lay new flooring, or did you go around them and lay the flooring inside?

    1. Hi Krystan! We left our kitchen island in place(it’s permanently attached) and floored around it. As far as the material inside the cabinets… I’d leave as much as possible. Generally when manufacturers are putting these spaces together they lay the flooring down for the entire unit and then built on top. This is why our bottom cabinets had carpet in them and probably why yours has linoleum. Ours was in great condition(it’s doesn’t get much traffic when it’s inside the cabinets)so we left it. If you remove the material it will be quite the task to replace it.
      Also, removing linoleum can be easy! The majority of ours came up in big sheets and then the edges took a little extra finessing. A good utility knife and the staple puller will make quick work of the whole project! 🛠

  7. Your RV looks amazing. How did you remove the carpet under the slides and did you put down the flooring under the slides also? How did you attach the molding around the slide? Glue or small nails. I am so ready to get all of the old carpet out of our RV. The carpet is from 1998, We have had it for only 6 months. I have painted the walls and replaced the window treatments. But that carpet has to go. Did you have a video of the project? Thanks for any help, so I can talk my husband into this!

    1. Thanks Katinka! Love hearing about other people tackling DIY RV projects! There was very little carpet that actually went under the slides so when we pulled out all the main pieces the edges that were under the slides came out in big chunks. Any remnant bits we could see(and reach) we just yanked out with some long needle nose pliers. And the molding we just attached with Gorilla Construction Adhesive. We don’t have a video of the project but we have more posts in the works! Hopefully this helps talk your hubs around ;D

  8. I see in the photos an important part of the process: If you are going to paint the cabinets and/or walls, do it before putting in the new flooring. Looks like you did that. Smart. Drips and spills are much less of an issue on the sub-floor or even the soon to be discarded carpet.
    I have a composite marble dust and latex tile with a self stick back (flexible) that you grout with a flexible, latex grout. I’ve used them in a bathroom before, and they are super durable, last under lots of traffic, and look like actual marble tile. I’ll let you know how this works.
    I also love the fireplace, I’m in Colorado. I have a space opposite the sofa where there are currently 2 uncomfortable swivel chairs and a cheesy fold down table. All the fabric/carpet/furniture in the trailer is going to the dump. Mice and years of use. A narrow under window cabinet with an electric FP would be great, increase storage, and have room for a TV above it.
    For anyone looking for a used trailer to renovate, unless you are going for a 1950s classic, get a trailer or 5th wheel with a slide. Mine doesn’t have one, and it is really only comfortable for 2 people, even though it says it sleeps 5.

  9. I just found your blog! We have been going baby steps in our RV remodel and have been afraid to tackle the flooring. My husband wanted to be sure that the slides would work and wanted to be able to picture how it would look. Well…your RV is exactly our – a 36’ Bighorn. Thought I was looking at our trailer. Lol. We did the peel and stick subway tiles for our backsplash as well. We also took out all the blinds and heavy valances in the living area (bedroom is next) and replaced them with light airy curtains. I have been talking about some sort of shiplap on the rear wall and behind the sofa and dining area. Yours looks great so that will be my next step. Thanks for sharing all the great tips and pics!

  10. I’ve done something similar to this in a Fifth wheel but as soon as I put the slide in and brought the slide-out back open the slide mechanism scrapped the new floor, wha could use I done wrong?….. thanks

    1. Hi Mildred,
      Its hard to say because every RV and slide is different. When we were replacing our floors we got down eye level inside and out to check the clearances before, during, and after installing the planks. Id recommend doing the same thing with your slides to be sure the flooring will work with your particular set up.
      Also, I once read that sweeping the floors before bringing in the slides will help prevent scratches. I have to say we also do this EVERY time. All it takes is one tiny little pebble or a few grains of sand under a roller and your floor can get scratched. So better safe(and tidy LOL!) than sorry! Best of luck!

  11. Thanks so much for the tips! Especially the trim–I hadn’t considered that. I have a Jayflight 28.5RL 5th wheel that I will begin glamping this spring. I plan to turn it into a permanent “apartment” in the woods behind my house. I have found a kind of “plaid” click flooring that I’m going with (I think). It will add a little more “kitsch” to my decor! I plan to blog on “Arlene” as soon as I get started (it’s snowing again, so it’ll be a little while ’til I can even start demoing…but I think your home is beautiful. Is that a gas or electric fireplace? I really want to add one, but it will have to be electric. Again, cudos on your accomplishment!

  12. Thanks for sharing your great story. I was wondering where you started laying down your floor and how you decided which way the planks would go? (Vertical vs horizontal. Thx

    1. Hi Michaela! We started in the very back of the trailer(you can see it in the first pic of Q laying down the floor) and worked our way up to the front. We decided it would be best to lay the planks horizontal because it would be stressed the least by our particular slides. The pop outs move on 2 super heavy duty rollers and we didn’t want to chance the planks buckling up. Also, it would make the least awkward cuts when we had to go around the kitchen island and stairs.

  13. Thank you For posting this. I have been so concerned about changing our carpet to vinyl wood planks in the fifth wheel because of the slides. This looks absolutely gorgeous. My fiancé and I are going to have a great summer project.

  14. Thanks so much for sharing your blog. My husband and I are in the process of renovating our RV and I am having a hard time choosing which flooring to go with. There are so many options! But after reading your blog I think I am leaning towards the vinyl planks. It sounds like it was pretty easy to install! I love that you do not need a saw. Did you leave a gap around the edges in order for the planks to expand and contract? Did you have to use any glue at all? Did you use a foam underlay on top of the sub floor? Thank you!

    1. I also am curious if any of your chairs needed to be screwed into the floor. Our chairs were screwed into the floor so I am a little concerned if it would work through the vinyl. Do you think drilling a small hole would be fine?

      1. We don’t have our furniture screwed to the ground. Originally there were straps to hold everything in place while driving but we didn’t feel like it was necessary when we replaced the floors. We strategically place the furniture in the slides and stuff the couch cushions and pillows between everything when we tow now. It really is a personal choice and every trailer is so different. Whatever will make you the most comfortable while towing is the right choice😊

    2. Hey Nicole! Glad you found this post (and our blog 😊). We didn’t have to use any glue and we also didn’t have to leave a gap or put down sub floor. It’s been over a year and we haven’t had any problems with the flooring, shifting, lifting, or even scratching. Honestly its still one of our most solid design choices!

  15. Hi! So glad to find your post! We are definitely considering switching out our beige carpet in our Keystone Avalanche to wood planks too. Did you remove your slides and put the flooring under them? This is an ongoing debate between the hubs and I! Thanks for any additional tips!

    1. Hi Nikki! We didn’t need to take out our slides. Ours slide out (and down kinda?) so it wasn’t necessary because the edges are completely covered but we were still able to slide the planks underneath by pulling the slides in while installing. Hopefully that makes sense?! We brought our slides in and out what felt like a million times while we were doing the floors to keep checking along the way!

  16. Love how the floors turned out!
    We’d love to get rid of the carpet in our 5er, but haven’t got up the courage to remove it yet. Notice that there is now a lip at the edge of the slide; have you found this to be a problem or not? Carpeting smooths that out.
    Ours has such a dark brown interior that it’s almost claustrophobic – and I don’t even like brown! Watching what you are doing inspires me to make some changes!

    1. Hi Pam! The ledge on our slide doesn’t bother us at all(it was there when we had carpet too) and it doesn’t prevent the slide from fully extending. Every slide is different so its hard to give specific advice but if you decide to swap out the flooring Id be willing to bet you’ll be happy with the update😊

  17. So very happy to find your post and pics. Your RV looks absolutely fabulous.
    We are just starting RV renovations on our 40 ft fifth wheel with the big opposing slides. We have already jumped in and pulled all the carpet that seemed to u shape our entire living room and kitchen area. My husband was feeling comfortable with his plans for doing our big dining table and love seat slide due to watching several Utube videos of several who have done it….. however, he has become very uncomfortable in how exactly to handle our kitchen slide and the very small area he has to work with on that side up against our cabinets and entertainment area, due to the difference in the way that slide lip is designed in comparison to the opposite slide. And as well, we have not been able to find a single video of anyone doing that slide on that side of their fifth wheel.
    Yours looks great.
    Can you tell us exactly what made the slide in front of your fire place side different for you in comparison to the opposite slide? And what exactly did you do different with that slide in comparison to your couch side?
    Thanks again for sharing this. We are so grateful and just wished you had done a u tube video as well. LOL. But at least finding your post and pictures makes us feel we can do something, because we had almost panicked. But there is no turning back now, as we are looking at approximately 6 inches of the corkboard subfloor on that side of our RV as well as the rest of the areas we removed carpet from .

  18. Hello – I am wondering if you could tell me the color/name of your floor. It looks like oak, but can not tell in the pic you posted on the product 🙂 I’ve been looking for light oak and love your choice! Thanks so much!

  19. Good article, thanks. Did your floor product research include low temp conditions? We store our camper for the winter and it is subject to -40 degC. Last year the original vinyl flooring completely cracked and we cut it out. Not sure yet on what to replace it with.

    1. Hey Glenda, we didn’t look into temps that low since we are in California and outside of a couple cold rainy days we dont anticipate weather that extreme. I’d just double check with the manufacturer as Im sure they have specific ratings for each flooring product. Good luck!

  20. Hi Kate!

    So I am wondering, did you guys use any kind of a glue or a moisture barrier at all? I know it says the flooring is water proof but when I went online to add the flooring to my cart, it suggested those two items to me for noise cancellation so I wanted to check with you first. Hoping you didn’t and all has been fine with it for $$ Sake!! lol Looks great btw!!

    1. Hi Lisa! We painted the fronts to match all the cabinets, used the same flooring planks on the tops, and finished the corners with pine corner trim that I stained to match the flooring. Some flooring companies also have pre-made coordinating stair trim or corner trim that you can use as well. Feel free to tag @kreatinghomes on any of your project progress posts so we can check it out!

  21. Your floors look amazing. We are renovating ours and have the floors down. My question is the trim on the slide out. What did you use and how did you adhere it to the edge? Ours is black and material. And dosen’t look finished

    1. Hi Diane! We used oak stair moulding and adhered it with both a small brad nailer and construction adhesive. The trim used on every RV renovation is different as it just depends on how tall your slides are and how they sit both when fully extended and closed. Also, we had carpet that hung loosely on our slides as well but we removed all the materials down to the metal(on the edges) before we added flooring and trim. Hopefully thats helpful! Good luck!

  22. How did you handle the lip of flooring sticking out from the slide to cover the metal and extend enough? Did you add a sub floor to support it or just let it hang? Any pics would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

  23. I’m trying to pull out the carpet under themichael kitchen sink cabinet in my rv. Its a island cabinet so it hard to cut the carpet close because of the overhang. Could I cut from the inside and then pull carpet out Or should I try to unscrew it totally?

    1. We only had vinyl under our kitchen island and we left it…. So I cant give you advice from experience(sorry!). Hopefully that carpet doesn’t give you too much trouble!

  24. After two years & travel what do you think of this flooring. Did it stay together or would a solid sheet been better.
    Thanks… we are looking replace flooring in our 2015 big sky fifth wheel.

  25. When I lay the new vinyl flooring in my camper bathroom do I have to pull my toilet? or can i just lay the new around it? Thanks

      1. We’re using vinyl plank. It’s a floating floor. Do you put quarter rd at the edges? How do you finish off where to floor meets wall?

  26. You redo looks great! We just bought an
    Older fifth wheel and we are looking to replace the flooring like you did. Wondering how you decided to lay the flooring horizontally instead of vertically to the slide? Any pointers on that? Thanks!

    1. Congrats Crystal! We just felt it would be the smoothest way for our particular rollers (on the bottom of the slides) to glide back and forth on. Also, we preferred the aesthetic LOL!

  27. We live in a 1994 5 th wheel which is stationary We took the wheels off and the rig is on blocks We want to re carpet the slide outs which are not flush and put vinyl everywhere else I am wondering if you have any suggestions on how to do

    1. Hi David! Unfortunately, I have zero experience with installing carpet. We tore out all the carpet in our fifthwheel (as well as our previous sticks and bricks home!). Maybe check YouTube or Pinterest if you want to DIY? Sorry I don’t have any advice but good luck!

  28. Your new floors looks amazing! I’m excited to get started on my RV ( my first big DIY.) Did ya’ll remove the built in furniture when replacing the floor?

  29. We got most of the carpet out. We have a few corners and edges that still need to go. Any tips? My blade isn’t getting the job done.

    1. Hey Susan! Those edges are just the worst right??? Ugh. I feel for ya! TBH I did a lot of the little detail work around the edges with a pair of long needle nosed pliers. Its so tedious but I promise its worth it!

  30. Help! Looking for information on how to do the slide rail. We ‘ve removed carpet but husband says this isn’t possible. Was looking at glue on vinyl slats or something that last time ks like this. Please help, I want this floor in my 5th wheel!

  31. Did you have to put anything under the wooden planks? Like between the floor of the rv and the planks. We are doing this to our rv and i cant find any answers. typically in a home we would put down a sheet of foam or something but i don’t know if it is necessary.

  32. LOVE all you’ve done! I’d love to put that floor in our trailer, but I think I have enough of a ‘to-do’ list of DIY’s!

  33. Thanks for this guide! We are going through renovations on our RV and it’s been a ton of work! We’ve had to get a dumpster rental for all of the stuff we’re ripping out! Thanks again for the tips!

  34. My floor consist of styrofoam and glued 1/8 inch plywood. I’m only putting new 3/8 plywood over the old that being said can I jack up my pop out to push the new plywood under the lip of it to allow it to go over the new plywood?

  35. how frustrating this must be to read some repeated questions you have already answered to. People, stop being lazy. You might find the answer you are looking for in previous comments. I apologize for impatient people! great job btw!

  36. Thank you for your information on how you did this and how the project went. I just bought a used fifth wheel and there is carpet everywhere. It has four slides so I have been worried about the clearance of the slides as well.

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