How to replace carpet with vinyl in an old caravan

In caravans from the eighties and nineties, carpet on the floor was the norm. Thirty years on, it smells of damp, holds sand and will not come clean. Replacing it with vinyl is one of those jobs an owner does alone over a weekend, and it is one of the most frequent questions on Spanish caravan forums.

The work is simple, but there is one fork in the road right at the start: the condition of the floor under the carpet.

First check the floor under the carpet

A caravan floor is usually a sandwich: two layers of plywood with insulation between them. While the carpet is in place, problems are hidden.

Walk the whole floor and press down with your heel by the entrance, by the kitchen, under the windows and in the corners. If the floor springs, sags or crunches, the layers have come apart or the plywood has got wet. In that case the base is repaired first and only then covered. What to do then is covered in the article on soft and damp floors.

If the floor is firm everywhere, you can begin.

What you will need

• a knife with spare blades, a wide scraper, pliers;
• a heat gun or adhesive remover;
• a sander or sanding block, P60–P80 abrasive paper;
• a vacuum cleaner;
• wood filler;
• vinyl roll flooring, adhesive, sealant;
• a threshold profile for the entrance door.

Step 1. Remove the carpet

Cut the carpet into strips 30–40 cm wide and take them up one at a time. It will not come out in one piece: it runs under the furniture.

It will be fixed in one of two ways:

• with staples. It comes up easily, but several hundred staples are left behind. Pull every one out with pliers: a staple driven flush will rust in time and show through as a stain;
• with adhesive. It takes effort to remove, and a layer of glue and pile stays on the plywood.

Under the furniture, cut the carpet along the outline with the knife, tight to the plinth. There is usually no need to remove furniture for the sake of the floor.

Step 2. Remove the adhesive residue

Old adhesive is softened with the heat gun and lifted with the scraper. Where heat does not help, use adhesive remover. Work with the windows and door open: in such a small space solvent fumes build up quickly.

After the scraper, go over the floor with P60–P80 paper. The aim is not to get back to bare plywood but to leave the surface smooth to the touch and not tacky.

Step 3. Stains and smell

There are almost always dark stains on the plywood under the carpet. They are of two kinds.

• Marks from the adhesive and the carpet itself. Dry, odourless, the plywood is hard. This is cosmetic; it will not be seen under the covering.
• Marks from leaks. Dark tide marks with a defined edge, plywood softer than nearby, and a smell. Find the source: a window, a roof light, a body seam. Until the leak is fixed, the new floor must not go down.

Treat surface mould with a fungicide and let the plywood dry. Once the carpet is out, it does the caravan good to stand for a few days with the windows open.

Step 4. Prepare the base

• fill staple holes, sheet joints and gouges with wood filler;
• once dry, sand flush;
• vacuum up the dust;
• if the plywood is very absorbent, apply a primer compatible with your adhesive.

A 2 mm covering follows the relief of the base. Whatever you can feel with your hand will show.

Step 5. Cutting

A caravan body is usually more than two metres wide: 2.1–2.3 m. But the free floor between the furniture is generally narrower, because sofas, kitchen and cupboards run along the sides. So one sheet down the walkway is often enough.

If the free floor is wider than 2 m, the sheets are joined. Place the joint:

• along the caravan, not across the walkway;
• where there is least foot traffic: by the furniture plinth rather than down the middle.

A cardboard or paper template saves material and nerves: caravan furniture gives you a lot of corners and cut-outs.

Step 6. Bonding

The sequence is the same as in a van: fold back half the sheet, apply adhesive, roll out from the middle, roll down, repeat. The steps are set out in detail in the guide to fitting vinyl in a van, and the requirements for the adhesive in the article on adhesive for vans.

Self-adhesive tiles and planks are best avoided in a caravan. Caravans stand in the sun for months, and an adhesive layer designed for room temperature lets go: the tiles shift and the joints open.

Step 7. Edges and junctions

• Furniture plinths. The edge of the covering is trimmed tight and covered with a thin angle trim or run with colour-matched sealant.
• Entrance door threshold. An aluminium profile is essential: this is where all the dirt and water arrive.
• Joint between sheets. Closed with welding cord or cold welding (see the article on seam welding).
• Floor hatches. The lid is covered separately in the same material.

What not to do

• Do not lay vinyl over the carpet. The base is soft, the adhesive will not hold and the damp stays inside.
• Do not cover wet plywood. PVC does not let moisture through, and under it the plywood will rot faster than under carpet.
• Do not leave staples. Every one will show through.
• Do not skimp on ventilation after using remover and adhesive.

FAQ

Can I lay vinyl straight over the old lino? If the old covering is bonded over its whole area, flat and not blistered, technically yes. But you cannot see the state of the plywood under it, so in an old caravan it is better to take it up.

How much material does a caravan need? Measure the free floor between the furniture, length and width. If the width is up to 2 m, one sheet the length of the walkway plus 20 cm is enough.

Will the floor be cold without the carpet? The carpet hardly insulated at all: the warmth is held by the insulation inside the floor sandwich. In winter a rug by the bed helps.

How long does the job take? Usually a weekend: a day for removal and preparation, a day for cutting and bonding. If the floor has to dry out, add a few days.

How to clean the new floor and what to avoid: cleaning and maintaining vinyl flooring.