Flooring -- can't decide

[charliem]

[font size="3"]I can't really tell from the HD site, but I'm guessing it's a rigid polyurethane foam board. The claimed R3.3 for 1/2 inch seems a bit optimistic. Polyurethane is usually around R5 per inch, but they may be trying to claim something for the foil layer, which is only effective for radiant heat transfer. Without putting my paws on it I can't tell, but those solid foams will dent and deform under localized pressure, like you're going to put on it with a heel. And definitely don't put vinyl tiles on top. From my experience the rubber foam tiles are best, with rug runners on top to protect against combat boots and dogs. 
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[whoofit]

Charlie, seems to be polyisocyanurate foam. In many instances it replaces OSB sheathing. It is a modified polyurethane. I'm sure they are accounting for the radiant barrier. This type of reflective barrier has served us well in some sleeping pads we use. Here are some sources on the foam composition. http://www.insulation.org/articles/article.cfm?id=IO080105 http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.polyiso.org/resource/resmgr/technical_bulletins/pima_technicalbulletin_405_j.pdf

Here are the tiles we put in the kitchen a few years back. 8mm. Pretty rigid. http://www.lumberliquidators.com/ll/c/Sycamore-Honey-Laminate-Major-Brand-LQ8SH/10036190

Just don't want squishy If I can help it. It hurts a foot condition I've developed hiking. Have all summer to think on this. Maybe  I'll get some pieces in there to do some testing.

Lots of great ideas, pictures and advice in this thread.

[charliem]

[quote source="/post/8450/thread" timestamp="1427321854" author="@whoofit"]Charlie, seems to be polyisocyanurate foam. In many instances it replaces OSB sheathing. It is a modified polyurethane. I'm sure they are accounting for the radiant barrier. This type of reflective barrier has served us well in some sleeping pads we use. Here are some sources on the foam composition. http://www.insulation.org/articles/article.cfm?id=IO080105 http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.polyiso.org/resource/resmgr/technical_bulletins/pima_technicalbulletin_405_j.pdf

Here are the tiles we put in the kitchen a few years back. 8mm. Pretty rigid. http://www.lumberliquidators.com/ll/c/Sycamore-Honey-Laminate-Major-Brand-LQ8SH/10036190

Just don't want squishy If I can help it. It hurts a foot condition I've developed hiking. Have all summer to think on this. Maybe  I'll get some pieces in there to do some testing.

Lots of great ideas, pictures and advice in this thread.[/quote][font size="3"]Looks like an interesting material. I was unaware of Polyiso. It looks like it's intended for "install and go away" type applications like wall and pipe insulation where it doesn't get much traffic after installation. But if you put the semi-rigid tiles on top it might work fine. They should distribute the loads and eliminate any heel mark problems. I like your idea of getting some samples and playing with them. Try a small section on a garage floor before you take on the camper.
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[fasteddieb]

Just finished the flooring project on our 21BHS.

To review, I had seen some interlocking foam rubber tiles on sale at Costco and bought a few packs. Not nearly enough and I never saw them on sale there again. Put down what I had and waited...

A couple months ago I saw what seemed to be the same tiles on sale at a Harbor Freight in Sebring. $9.99 or so for a pack of 4. Bought 3 more packs and finally got around to getting back to the project yesterday and finished up today.

These are the tiles:






When I opened the first package it was clear that while they are obviously the same brand and pattern, the tiles were a much lighter grey:











But the other packages were darker, so now I have 3 slightly different tones.

Good news is that if one is not too anal, its not a huge issue, especially once the carpets are in place, and they get the job done:






Anyway, happy enough with it for now - form follows function and all that! If it bugs us we can try to match colors down the road, and it will be pretty simple now that we have "templates".

[pinstriper]

Eddie da man !!!

One key step in installing the HFT product - and do NOT skip this step - I mean it, do NOT skip it !!!

The step not to be skipped (really, don't skip it) is this: take the tiles out of their cellophane wrappers, hose them down with cold water, drizzle them with dawn dish liquid, scrub with that brush you have in the garage left over from the pressure washer that died but you kept the attachments because hey, why not, and anyway it just paid off, and keep scrubbing until you have a real good lather built up. Then go watch the baseball game, have a few drinks, pass out for the night and get up the next morning. Hose them off, then do nothing with them for a week. Then hose them off again, and dry them.

I find the best way to dry them is to stand over them with a leaf blower.

An alternate procedure to be followed during the off season when there is no live baseball is to have at least one game saved on your DVR, and watch that. I recommend 2003 ALCS Game 7, if you have a choice. Failing that, binge watch a few episodes of The Shield.

If you do not follow this procedure prior to installation, your trailer will smell of benzene and naptha until you throw the tiles out.

Trust me, I have worked this out empirically. Naptha.

[pinstriper]

There is a school of thought that[a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojVQXsP5jdY"] this game [/a]is the way to go, and I can't argue.

[whoofit]

[p]Can't help but wonder how some of these products take a [strong]flame[/strong]. One major advantage of the Al.[/p][p]
[/p][p]Some folks on the web choose the Camplites specifically for the non-outgassing nature of the build. We don't have that issue but have some crazy experience with fire in the middle of the night.[/p][p]
[/p][p]In reality, we haven't found the Al floor to be that horrible with just the OEM rugs and some good Smartwool socks on. Even at 6F outside. For longer term heating and condensation purposes we would like some additional R value.[/p]

[fasteddieb]

If you do not follow this procedure prior to installation, your trailer will smell of benzene and naptha until you throw the tiles out.

Trust me, I have worked this out empirically. Naptha.

Well, as a data point when I put down the first 8 tiles or so quite some time ago, neither Karen nor I noticed any noticeable smell at all. The three sets we bought sat in the trailer for two months, albeit in their packages, again with no obvious odor. We'll see how it is now that they're all down.

In the interest of an unbiased experiment, I'm not going to mention any of this to Karen and see if she picks up on any noxious odors - other than those coming from me and the dogs, of course! So far, organizing the trailer yesterday with all the tiles down there were no complaints.

Anyway, now that they're sized and trimmed, hauling them out and performing the soon-to-be-renowned "Pinstriper Ritual" would not be that huge a deal.