Our lino split full length of kitchen - Need repair ideas

beardedone · Mar 18, 2011

We went to our trailer to camp last Sunday and when I opened the door I was greeted by a disaster. The lino in our Landmark kitchen had split from the front near the stairs down to the kitchen peninsula and then across to the heating vent and then on to the carpeted area of the living room area. What a shock! We had been there three weeks ago and no issue at all. It is a single tear without any frayed edges. Has anybody else had this happen? The entire lino will have to be replaced and I am not in the mood to do that! We feel that there are only 2 viable options, which are to try and glue and it down and live with the visible scar, or pull it all up and use place and press lino tiles. The third option would be a goodwill repair by Heartland, but I don't think that would happen. So realistically I am looking at the glue option as I really don't have anything more to lose.

Invizatu · Mar 18, 2011

I would check with a flooring specialist and find out what they use to seal the seams between two pieces of lino. I had a large kitchen that had congoleum with a seam down the middle and you could not find it if you didn't already know where it was. You could probably squeeze some under both sides and press down and use a plastic putty knife to smooth out what oozes out, would be a good seal and probably not very noticeable. Good luck and keep us posted with your results.

TandT · Mar 18, 2011

I think the bigger question is to find out what caused it. Heat, cold, structural damage? I think that should be addressed before proceeding with repairs. IMHO.

beardedone · Mar 18, 2011

TANDT said:
I think the bigger question is to find out what caused it. Heat, cold, structural damage? I think that should be addressed before proceeding with repairs. IMHO.

I certainly hear you but the issue is the quality of the product and method of installation. The unit was promoted and sold in Canada (The Great White North) and it gets cold here which is what the product should be designed for if they want to market here. We had been out to the trailer and stayed there throughout the winter without issue and then all of a sudden it decides to just rip! It is my opinion that the lino should be glued down to prevent it from lifting. Even if a strip of glue was run down the centre line of the trailer it would be much more functional in preventing this type of thing. There is no glue to hold this lino down anywhere. Just for comparison I owned a fifth wheel that was built up here and the lino was glued down - no issue ever, in the same circumstances.

mesteve · Mar 18, 2011

You know, I am qurious. How much does skimping on something like linoleum glue save the factory?

This is not a dig directly at Heartland, we had a neigbor last summer that had the same problem with SOB.

ankie3467 · Mar 19, 2011

This happened to my sister's springdale too. I thought Heartland was above using substandard products. Have to show a picture of your lino, see if its the same as mine!!

Bob&Patty · Mar 19, 2011

Just to throw a log on the fire...My thought is, if it was glued down completely, it would probably tear while driving. Might even tear worse when it gets cold. 5ers are not a house that doesn't move. There is alot of twisting while on the road, so thats why (probably) the lino is not glued completely down. Instead of repairing, glue the tear and install laminate flooring. I don't think that stick down tiles would work. You might have a bigger mess when it gets cold. There have been very few threads about the lino splitting in the cold. Remember HL buys this stuff like you would. They may have gotten a bad bunch....who knows "what evil lurks behind the doors". JMHO

DougLynne · Mar 19, 2011

Gerry, I'm thinking laminate might be the better solution as well. I would be concerned with new linoleum or tile over the original linoleum and the temperature changes up here. Just my thoughts, hopefull we'll see you at the June Rally and you can again show us your Mods/repairs..../Doug

GOTTOYS · Mar 19, 2011

This same thing came up here last week. I have had the same problem on 3 different SOB trailers. It's very common in the North country where it gets extremely cold. The floor covering is loose laid when the unit is built and the walls and cabinets are placed over the flooring and hold it down. When it gets extremely cold the vinyl shrinks at a different rate than the subfloor. This stretches the vinyl and it will either crack or wind up with a bubble in it when it warms up. Cut it out around the edges (takes about 5 minutes) and replace it with a loose lay vinyl held down around the perimeter with 1/4 round so it can move or use a laminate that will float. Self stick tiles or glue probably won't hold due to the temperature extremes around here that can be a 125 degree swing or even more. Not as major a repair as it may seem. Good luck...Don

kkamshop · Mar 19, 2011

Gluing the vinyl to the subfloor may not be the solution. The manufacturers of vinyl flooring do not intend the product to be in an unheated winter environment.
As others have said, the problem is the shrinkage as temps fluctuate. Many vinyls (for home use) are perimeter glue only and gluing the entire floor down would void the manufacturers warranty.

beardedone · Mar 29, 2011

Well I have been checking into the Allure product at Home Depot and doing some research. There is an indication that this product is not recommended for use in RV's by the manufacturer. I think the issue is the heat range that it will be exposed to, for instance extreme low temps of around -30 or 40 and then high temps of around + 35 or 40 degrees C. Has anyone installed Allure and then left it over a very cold winter and what happened? I am still leaning towards using Allure unless I get a bunch of negative replies. Thanks.

kkamshop · Mar 29, 2011

Gerry, I just posted a link to what you have learned over on rv.net. Here it is again for Heartland readers.

http://www.homedepot.com/hdus/en_US...er_Allure/Docs/AllureNewInstallManual2010.pdf

As I said there, I would probably take my chances - but then I live in a little warmer area and the LM is in a heated storage barn all winter...

Willym · Apr 1, 2011

Gerry,

We used Allure in our stick house washroom. We were not impressed with the manufacturing quality of this product. It was impossible to get tight joints as the individual pieces did not seem to be manufactured square, and some tiles had longer tabs than others which prevented them from mating tightly. However I've used laminate with locking tongues and have had excellent results - very tight joints.

beardedone said:
Well I have been checking into the Allure product at Home Depot and doing some research. There is an indication that this product is not recommended for use in RV's by the manufacturer. I think the issue is the heat range that it will be exposed to, for instance extreme low temps of around -30 or 40 and then high temps of around + 35 or 40 degrees C. Has anyone installed Allure and then left it over a very cold winter and what happened? I am still leaning towards using Allure unless I get a bunch of negative replies. Thanks.

TravelTiger · Apr 1, 2011

Willym said:
Gerry,

We used Allure in our stick house washroom. We were not impressed with the manufacturing quality of this product. It was impossible to get tight joints as the individual pieces did not seem to be manufactured square, and some tiles had longer tabs than others which prevented them from mating tightly. However I've used laminate with locking tongues and have had excellent results - very tight joints.

We used Allure in our stick house and found the same issue, you can see when the pieces don't match up perfectly. However, I have seen another installation over a larger room done by professionals, (a relative's home), and it seemed to look better than ours. I wondered if it was our fault...

One of the keys is that this is a floating floor, not secured to the subfloor. We have quarter-round around the walls of the room that "hold" it, but the floor is not glued down at all. This might help with the expansion/contraction, but I dunno if the individual sections glued together would react well to temperature changes.

ann1951 · Apr 2, 2011

Hi Gerry. We had the same problem the lino ripped and was beyond repair. We put in the self adhesive lino tiles and next fall I took them all out they don't work at all! They lift at the corners due to torquing and twisting when you go down the road then a little dirt goes in between the seams and that is the end of it.

So we bought a thicker more malleable lino lifted the carpet and stapled it in place, the only place I put a little glue is by the door. We left for AZ just after Christmas and I believe that we had some real cold weather around that time. It did bubble up slightly but that was all, same thing when we came back.

I believe that it is better not to glue it all because of the torquing and twisting it might rip it apart. Have a look at the rally
see what you think. Joe

beardedone · Apr 2, 2011

Thanks for the reply. I would like to see yours at the rally for sure. The way things are going it won't be warm enough before then to do the job anyway. That gives me a lot of time to make the final decision. See you there.

beardedone · Apr 2, 2011

ann1951 said:
Hi Gerry. We had the same problem the lino ripped and was beyond repair. We put in the self adhesive lino tiles and next fall I took them all out they don't work at all! They lift at the corners due to torquing and twisting when you go down the road then a little dirt goes in between the seams and that is the end of it.

Joe.

I forgot to ask if it was Allure flooring you used or the 12" place and press tiles.

Gerry

ann1951 · Apr 2, 2011

It was cheap can't remember the name we bought it at totem. also they are a royal pain to take out as well. Joe

Crashk · Aug 1, 2011

Just had the same thing happen to me. I just pulled my Heartland Sundance 5th wheel to get it ready and found my kitchen and rear bedroom floor lino ripped apart. I was wondering if this is because Heartland does not build its trailers for our Canadian climate.

jimtoo · Aug 1, 2011

Hi Crashk,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and Family. We have a great bunch of people here with lots of information and all willing to share their knowledge if needed. I see you have been member for a long time... I hope you have been looking around and getting some help from the forum.

I have heard of a few that had the lino split due to the extreme cold you guys get there... don't know what the cure would be, other than just replace it. I don't know if it would be feasible, but you might think of putting down the glue in strips, of ,,,of,,

,,memory lapse..

.,,not the one whole piece of lino,, but the strips about 3" X 18" or 24" long... looks really good and good water resistance.....Old age thing with the memory.....

Jim M

Our lino split full length of kitchen - Need repair ideas

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