Home Decorating

[Bildon]

OK so I pulled the trigger on a brand new 24' Haulmark Race yesterday.
Silver, white walls and ceiling, Vendor door/window, 110v package.

Now the next task is to finish the floor and plan for cabinets. I'm thinking about 2 flooring options and I'm looking for racer feedback.

Option A) a tile, 'rubber' or linoleum type flooring that can be glued down by me.
http://www.brucelitton.com/Bruce_Litton_Tr.../Prestige_k.JPG
or
http://www.bltllc.com/commercial_industrial_floor.htm

Option an Epoxy paint on coating (Like U-Coat It)

Anyone have any experience or advice on which way to go?
I want it to look professional and also want to keep it clean. So I dont want anything remotely pourous.

- Bill

[lateapex911]

Of the choices I really like the roll flooring shown in grey with the "coin" raised dots. JMHO,

[tderonne]

The BLT products were discussed a while back at one of the racing sites I frequent. THe ribbed style is available at Sam's Club as a "Garage Floor Protector". A 9x20 piece is $138, less than $1 per square foot, hard to beat.

Sam's Club 9x20 Garage Floor Protector

[seckerich]

I used an epoxy floor paint and did the first coat smooth and followed with a rough nylon roller for the second coat. Very easy to clean and is not slick. Also easy to repair and clean.

[JohnRW]

I did a two-part epoxy coating on my trailer floor about 6 years ago.

The wood floor had not been previously painted coated, unless maybe had a light clear seal coat. Used a 'surface tolerant' epoxy on the floor and ramp door. It's held up reasonably well, but has gotten a bit 'chalky' in places. Hot tires will leave telltale marks, and any spilled gas raises hell with it unless cleaned immediately.

I'd be tempted to try either the 'garage mat' stuff mentioned above, or else try 'spray-on truck bed liner' which some people have used to good results.

The 'mat' stuff isn't really appropriate for the ramp door, and as the epoxy coatings I've seen get sorta chalky from UV light exposure, I'd opt for the spray-on bed liner there.

The black and white checkerboard floors give me a headache. If I had a trailer with that floor, I'd burn it.

I sorta remember somebody used a marine two-part epoxy, like used to paint off-shore oil platforms, and really liked it. Gotta find some of that...without the barnacles.

[joeg]

Marble or granite strikes my fancy....

[charrbq]

Marble or granite strikes my fancy....
[/b]

And the new congoleum comes in such festive colors!

[Knestis]

I used the gray circle stuff (a rip-off of the Pirelli flooring that was so expensive) in the back of my old van. It was great and the best feature was that, when it came time to sell the van, I simply threw out the mat and the floor looked brand new.

K

[Festus E. Simkins]

Why not the pick up truck bed linner stuff. Its really tough and non skid. Will withstand just about everything.

[Bildon]

The BLT products were discussed a while back at one of the racing sites I frequent. THe ribbed style is available at Sam's Club as a "Garage Floor Protector". A 9x20 piece is $138, less than $1 per square foot, hard to beat.
Sam's Club 9x20 Garage Floor Protector
[/b]

Thanks guys
Tim, I really like this idea. Cost, ease of cleaning, I can install it easily myself. Also toying with the linoleum idea though.

OK so I think I've come up with an affordable solution to getting metal cabinets. I know we all want the slick Lista and Moduline type aluminum stuff but how about this?

I have a friend who recommended a local sheet metal guy that has sheet stainless and sheet steel in addition to large sheers and bending brakes. So I thought how about framing up cabinents with a simple wooden frame and them having this guy "skin" the frame with white sheet steel? (I'm guessing Alum is too $$)
All I would have to do is find myself some metal doors to hang on it. He can definately make me a stainless counter top..that's what he often does for kitchens.

Thoughts????? Where can I get doors like these? Wood, Steel, Alum, not picky..it's all about price.

[mowog]

I guess my flooring is a bit different than most, but I think works well, looks nice, doesn't cost much, and isn't difficult to install. The trailer came with the checkerboard tile. This looks nice when new, but that doesn't last long. (White tiles on the floor of a car trailer??? Anybody else see a problem with this? ) The front by the door is rubber, the type used in the back of pickups, bought it from JC Whitney (universal styling, the cut to fit type, IIRC it comes in ribbed or diamond plate). I think it's something like 6' x8'. Rearward, where the car is, I put down two thin - ie lightweight - strips of aluminum diamond plate (eBay, quite reasonable even after shipping - but they are 4 foot sections, not one piece). Between the two diamond plate runners is a remnant piece of marine carpet - black to match the rubber strip and the few visible black checkerboard tile. All the mud, dirt, oil, whatever, from the car goes onto the carpet, which I occasionally vacuum. At the track or between vacuuming, a stiff garage broom makes everything including the carpet look decent, and takes just a few minutes. The marine carpet is key, it's rubber backed so things don't spill thru to the flooring underneath. Get decent stuff with a good backing. Add a few hardware store carpet trim pieces, and it looks quite good.

My trailer came with bottom cabinets, but not upper. Just as well, I wanted to be able to put my helmet and other light stuff too tall for standard trailer uipper cabinets I've seen from Pace and others. I took some white plastic cabinets, the type sold by Kmart, Walmart, Lowes, etc. for laundry rooms and such, trimmed to fit (the front cap area is rounded so square don't do it), and made aluminum brackets to attach to the top, back, and side. They ain't goin' nowhere! They don't quite match the bottom cabinets, but don't stand out either. I could probably skin them with thin white aluminum to match if I wanted to. Now I can put my helmet, shoes, socks, HANS, etc. in one cabinet, food, radios, tire temp tool, and shop manual in the other. In between the two is a 4' shelf (wire type, light weight and cheap at Lowes or Home Depot). Heavy stuff in the bottom cabinets of course.

My trailer isn't long enough to fit the ATV (goes on the rubber mat when travelling) and a closet, but if it were, I'd go in this direction instead of the L type lower cabinets in the picture. Closets seem much nicer than hanging everything from hooks on the walls.

[Bildon]

Of the choices I really like the roll flooring shown in grey with the "coin" raised dots. JMHO,
[/b]

OK I liked Jakes idea so I shopped around. There is pretty much 1 company making this stuff "BLT"

The cheapest I found ($345) was here and here:
http://aisle77.com/gp-garage-floor-mats-coin.htm
http://www.pacificprodux.com/CN822.html

Free Shipping! Ships next day via FedEx ground from that Aisle77 place.

The thinner ribbed flooring is even less at $235 for an 8x22' roll.

I'm thinking of putting down contact cement to keep it from moving round on me in the trailer what do you think?

[JamesB]

Contact cement will work just fine Bill. However, any seams you end up with and the edges should be sealed with some silicon. Oil and or water can make the cement break is bond. At least its happen to me when doing stuff like that.

[Bildon]

There should be no seems as this is full width and full length. one end will be under the cabinets and the other end by the ramp door I have planned to screw down underneath a strip of diamondplate. the edges I plan to screw down with thin strips of aluminum. Hopefully this will work.

[supersmile]

There should be no seems as this is full width and full length. one end will be under the cabinets and the other end by the ramp door I have planned to screw down underneath a strip of diamondplate. the edges I plan to screw down with thin strips of aluminum. Hopefully this will work.
[/b]

Be careful. I used the BLT flooring in my previous trailer. It changes size by quite a lot with temperature changes. I retained it with stripes of etrack and other tiedowns and it only laid flat after that when the temperature was the same as when I laid it, with was in the early springtime. It also stains very easily if oil or transmission fluid sits on it.

[mowog]

I found it was a bit slippery, especially when wet. If I put things on the floor without restraining them, they would slide around and usually end up against the race car.


How do you post pictures? Does it require a web site?

[lateapex911]

How do you post pictures? Does it require a web site?
[/b]

When you post, look down to "browse" and click it. then navigate your files, and choose the pic you'd like to post. Then when the window lists your navigation track, hit "Add this attachment" and it will appear in your post when you hit "Add reply" as a thumbnail. If you have a site, you can host it yourself and have it appear full size...I think...I have no hosting capability.

[mowog]

Hopefully this shows up OK...



[attachmentid=362]

[mowog]

I'm not sure if the picture shows up OK, but if so you can see the upper cabinets I mentioned, and the flooring - all very cheap stuff, functional, easy to install, and I think looks good. Unfortunately I don't have a better picture, this was taken after a bit of a flail so stuff is lying everywhere. The "tire rack" is the side fenders and 1/2" electrical conduit, 4 tires to a side. Since my wheels are 13x6, this works for me. Probably larger wheels would mean 3 to a side, so might not work for everyone. Hopefully the ideas provide some additional food for thought.

[benspeed]

I recently bought some steel cabinets, racks & stuff from saferacer.com - Pit Pal type quality for much less $$.

Cheers,

Ben