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Materials
The materials selected are the most significant contributing factor to the overall long term quality
of your floor.
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| Somerset Flooring |
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| Flexible Adhesive |
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| Mapei Keralastic |
You have an amazing array of choices for hardwood flooring in your RV. They all have one thing in common, they are engineered
with a plywood substrate and a wood wear layer. The thickness will range from 5/16" all the way up to 3/4" thick and
widths are available from 2 1/4" to 5". The 5" wide material will only be available in 1/2" or greater thickness.
The widths and thicknesses that you can use may depend on how your slide mechanisms work. Many mechanisms will not
tolerate a thicker floor, so if you only have room for vinyl, then hardwood may not be an option.
Regardless of what you select for flooring, the adhesive must be flexible. The best that I have found for wood is SikaBond
T-55. For tile, the same flaxability rules apply, use Mapei Kerabond mixed with Mapei Keralastic. Both of these adhesives
are difficult to work with, but it's necessary for a durable floor. A flexible adhesive is necessary not from the road vibration,
but for the minor twisting that occurs when the levelling jacks are deployed.
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| Slot routing jig |
Fabrication
Step one, make a few jigs. Without absolute precision, an error of 1/64" easily turns into a 1/8" gap in the corner of
the inlay. A good inlay has no gaps bigger than 1/64" anywhere over it's entire surface. Tip: use an exacto knife to make
cuts instead of a pencil. The thickness of a pencil line is not precise enough for inlay work.
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| 120 Pieces, 3 Sides per |
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| Block in Jig |
A jig helps you to make a large number of identical pieces, it also speeds up production. Spend time making your jigs.
Make them precise and make them durable. The 200th piece out of a jig needs to be identical to the 1st piece out of the jig.
Not pictured is the length cutting jig. This is nothing more than a piece of 1x2 maple clamped to a knife mark on the back
edge of the radial arm saw table.
When working with inlays, and floors in general, it is often necessary to "reverse" the floor, this means that the orientation
of the tongues will flip 180 degrees. To accomplish this, a spline joint is used. Standard 3/4" floors all use the same spline,
but no such standard exists for engineered floors, so you often have to make your own spline joint (aka reversing tongue)
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| Spline Cutting Jig |
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| Close Up On Grooving |
Once all the pieces have been cut to size, then the edges need to be eased and sealed. Pre-finished wood flooring all
has micro bevels ont he edges. This accounts for the subtle differences in height that arise from moisture content and the
subfloor.
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| Finishing the edges |
Each edge gets a small bevel on the power belt sander. If the wood is in contact with the belt for more than a half a
second, it's too much and it's time to make another piece.
Then a coat of stain sealer, matching the finish of the wood, is applied to prevent the absorbtion of spills and to avoid
tha appearance of white naked wood lines in the inlay.
The picture at the right shows a before and after of the edges on the dark sections of flooring in the kitchen floor
inlay.
Borders and Corners
The final dimensions of the inlay are determined by the pattern and width of the perimeters. Start the layout
by selecting a base size, then cut the pattern to get close. The corners must end on a full pattern.
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| OshKosh Border |
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