LESLIE: John in Arizona, welcome to The Money Pit. What can we do for you today?
TOM: Now John, your money pit has wheels, huh?
JOHN: Yes, it does. (Tom laughs) Six wheels. It’s a 34-foot motor home …
TOM: OK.
JOHN: … and I have carpeting in the living room and kind of a dining area.
TOM: Alright.
JOHN: And I’d like to get rid of the carpet and find something that’s strong but lightweight that I could put down and make it easier to care for. And I don’t have any idea what to do.
TOM: Oh, you know what would be two solutions for you? The first one would be laminate floor because laminate floor is a little bit thicker than a quarter of an inch. It locks together and it’s a floating floor so the pieces don’t have to be sort of nailed to the subfloor.
JOHN: Oh. Yeah.
TOM: It just sits on top. Sometimes there’s an underlayment that goes underneath it but it sits on top. You’ll just have to figure out a way to trim the edges.
JOHN: Would I leave the carpeting on and (inaudible) …
TOM: No, I wouldn’t – I wouldn’t leave the carpeting on. I would take the carpeting off. You don’t really need that underneath it. I’d strip that down.
JOHN: OK.
TOM: But no, it can go right on top of whatever’s under the carpet.
And then the other option, if you want something that’s like really luxurious looking, is you could put down hardwood flooring but not regular hardwood flooring; something called engineered hardwood flooring. And specifically, Armstrong has one that is called locking hardwood floor. In other words, you don’t need to use glue to put the pieces down.
JOHN: Oh.
TOM: They sort of snap together like a puzzle piece. And they can have a really durable finish on there. So you could actually have a wood – hardwood – floor.
LESLIE: But there are some other options. And since you mentioned Armstrong, while you’re at their website, if you’re shopping around anyway, they have these new 16×16 tiles that are laminate but they’re made to look like cork; they’re made to look like fun colors or patterns.
JOHN: Oh.
LESLIE: And you can mix and match and create your own sort of styling. And those sort of interlock together or just adhere down on a mapping system, depending on which one you choose. But there’s also – if you’re thinking about – I know you don’t want carpet …
JOHN: Yes?
LESLIE: … but something – those floor carpet tiles, which come in, I don’t know, 150 different styles, colors, patterns …
JOHN: Oh.
LESLIE: … and those are …
JOHN: My brother used those in his office.
LESLIE: You know, they’re inexpensive; they’re durable.
JOHN: Yeah.
LESLIE: And the best part is if you mess up one or have a spill or a stain that you can’t get out you can just pop out those carpet tiles and replace them with fresh ones. So you’re not stuck with if you damage something in the middle. And those are some other good options.
JOHN: Sure, good idea. Where would – this Armstrong’s – the interlocking floor, where would I look for that?
TOM: Well, you can go to the website for Armstrong Floors at Armstrong.com. And it’s a product called locking hardwood. It was introduced this year at the International Builders Show. That’s why we know about it. It’s pretty cool stuff.
LESLIE: (overlapping voices) Oh, and it’s so beautiful.
JOHN: Well, I don’t have a website but could like – could I mention a name like Home Depot or Lowe’s (inaudible) …
TOM: Yeah, certainly you could.
JOHN: (inaudible)
TOM: John, the next time you pull the motor home into a town head over to the library. They have internet connections there, OK? (chuckling)
JOHN: Oh, OK. (Tom and Leslie chuckle) OK.
TOM: John, thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT. 888-666-3974. As John rolls the motor home down the highway now with a brand new floor. (chuckling)
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