Ideas for flooring a trap door??
#1
08-15-11, 10:24 AM
Ideas for flooring a trap door??
We are replacing the flooring on our back porch/mud room. There is a 17 sq ft trap door that offers cellar access. We like the vinyl square flooring but it weighs about 2-1/2 lbs/sq ft which adds about 40 lbs to the door. We can lift that much now, but being in our late 60's, we won't be able to somewhere down the road. Are there any light weight flooring options for this application??
#2
08-15-11, 10:54 AM
Group Moderator
I'm missing something - what kind of vinyl are you talking about? The kind with which I'm familiar would probably not add 2 1/2# total.
#3
08-15-11, 02:22 PM
The product we are looking at is Earthwerks Pavia Stone. I did miscalculate. The internet info says a box of 20 weighs 42 lbs. These are 16 x 16 tiles rather than 12 x 12, so the weight is about 1.25 lbs/sq ft. With underlayment this product would add about 25 lbs to a 17 sq ft door. I guess sheet vinyl is the answer.
#4
08-15-11, 03:18 PM
The only issue I see with sheet vinyl is keeping the edges glued down, might need a metal molding. Another option would be the glue down vinyl tiles [not the peel and stick]
#5
08-16-11, 08:17 AM
Thanks Mark
You are right. The old vinyl had edge peeling problems. The larger issue here is we got caught up in vinyl snobbery from our designer and the flooring stores, who are saying that only Neanderthals still use vinyl. We found some attractive sheet and I think I can solve the edge problems by molding the edges to clearly define the door. It is not in the traffic pattern and I think will look ok for a mud/laundry/back porch.
#6
08-16-11, 08:30 AM
Group Moderator
Vinyl is still used quite a bit, it's not Neanderthal.
Actually, we're going away from it in our rental units only because we figured out we can put in ceramic for less cash. That said, it is often considered a lower end product and people will opt for tiles or wood because they think those products are higher end (and they may be right but vinyl still has its place).
Actually, we're going away from it in our rental units only because we figured out we can put in ceramic for less cash. That said, it is often considered a lower end product and people will opt for tiles or wood because they think those products are higher end (and they may be right but vinyl still has its place).
#7
08-18-11, 03:46 PM
Could you elaborate?
I have a couple of rentals and am wondering how tile could be cheaper than vinyl. Are you excluding labor? Tile is certainly more durable. My units have the laundry pair in the kitchen and finally in self defense I put in a washer/dryer to keep tenants from tearing up the vinyl with their units.
#8
08-19-11, 12:10 PM
Group Moderator
We bought a couple pallets of tile on clearance for 50¢ a square foot and we do install it ourselves.
