Wood laminate flooring as wall paneling?

[ainley53]

My Uncle's friend is redoing the floors in their house. They had wood laminate floors. The gave it to me. I'm doing the floor of my bus (Hannah) with it. I was just wondering how it would work as wall paneling over one inch of Poly against the walls of the bus. I had originally intended to use 1/2" or 3/4" plywood for the walls because I wanted really strong anchor material. And yes I am aware of the weight of that thickness of plywood. I carried each of those 6 sheets about 6 times from purchase to installation. Thanks in advance for all comments and suggestions.

 

[Gary68]

put some 1x2 or 2x2 cleats top,bottom and most likely middle and screw it to them and it should do fine,got to like the price
did you hear how much plywood weights?

 

[ainley53]

put some 1x2 or 2x2 cleats top,bottom and most likely middle and screw it to them and it should do fine,got to like the price
did you hear how much plywood weights?

No. But I can tell you from recent experience that a full 4' x 8' sheet of 3/4" plywood is not light.

 

[rvpopeye]

In a previous life I built homes and as we also installed our own kitchens we would put extra horizontal (and vertical) framing to screw the cabinets to before the sheetrockers showed up.
You could do this to attach the flooring and any other things you will want to attach to the walls/ceiling. You could use some trim over the screw heads like wainscoting.....

And a big 10-4 on how much 3/4 ply weighs , just be glad it wasn't 1+1/4" floor underlayment!
I was the lucky one to get to move all the sheet goods ,cut them if needed and carry them to the guys that installed them ,,,,,,I didn't mind because it meant I didn't have to go up on the ladders ! Vertically challenged !

 

[BradKW]

Most wood laminate flooring products are designed to be installed either as a floating floor system or a glue down. So provided you wanted to use it as a resilient decorative surface on the walls, that would work great if installed over 1/2" ply with adhesive.

But most of those type products won't hold up on their own...the laminate sandwich often includes fiberboard or wafer-thin ply, neither of which have enough integrity to hold screws and not deform over time. Especially in a vehicle where movement will wiggle and enlarge the screw holes...

 

[highdesertranger]

I have never installed it but have seen it done and the always use a plywood underlay. it was nailed with a special gun every 1 foot or so. so you need the plywood to nail to. you just can't have furring strips because the pieces might fall between the furring. highdesertranger

 

[ainley53]

I have never installed it but have seen it done and the always use a plywood underlay.  it was nailed with a special gun every 1 foot or so.  so you need the plywood to nail to.  you just can't have furring strips because the pieces might fall between the furring.  highdesertranger

Thanks. I think I'll stick with my original plan of using plywood for the walls and just stain it or paint it.

 

[masterplumber]

I've installed many different kinds of Laminate floor and I guess it would depend upon what type it is. You might experiment with it in a small area first to see if it's worth the effort. I'd think once you figured a system for attaching it it should hold up fine. Maybe a layer of 1/2'' ply, then pin nail it to the plywood in the grooves, similar to the way real hardwood is installed but but on a lighter scale. Personally I like the look of the 3/8'' closet lining material available at the big box stores. It's tongue and grove and looks real nice when done - check out the Kam Van on the van sub forum for an example. Most of the Tiny homes that have pine panelling use it also. But you can't beat the price of the laminate if you can make it work.