After months of considering all possibilities, we have decided to replace the marble floor in our motorhome. Ever since I dropped the bottle of dealcoholized white wine on it in February, permanently etching it with spill marks, we have been increasingly unhappy with it. We managed to hide the spill marks by etching the entire floor with acid and then rebuffing it by hand but we are still unsatisfied with it. Granted, although it still looks luxurious, it is just completely impractical, very heavy and cold. Some of the tiles have fine, hairline cracks in them and a couple have been chipped, though ever so slightly so we (actually Rick and our neighbour) are tearing it up and replacing it with cork.

We first saw a cork floor at our friends, Mike and Dolores Todd's house and fell in love with it. Aside from the elegance of the cork and the warmth and cushiony feeling on our feet, it is extremely easy to maintain (it is coated with six coats of polyurethane). The overall weight is considerably less than the marble floor too, which is an added bonus. Things won't break as easily if dropped on it and a single tile can be readily replaced if damaged because it isn't glued down. Paul, our neighbour here, is a retired contractor and is being kind enough to help Rick complete the task, which they are doing while I am away. We have chosen a burled design in a neutral colour, which will also hide the bits and pieces of stuff that land on the floor all the time. We have an ultra thin piece of board that we currently put under the kitchen slide when we travel to prevent any wear marks on the marble and we will continue to use it on the cork. We don't seem to have any humidity issues in our coach, partly due to the heating unit and the ventilation system so that shouldn't be an issue either.

So today we went out to Jordan's, a local flooring specialist and ordered it. It will be in later this week and we are looking forward to the installation now that we have made the decision to do it. I had to stop Rick from tearing up the floor now so that I wouldn't have to walk around on the sub floor but it will be something I will look forward to seeing when I get back.