Floor for a wedge tent???

[melsdad]

I just bought a 12'x12'x8' wedge in barely used condition. I am looking to buy a 12' x 15' 10.oz canvas drop cloth for a floor. I will let the other 3' hang outside the front door under the fly. I plan to piant it with latex paint.

I do have a few questions.

1) any suggestions on color for a floor?
2) should the paint be thinned to help absorb into the canvas?
3) I do plan to paint both sides, is this correct?

Thanks

 

[LRB]

If you're going to paint it, I would thin it. Makes them a tad stiff though. If your concern is a dry floor, I use a drop cloth left natural over visqueen or a plastic tarp. I bought the plastic tarp in a large enough size to trim and have the edges turn up. Having a dry floor is very nice when you get two or three days of rainy weather. Visqueen allows the canvas to slip around a little. Textured plastic holds better.

 

[Coot]

We have used a heavy gauge plastic under our floorcloth for years - keeps your floor dry & if you have to set up in wet conditions, your floorcloth doesn't wind up covered with mud. (easier to hose plastic than scrub canvas when you get home) I buy a roll of heavy gauge plastic at Lowes or HD & cut it to fit. Occasional holes fixed with duct tape & it normally lasts a season. The canvas dropcloths are a tad light & if unpainted will want to bunch up. If painted, they are stiff for folding. If painted a "dirt" color, it will look cleaner.

 

[JohnTulle]

I made a floor and painted it for my 8x10 marquis.
I wanted something decorative, period correct, and not too much work if I could help it. There are always lots of other things to do, after all. :grin:

So after some deep thought, I came up with the idea of a checkerboard. That design goes back centuries, and one color and the canvas makes two. :hmm:

Using a drop cloth from Home Depot or Lowe's, I hemmed the edges to size. Then I pinned it to some very short nap carpet in an out of the way room at work. Squared it up carefully and drew pencil lines across it every foot from 0 to 10'.
Then at right angles I drew lines from the 1' to the 9' line, so I had a grid of 1' squares, 8'x8'.

With the lines in, I painted every other square with an outdoor latex right out of the can. Worked it in with the brush as I went. The result was a medium blue and white (canvas) checkerboard with a 1' border on the long ends.

After drying, I coated it both sides twice with Thompson's Water Seal.

In use, I put a plastic tarp under it and pull the 1-2" extra to the back of the tent where it is never seen. With poles & gear it stays put.

So far, no one where I camp (MN) has a painted floor cloth of any design that I am aware of. It gets a lot of comments and is fun.

How does it wear/handle? Well, the TWS does keep out water, but every staining thing seems to go right through. Same on my kitchen table.
Still, I can sweep it off and go barefoot on a clean floor in my tent! :thumbsup:

I fold it into approx. 18x18" for storage and after 4-5 seasons no cracks or separation. Vary the fold sequence.

I hope that might be useful or at least entertaining.

John

 

[Woods Dweller]

I go along with Coot. I buy heavy gauge plastic, canvas drop cloth, and Hay.

I lay a Layer of Hay in the tent,Make it thicker around the edge of the tent. Next I lay my heavy gauge plastic over the hay. For the canvas drop cloth, I suggest you buy one that is larger than your tent, Wash it. this will make it shrink, pulling the canvas thread closer together.

I take four, 4 foot cotton core's, fold each one in half, [making two 2foot cords] and sew each cord to the 4 corners of my floor tarp.

After I lay my tarp on top of my plastic I run the 4 cords out under the corners of my tent and tie them to the 4 stakes holding the tent down.

This will keep the floor tarp from sliding on the plastic.

Recipe for waterproofing: Heat one quart of turpentine, melt and mix one ounce of white wax. Hang up tarp and paint on wax mixture. Allow it to dry.

 

[flintlock75]

For my wedge tent i have a piece of plstisized canvas, it is brown on one side and white on the other, it fits right up to the walls and is long enough to extend out the door 2 feet if i want. it is water proof and looks like white painted canvas. I also have a persian rug i place over it for a soft warm floor. For my big marquese i have another peice of the same canvas for the floor, this is also covered with rugs. I have found that plain canvas painted or not will let water soak through after a while if set up on wet or damp ground.

 

[ohio ramrod]

Water proof "ground cloth" under the canvas floor is a big help in keeping the floor dry! As to color I like a light brown (the color of dirt ). And a small "rag rug" just inside the door. :idunno: :idunno:

 

[Muskeg Stomper]

For those of you who like having your canvas floor extending outside of the front door flaps, you may want to consider folding it back inside at the first hint of rain. It kind of defeats the purpose of a canvas floor cloth if the rain starts pooling on top of it and runs back inside your tent. 'Course, if you have a tarp set up in front of your tent, this probably isn't an issue.

 

[Poor Private]

Go to a fabric store and check over the fabric used for outdoor furniture. You can get all colors and paterns that have fabric on one side and plastic on the other. Thats what I did. I use a basic cement gray color. I bought enough for my wedge, and dog tent. Didn't break the bank either.

 

[Birdman]

it doesn't hurt to ditch around the perimiter of your tent too to move the water where ya want it when it rains, just an inch or two deep usually is plenty, helps with the water flowing towards the inside n under yer groundcloth or floor, just scratch a couple grooves in the soil around the tents n angle it away from the low side so it flows away from the tent

 

[William O.]

http://tarps.com/canvas.htm
http://www.mytarp.com/double-filled-numbered-duck-covers.aspx

Try these two places to find the size and type canvas you need. IIRC, Tarps.com will cut you the size you need and forgo the brass grommets or sew on cotton webbing straps in place of them.

 

[crockett]

In one of the mountain man journals I read they had a rubberized floor in a diamond tent and the tent leaked but the floor didn't- so there were little puddles of water all over the place.
Consider skipping the floor. With no floor you can walk in and out of the tent without tracking dirt on the floor. Maybe a small tarp under a bedroll might be better.

 

[Robert Egler]

Not in a diamond tent, but I've had the experience of a tent leaking, floor waterproof. Its like having a lake in your tent.

 

[Woods Dweller]

Many years ago I set up my tent in a low spot on the ground. When it rained I was in a foot of water. And that was with a waterproof ground cloth. [Dont set a tent up at night in the darl]