Tent flooring

[Strawstalker/NM]

Hello The Camp: What is the best material to use below your canvas tent floor. The cheap blue poly tarps seem to develop small holes quickly. Looking for something water proof, mildew proof, mold proof, lightweight and will not puncture easily. Any suggestions? Thanks, Dan

 

[Poor Private]

It depends on how big your tent is. In civil war reenacting I use a "gum" blanket as a ground cloth. Of course our tents have no floors in them. :grin:

 

[Blizzard of '93]

just for myself in a small 'pup' tent I use conifer boughs with the large branches trimmed off. overlayed and packed down. been years since I did that though.

 

[Many Klatch]

I have been using the same piece of EPDM roofing for over 15 years in the floor of my tent. Go to a commercial roofing company or a building supply house that sells to roofing contractors. Ask to buy a piece of .045 EPDM. Should cost you about $50 per 10' X 10' piece. Better yet, if you know any roofers ask them if they have any scraps. Since EPDM comes in rolls up to 40' X 100' a scrap can be pretty big. The EPDM that I got was tearoff from an older roof. I had to scrub the mud off it but it was free. You can cut it to size with Fiskars scissors. If you punch a hole in it, you can repair it with a tire patch.

EPDM is black and totally waterproof. There are also white TPO roofs out there but they come in more narrow sheets and the seams would have to be heat welded with a special machine before you could use it.

Many Klatch

 

[michael dismukes]

Hey buddy- We have a 10x11x7 wedge (Panther) and my wife insisting on having a floor cloth... but I'm a real cheap b**stard... sooooo I went down to the local Harbour Freight store and bought a canvas painter's drop cloth ($12), brushed on two coats of Thompson's water seal ($8) and so far (season & 1/2) it's held up pretty good. Hose off the dirt & line dry (NEVER put canvas away even remotely damp) and it looks PC to boot. I'm also going to take it with me as a shelter on my next trek (I have sewn canvas ties on each corner). Just my two cents.... Good luck!

 

[Coot]

We have a large wedge and, under the canvas floor, use a piece of clear plastic sheeting as sold by Lowes and Home Depot by the roll. We use a heavy grade & cut a piece to match the floor shape including the bell. Duct tape will patch any small holes or tears. When it gets too beat up we toss it & cut another. Generally lasts 10-12 camps. Waterproof & cheap.

 

[ameling]

The cheap blue poly tarps seem to develop small holes quickly.

Those poly tarps are WOVEN tarps. They generally are pretty water resistant, but they are WOVEN, and water will work through it. When they first became available, a lot of farmers bought them to cover stacks of hay bales - because they were sold as "waterproof", and tougher than plastic sheeting. They found out the hard way. Anywhere that water could puddle they started dripping through eventually. A lot of hay molded and rotted.

For a ground clothe in a tent, a friend went down to the local farm supply store and bought several canvas tarps specifically made to cover grain wagons. That size fits the wedge tents for his kids, and several cover the floor in their big wall tent. They are canvas, and waterproofed about as good as you can with canvas. They chose the "tan" colored instead of the green.

I use a "scrap" piece of very good quality tan canvas - marine boatshrunk vivitex. This is the stuff used when they make up those pop-up modern campers. It takes a very long time for any water puddled on it to work its way through. But I've also used painters dropclothes treated with Thompsons.

Hope this helps.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' Germam blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

 

[Poor Private]

If your looking for rubber sheeting, go to any box store that sell outside ponds. they have sheeting there also by the foot.

What I use under my "dog" tent is a civil war period ground cloth fits just right. sit is made of rubber sheeting by Goodyear. Another way is the canvas(painters cloth) and if you like it you can paint designs in it using latex paint. Some of the ground cloths were actually floor covering
just remember if it's wet plastic or rubber sheeting can be a bit slick.

 

[trent/OH]

I have found Tyvek to work well, but with rwo caveats: when it is new, it makes a LOT of noise when it crinkles. Walk around on it, beat it up for awhile smehow, and it quiets down. Also, it doesn't hold grommets well, they tear out fairly easily.
I've only seen it in a white color. You can talk to a builder about saving you some, or just buy some from him.

 

[bent barrel]

For the floor of my wedge I bought some thick black plastic visquin and put that under my canvas. The corners of the canvas floor have grommets so I stack those down. The canvas moves around on top of the plastic since it's slick. Cheap and works good.

 

[Poor Private]

You have to be careful what you use on your floor, some events,rhond's are jurried and you may not be allowed to participate.
In civil war reenacting there are some events that inspect your kit before you can set up. If it doesn't meet the event guidelines you can't use it. It has happened to a couple of guys who brought a big 64 cooler. Nothing like staying in shape by running back and forth to your car in the far off parking lot for breakfast food, or that period correct drink( :wink: ).

 

[OTHERN]

If being Period correct is needed then this will not work, otherwise go to your local billboard company and ask about a used outdoor billboard they have taken down. Bill board advertisments are now printed on big sheets of super strong plastic and are white on the back and can be cut to fit any floor size.

Othern

 

[MacTavish]

We have used the poly-woven shipping covers from the pre-engineered wood products, such as wood floor trusses. The lumber yards that sell these to the local contractors have way too many and are only too happy to give them away. Yep they may be ripped in several places, and they may make a noise until 'broken-in' and they are in many different sizes and various colours depending upon the manufacturer, but they are free, you can put down more than one layer and they smell much better than the new plastic shower curtain I've heard some folks use.

 

[phamil]

I use a similar trick as the painter's canvas tarp treated with Thompson's Water Seal, except I have put two coats of dark brown latex paint so that it looks like oil cloth. So far it has been waterproof and worked really well after 6+ years of use.

 

[OscarWeldo]

I am looking for a roof repair company which can suggest the best quality roofing products for the roof.

 

[necchi]

I am looking for a roof repair company which can suggest the best quality roofing products for the roof.

I don't understand your post friend.
This topic is/was about flooring. How does your question in a 14yr old thread about flooring even apply here?
What actual trouble do you have?

 

[Rfp10000]

We have a large wedge and, under the canvas floor, use a piece of clear plastic sheeting as sold by Lowes and Home Depot by the roll. We use a heavy grade & cut a piece to match the floor shape including the bell. Duct tape will patch any small holes or tears. When it gets too beat up we toss it & cut another. Generally lasts 10-12 camps. Waterproof & cheap.

Basically did the same thing only cut the plastic sheet about 10” smaller than the floor around the borders so rain water didn’t accumulate between the plastic and the tent bottom . I bought the thick plastic sheeting.

 

[Gun Tramp]

This topic is/was about flooring. How does your question in a 14yr old thread about flooring even apply here?

Roofing, flooring, jeez that's just the usual thread drift.

 

[appalichian hunter]

We use one of those cheap plastic tarps (as said they will develop wear marks or holes just patch with a piece of duct tape) you can buy then an older piece of canvas over that, as all our tentage has sod cloths the sod cloth goes under the tarp then the canvas goes over the tarp also stake the corners of the canvas floor, been through some pretty wet weather and the floor set up stays dry.

 

[hawkeye2]

I bought a cheap painter's drop cloth and cut it to fit in the tent. Laid a plastic drop cloth on an old pressure treated platform out back and painted the top side (only) of the canvas with inexpensive brick red latex paint thinned 50% with water. It seems to work well and is easy to clean.