7 Reasons Why Ember Uses Composite Flooring to Enhance Quality and Owner Experience

When shopping for an RV, most customers probably don’t think much about the flooring that resides beneath carpet, vinyl, or linoleum coverings. This is understandable to some degree, because that flooring is invisible to the customer. Most RV floors are built using OSB (oriented strand board)/chipboard or tongue and groove plywood. But there is a new generation of composite flooring that offers several distinct advantages to RV owners who are searching for products of exceptional quality and construction.

Our recently launched Overland and Overland Micro series of trailers all feature composite flooring that will last for years to come and help your RV maintain its value over the long haul.

The benefits of using composite flooring are numerous, but here are the top 7 reasons why it enhances overall quality and owner experience:

1. 1. Composite Flooring is Waterproof: This may be the primary advantage gained when using composite flooring in an RV. Plywood can last for years and years, but sometimes it can suffer from water damage and rot. Spending time remediating mold or mildew issues in an RV is also not our idea of a good time. Composite flooring is not just waterproof, it is also resistant to mold and mildew.
   2. Composite Flooring is Lighter: When it comes to building RVs, lighter is often considered to be better, if quality and strength are not compromised. Composite flooring is typically lighter than plywood, allowing for more cargo carrying capacity and easier towability.
   3. Composite Flooring is Environmentally Friendly: The composite flooring that Ember has chosen for Overland and Overland Micro is 100% recyclable and environmentally friendly. Ridge Corporation, the company that produces our composite flooring, called TransCore™, prioritizes using safe and sustainable materials to divert valuable resources from landfills and create products that “eliminate the thought of waste.”
   4. Single Piece Construction: The composite flooring in Overland and Overland Micro is formed from waterproof, inert glass, and polypropylene. It is formed using heat bonding, which fuses the layers together in a complete, single piece—which makes installation more precise and repeatable. The single-piece construction of our composite flooring also eliminates squeaking because there are no separate pieces rubbing together. Wood flooring can develop squeaks over time, and sometimes can even be squeaky in a brand-new RV. The sound of squeaky wood is created when separate pieces of flooring rub together and can be very pronounced in small spaces.
   5. Screw Retention is Excellent: Buying an RV with superior screw retention has probably not been on the top of your list of wants and needs for a new rig in the past. But screw retention is incredibly important by any measure. Why? Because when towing an RV down the road at highway speeds it may have to endure significant bouncing and jostling. Strong screw retention is pivotal for maintaining value and keeping our RVs in great shape for years to come.
   6. Composite Flooring Inhibits Insect Infestation: There are many reasons to love composite flooring, unless you are an insect looking to chew and feed on an RV’s plywood floor. Composite flooring is resistant to insect infestation and the damage that it can cause. Remediating insect damage can be costly and difficult work.
   7. Composite Flooring Retains Resale Value: Because composite flooring is waterproof, and because it prevents insect infestation, an RV with a composite floor has more value built in and will help retain significant resale value for years to come.

At Ember, our mission is to build a better RV by building a better RV company. For us, part of that means using the best materials in highly visible places and in foundational places that are harder for the customer to see. We get excited about sourcing great composite flooring materials because we know that it will add value to our RVs for years to come. Composite flooring may cost more than traditional wood flooring, but it provides incredible, substantial value.