Carpet to fiberglass

[mvande21]

My carpet in our boat is beyond saving. I would like to replace the carpet this spring before the season starts. I also was thinking about doing some sort of non skid epoxy then do a snap in carpet on top of that. Has anyone done anything like this? What materials did you use? I was thinking on trying some of that sealant that you use on decks and garages maybe. Am I on the right track to work with or is this a bad idea?
I think the one thing I would have to do is install a drain line from the cockpit to the bilge pump if I choose to do fiberglass.

 

[DeepBlue2010]

What boat we are talking about, year & model?

 

[mvande21]

1987 Powerplay Conquest 230

 

[drewm3i]

Mod EDIT: Drew, check your private messages, accessed thru the My Messages just to the left of your user name at the top right corner of any forum page. Thanks, John

 

[Woodonglass]

A vinyl type flooring can be a nice solution but...It can also be very slippery when wet!!! There are some that are specifically designed for marine use with anti-skid built in.

 

[sphelps]

If water somehow gets under a vinyl floor wouldn't that be as bad as carpet ?
No experience with vinyl so just curious ...

 

[DeepBlue2010]

Removing the carpet is not the hard part. Removing all the glue under this carpet is what you will be spending most of your time doing. What I do, on small areas, is to soak the carpet with 3M adhesive remover or Xylene (the former being much stronger and my personal preference) and allow it time to work a bit and then the carpet will be completely separated and can be removed easy. In your case and for the whole entire carpet, I would take the risk of soaking a large area with flammable liquid and hope for the best. Too risky not to mention these products are not cheap either.

You can go Hercules style as I did with mine and use these products to clean up later. Soaking the surface with a roller and then collect the glue with a bronze wool (not steel) worked the best. Anything else like paper product to wipe the glue or scrappers, etc did not work as good, at least for me. If you are planning to put another carpet, you don't have to go crazy and remove every microscopic piece of glue just enough for the new glue to bond to clean surface and your are good. Any other finish will require all the glue to be gone completely which might require some sanding/grinding after removing the glue.

If it were my boat, I would take the easy route and just put another marine carpet out there and go boating. My next option will be to gelcoat the deck or use one of these non-skid deck coating products if I don't want any carpet on deck (I fish a lot so carpet is not an option for me)

keep in mind also that a boat of this vintage might start telling you few things that you did not want to hear once you remove this carpet. Soft spots on the deck are indicators of a complete mess under deck. Now I am not saying don't do it or making things complicated for you. Only trying to shed some light on what might be laying down the road so you be prepared and make informed decisions.

 

[mvande21]

Thanks for the input. My brother-in-laws neighbor does upholstery for a living so he said that he might be able to figure something out in the spring. The floor feels and seems pretty solid, but like you said, you never know until you tear into it. Hopefully it is just a simple re upholstery and nothing structurally involved.

 

[gm280]

I read and have read a lot of boat repairs on these forums. And a lot of folks don't like carpet because it is so hard to keep clean. But I had carpet in nearly every boat I ever owned. And I never had any issues with keeping it clean and new looking. I like carpet, especially for fishing, because it is quite. When you move around in the boat, the nose is at a minable. So I will go the carpet route for my boats.

But everybody has their own likes and there is no right or wrong way to do things. And that includes how anybody sets up their boat as well. All I suggest is go with a flooring option that won't be slippery. Straight paint or Gel Coat will be really slippery if not mixed with a sand to help with traction. So whatever you choose, just make it safe. :thumb:

 

[ondarvr]

If water somehow gets under a vinyl floor wouldn't that be as bad as carpet ?
No experience with vinyl so just curious ...

Yes, something that most people here haven't seen with vinyl is that over several years you end up with small nicks, cuts, gouges, rips, etc in the vinyl, water goes through these and and never gets out. A low end option for flooring on new boats is vinyl over marine ply, it works OK, but over time the wood takes on water and becomes very heavy, and possibly rots. In this part of the country many alumuinum boat builders use it as their base low cost option, you can upgrade from there.

 

[drewm3i]

A vinyl type flooring can be a nice solution but...It can also be very slippery when wet!!! There are some that are specifically designed for marine use with anti-skid built in.

Yup, I have marideck and it is made for marine use. I also replaced my matted carpet and went with the faux teak marideck on my '99 Chaparral cruiser:









If you are interested, I'm happy to share how I did it!

 

[harleyman1975]

That marideck looks awome! I was wondering if anybody has considered a "spray on liner" such as raptor liner. These are polyurethane so their waterproof. They only require a "shootz gun" and a compressor to apply, come in a 5 qt kit, are tintable, and can be applied as a non skid surface.

 

[Woodonglass]

Lot's of folks have used the Bed Liner products with mixed reviews. Just like with vinyl, it will nick and scratch and then the wood core is compromised. I guess with the Bed Liner stuff, it would be easyto patch.:noidea:

 

[drewm3i]

Lot's of folks have used the Bed Liner products with mixed reviews. Just like with vinyl, it will nick and scratch and then the wood core is compromised. I guess with the Bed Liner stuff, it would be easyto patch.:noidea:

The vinyl is 80 mil and very durable. I drop tools on it all the time (including a hammer, drill, etc.) and it doesn't leave a mark. Doesn't stain either. The only way to puncture this stuff is with a straight edge and a bunch of force. The vinyl is the way to go IMO. It is completely waterproof. I also have glass over my deck though.

 

[mvande21]

Something else to consider. My Powerplay is approaching 30 years old. I am a new boat owner (this is my first one), so I really do not know how much money I want to stick in my first boat. Vinyl does look awesome but carpet is much more cost effective. I thought if I could get a brush on application for a non skid surface, and then get a carpet snap in, I was going to go that route. Remember, I would have to plumb a hole and drain line in (I would think) from the cockpit area to the bilge pump for the excess water to go to. Love seeing the input so far. Thank you all for all the suggestions.

 

[drewm3i]

Something else to consider. My Powerplay is approaching 30 years old. I am a new boat owner (this is my first one), so I really do not know how much money I want to stick in my first boat. Vinyl does look awesome but carpet is much more cost effective. I thought if I could get a brush on application for a non skid surface, and then get a carpet snap in, I was going to go that route. Remember, I would have to plumb a hole and drain line in (I would think) from the cockpit area to the bilge pump for the excess water to go to. Love seeing the input so far. Thank you all for all the suggestions.

Just FYI I got 8.5' x 20' of the vinyl roll for around $400.

 

[ondarvr]

The vinyl is 80 mil and very durable. I drop tools on it all the time (including a hammer, drill, etc.) and it doesn't leave a mark. Doesn't stain either. The only way to puncture this stuff is with a straight edge and a bunch of force. The vinyl is the way to go IMO. It is completely waterproof. I also have glass over my deck though.

This is the common response on this site, but the hundreds of people around here that change the flooring away from vinyl have a different opinion. I have friends that have done it twice in the same boat and finally changed to diamond plate aluminum, which is a and one and done flooring option. There are also some other thermoplastic sheets that work well, but aren't as well known.

For the OP I would just use gel coat or something similar, it will easy and hold up well, then just use the snap in carpet when desired.

As for fishing with carpet, it just depends what you fish for, and how. Targeting catch and release bass with artificials would be fine with carpet, going after tuna with chunking and live bait, then bringing tuna into the boat would waste the carpet in one trip, old chum would leave a nice odor too. My option, unless there are bikinis on the boat, no carpet, ever.

 

[NorthwestChap]

I really like the way my deck turned out in my restore. I used gelcoat with fumed silica and a texture gun to get the finish. Time will tell how it lasts, but I am pleased so far. Comfortable under the feet, outstanding wet traction, and relatively easy to clean. I was planning on adding snap in carpet, but am reconsidering that idea.

 

[drewm3i]

This is the common response on this site, but the hundreds of people around here that change the flooring away from vinyl have a different opinion. I have friends that have done it twice in the same boat and finally changed to diamond plate aluminum, which is a and one and done flooring option. There are also some other thermoplastic sheets that work well, but aren't as well known.

Yeah, I 100% disagree with this. You've seen people rip up the teak? The teak is their premium product and is 80 mil, the other colors are around 28 mil. That's a HUGE difference in thickness. My roll also weighed upwards of 70 lbs, so this stuff is thick and heavy duty. Now I don't fish, so that may be a consideration, but I do dive, grill, camp, etc. Also, I keep this boat indoors and when in use I use a bimini top, but still this stuff will last YEARS. If people don't cover the boat of course the vinyl won't last. Oh, and the vinyl does stain it's just the teak color hides stains amazingly! Very happy with this stuff and think it's easier to do than gel coat.

 

[ondarvr]

If you were referring to the teak type flooring, then yes, that stuff holds up, the normal vinyl used as boat flooring doesn't.