flooring on a 2002 16' princecraft

[DagsHuggy]

New to me this year, I have got a 16' 2002 princecraft pontoon. I see the day coming in the near future where I will need to replace the floor. I have seen other post about what they have used, many seem to stay away from the carpet and a lot of the newer pontoons I see, seem to come with the Vinyl.
What are people going with and why?
I have been told that the marine plywood need to have air flow to dry so it last longer, so placing vinyl on it doesn't make sense to me, nor does painting a coating of something on one side. I was also wondering if this is a big job?

 

[ahicks]

A good marine plywood doesn't need to last any longer than it already does (20 years+). Any attempt to make it last longer will likely shorten it's life....

I went with good marine ply because I didn't want to have to think about doing it again for a LONG time, and went with a high quality vinyl because I'm tired of dealing with carpet. Only time will tell if that was a good decision...

Congrats on the new boat. Best of luck with it!

 

[MH Hawker]

a lot over look one very important thing the floor is a hell of a lot more than what you walk on, it is the spine and back bone of the boat, when you cheep out and use other flooring it weakens the structural integrity a huge amount, yes you can use other things but it bastardize the boat and besides making it un safe and risking ever one on board, it kills any re sale value, now as long as one side is open any water or dampness will be fine, so vinyl on top is fine

 

[DagsHuggy]

Thanks for the feedback, what about the length of job. is this a large job where you are better off doing it at the end of the season and count on taking a weekend to start and finish it with a few people??

 

[ahicks]

Mine was done at the leisurely pace of a retiree enjoying what he was doing. Done pre-season in our driveway, it took me about 3 weeks, but that included beefing up the back end for a bigger (4-stroke) engine and a complete rewire - including new console install.

 

[MH Hawker]

depends on the friends and how much beer,, i would plan at least 2 weekends

 

[NYBo]

Even carpet glue will act as a (poor) sealant. Go with whatever floor covering floats your boat.