Carpet Removal / Herculiner Install

[DestinyEscape]

As you guys may have read in my topic "Storm Damage" concerning the hole in my boat floor, I was planning on re-carpeting the interior of my 18' Marada MX1 Fish/Ski boat. <br /><br />So far I have removed the fuel tank, trim motor, batteries, seats, trim panels and almost everything else from the interior except the motor. I have pulled up almost all of the carpet and that process is ongoing. I am now leaning towards using a product such as Herculiner to cover the floor instead of using new carpet. In my opinion, this will last a lot longer than carpeting.<br /><br />I am wondering if anyone has done this (or worked with the prodcut in another application). I am not sure how well prepared the surface has to be for the application to produce good results. I am working on removing the glue deposits from the deck and inner walls. I am using a paint scraper. It's very slow going, so if anyone knows of a better way, please post.<br /><br />I have been sanding everything using 60 grit sand paper on a random orbit sander. It seems to be working fairly well, and I have finished about a quarter of the deck. If anyone has used this product in their boat, any information/tips you could give me would be appreciated.<br /><br />Thanks,<br /><br />CP

 

[ajp]

Re: Carpet Removal / Herculiner Install

To remove the glue, just get some adheasive carpet glue remover from the local lumber yard. A nasty project but works. Put it on, let it soak a couple of minutes per instructions, scrap it off.<br />I am not a fan of carpet on fishing boats when we always wear shoes, but for ski boats it is preferrable because no-one wears shoes.

 

[mellocj]

Re: Carpet Removal / Herculiner Install

Hi. I have used Herculiner before. I used it for the bed in 2 of my Jeeps and I used it on the front of my runabout. It is a good product and leaves a nice texture. Make sure you clean the surface well before applying. I recommend that you put a top-coat on it since it is black and it can fade from the sun. I have used Rustoleum spray paint as well as cheap latex paint to topcoat it. 2 coats of Herculiner is what I usually use.

 

[Jerry M.]

Re: Carpet Removal / Herculiner Install

Best thing to use to remove paste is Goof Off. You can get it at hardware/home mporovement stores like Home Depot. Spray it on wait 3-5 minutes, and the glue comes right off right down to bare wood..

 

[DestinyEscape]

Re: Carpet Removal / Herculiner Install

Hey Everybody,<br /><br />Thank you for the replies. Good information. <br /><br />Gone,<br /><br />That Goof Off stuff works wonders. It says right on the can that you shouldn't use it on fiberglass, but I made sure not to leave it on there for more than a few minutes. I have a total of about fifteen hours in the carpet/glue removal so far. I think I will finish tomorrow (hopefully).<br /><br />My wallet has been a little lighter the past two weeks with this project going on. I decided not to swing for the Herculiner, it was almost $250 for what I needed. I went to Sherwin Williams here in Raleigh, and they set me up with a two-part expoy coating and some good primer. They mixed in two bottles of "Shark Bite," some kind of powder to create a rough finish. Hopefully, this will be almost as effective. You can choose from a lot more colors this way also. I went with a light grey and plan on buying a small amount of matching carpet to go over the engine hatch, and the walkthrough area, as I don't think the paint will look very good there.<br /><br />After I apply it, I'll let everyone now how it goes, and probably post some before/after pics.

 

[mellocj]

Re: Carpet Removal / Herculiner Install

Hey Destiny, I see you're in raleigh too - shoot me an email mark@paradise.raleigh.nc.us

 

[JasonJ]

Re: Carpet Removal / Herculiner Install

I bought a gallon of Evercoat Non-slip rubberized coating for $40. It is specifically made for boat floors or whatever else on a boat you want a non-slip surface on. It came in gray, but there were other colors as well. I wanted the gray, so thats what I got.

 

[DestinyEscape]

Re: Carpet Removal / Herculiner Install

Jason,<br /><br />The stuff from Sherwin-Williams may not have come out that great, not really grippy enough. I'm going to wait and see how it is in the morning after it has dried some. Might be ok. Just in case, where did you find that Evercoat stuff? Sounds pretty decent.

 

[JasonJ]

Re: Carpet Removal / Herculiner Install

I bought it at my local marine store. I went in there looking for glassing tools, and they actually had other decent stuff. My town is small, about 6000 poeple, so I always automatically hit the internet, but every once in awhile I come across stuff locally.

 

[DestinyEscape]

Re: Carpet Removal / Herculiner Install

Well, I hate to bash a retailer, but the stuff from SW did not work at all. To give them the benefit of the doubt, maybe they didn't understand the texture I was trying to achieve. I think that it may have possibly worked had they mixed in about three times as much of the "Shark Bite" powder. Now that the entire hull (inside) and the deck are painted from bow to stern, I am considering carpeting the area that will be the visible deck once I put everything back together. It's not a very large area. I am going to look into the Evercoat stuff that Jason recommended as well. I'll let everyone know what happens once I decide. I guess what I should take away from this is that hindsight is always 20/20. Thanks for all the help guys.