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Indoor/outdoor carpet Vs. vinyl laminate snap together floor for my older pontoon ?

SeaHawk53

New member
My 1973 model 25 foot Dolphin (I just bought it a few months ago) has had all the decking wood replaced with 3/4 inch marine plywood about two years ago, but at that time they put non-marine type of floor covering on it (They used Berber carpeting) I am a do-it-yourselfer planning on getting rid of the Berber, and I am finding plenty of choices available as far as marine type carpet.. The really high end stuff is a little too expensive for this old boat (nearly 50 dollars per running foot from some sources) So I am considering using something less costly - (Either) a rubber back indoor-outdoor carpet (Or) a snap together vinyl laminate flooring on my boat, now that the water proof vinyl is plentiful and relatively cheap.. the boat is stored out in the open, uncovered, so I would like to stop the water from reaching the plywood.. I also want a textured surface that is not real "slippery" when wet.. And I know that whatever I do use will deteriorate within a few years from daily exposure to the elements.. I bet a lot of people have used the vinyl laminate snap-together flooring on the boats, please let me know how well did that work out for you ? Any helpful comments or input would be much appreciated, Thanks Everyone..
 
Cheap solution is roll-on truck bed liner in your favorite color. Carpeting OK if you are fine with replacing it every few years...it gets awfully funky real quick on a boat. Vinyl laminate is simply too slick for a marine installation. The slightest amount of dampness and you'll have a difficult time of it keeping your feet under you. There's a product I used on my 24' called Dura-bak. It's sorta like bed liner on steroids. It has embedded chunks of polyurethane crumble and you put it on with a special roller that they send you. It's a little bit hard on bare feet but if you have footwear it's great. The other option is to seal off the ply with several layers of epoxy and then install something like Sea-dek which is an EPDM foam with an adhesive backing. Comes in sheets. They offer cutting service if you want a professional looking installation. You create templates, send those back and they cut the parts out.
If you want the ultimate then you'll want to overlay the wood with teak and holly decking plywood. If you want the ultimate ultimate then you'll want what's known as a "laid" teak deck which is teak strips screwed and bunged to the substrate with seams filled with caulking. https://www.jamestowndistributors.com/product/product-detail/1518. If you're handy doing wood work it's a very nice way to finish off a boat.
 
Cheap solution is roll-on truck bed liner in your favorite color. Carpeting OK if you are fine with replacing it every few years...it gets awfully funky real quick on a boat. Vinyl laminate is simply too slick for a marine installation. The slightest amount of dampness and you'll have a difficult time of it keeping your feet under you. There's a product I used on my 24' called Dura-bak. It's sorta like bed liner on steroids. It has embedded chunks of polyurethane crumble and you put it on with a special roller that they send you. It's a little bit hard on bare feet but if you have footwear it's great. The other option is to seal off the ply with several layers of epoxy and then install something like Sea-dek which is an EPDM foam with an adhesive backing. Comes in sheets. They offer cutting service if you want a professional looking installation. You create templates, send those back and they cut the parts out.
If you want the ultimate then you'll want to overlay the wood with teak and holly decking plywood. If you want the ultimate ultimate then you'll want what's known as a "laid" teak deck which is teak strips screwed and bunged to the substrate with seams filled with caulking. https://www.jamestowndistributors.com/product/product-detail/1518. If you're handy doing wood work it's a very nice way to finish off a boat.
Thank You, BatSea, You have given me plenty of great ideas to check into.. On this older boat I have, the Dura-Bak idea sounds like a good direction for me to consider, so I will be looking into that.. sounds like good longevity and safety factor, as well (non slippery) I will check into sources for this material, either around my region or online, will try to post photos (before and after) Much Appreciated
 
Is this a sail boat? or a fishing boat? or just pleasure craft? The type of finished flooring makes a difference on how it will be used. I bought an old 1990 pleasure boat that has the original carpet in it. It's really not in bad shape at all, but is not good for fishing. We use this boat a lot more for fishing than we do playing in the lake in the summer time, So what i did was buy some 1/4" rubber mats that covers the whole deck. i cut it in several pieces to cover the carpet, and put grommets in the corner on the pieces so i can pull them out and hang them up for storage, and wash them. This protects the carpet really well when fishing and crabbing, & cleans easily.

Another option for you possibly.....It wasnt expensive either. Kirk
 
My 1973 model 25 foot Dolphin (I just bought it a few months ago) has had all the decking wood replaced with 3/4 inch marine plywood about two years ago, but at that time they put non-marine type of floor covering on it (They used Berber carpeting) I am a do-it-yourselfer planning on getting rid of the Berber, and I am finding plenty of choices available as far as marine type carpet.. The really high end stuff is a little too expensive for this old boat (nearly 50 dollars per running foot from some sources) So I am considering using something less costly - (Either) a rubber back indoor-outdoor carpet (Or) a snap together vinyl laminate flooring on my boat, now that the water proof vinyl is plentiful and relatively cheap.. the boat is stored out in the open, uncovered, so I would like to stop the water from reaching the plywood.. I also want a textured surface that is not real "slippery" when wet.. And I know that whatever I do use will deteriorate within a few years from daily exposure to the elements.. I bet a lot of people have used the vinyl laminate snap-together flooring on the boats, please let me know how well did that work out for you ? Any helpful comments or input would be much appreciated, Thanks Everyone..
Wow, you sure lost me a way back. I'm 72 yrs old and have had boats all my life and grown up with them. I think people need to tell their history when in here I've owned 3 pontoon boats and let me say this, I by no means is a rich middle class. Every pontoon boat I've owned has been at least 7 yrs old when I got them. And I've had them for at least 20 yrs and when I've sold them the carpet and floors were still going. This last one that I have has a soft spot and it wouldn't hurt to replace the carpet when I replace the floor beings the carpet will be junk when I take it up anyway. People out there try and replace their floors and carpets with Berber or vinyl and wonder y the wood, carpet and vinyl went to ****, lol. Yeah pontoon companies now days put Berber in their floor cause people love it, LMAO, then in 5 or so yrs carpet and wood goes bad and they blame the wood, lol. Only carpet that doesn't hold water is the indoor/outdoor rubber back. Now days alit of these pontoon companies just want the money that's y they put Berber on them cause looks and feels nice till it ROTS, LMAO
 
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