Flooring

My re-fit project is moving along and we're getting close to time for new flooring. Decking is plywood. Does anybody have any feedback on teak and holly laminate (which I have in my other boat and really like) and/or bamboo? We can work with anything but I want to be sure we get something that doesn't mind the marine environment. How about vinyl faux wood flooring from the big box stores? Pricing sure is better than these two options (like $2/sf vs. $9!):

Boat Flooring | Lightweight Easy to Install

https://www.plasteak.com/plasteak-recycled-plastic-products/teak-holly-and-flooring

But I want to put something in that will last.

Some of the new PCV flooring is really nice and pretty bulletproof. I'm using that for rehab projects for my houses instead of tile. I'm still fairly new to it and have it on a few project.... it's more expensive that tile but significantly easier to install (but tile is not good for a boat anyway). We have been maintaining it a watching how it handles things (like tenants), and quite pleased.

In cleaning I find that some products are so waterproof, that the water for cleaning just doesn't dry, so we wipe it dry... could be an issue in a boat, and I think the jury is still out.

What we install is floating, which "may" be an issue with boats, and you'd have to glue down the pieces over hatches. However, it would be dirt cheap for the most part, and still looks excellent, and you can get some that are slip resistant.

It would be cheap enough to try it and probably get a boat done for 1/4 what the marine stuff would cost. I'm doing the high end stuff for about $3.50 a food installed (but I get a little cut on the material).

I'm considering it for my small boat... we'll see, but anxious to see what others say.

found this info where they cite mold and other issues with bamboo...fyi

I've seen bamboo on a boat and it looked great (right after it was installed). I've heard too many mixed reviews to go that route after reading your link, thanks.

I installed a PVC floating floor in the main salon of my boat from Lowe's. It's interlocking and seems to be holding up so far. Instead of gluing it down I used a double sided tape. Very sticky stuff.

That looks great. Do you recall what tape you used?

Can't go wrong, except in the pocketbook, going with solid wood and Teak/Holly is the nautically traditional choice.

Interestingly, the real (rich, I presume) fisherman's Teak and Holly was unfinished with the Holly strips standing proud of the Teak for better non-skid. Can't imagine how you'd keep it looking pretty.

I looked at some teak and holly flooring and while named teak and holly it was more teak and maple
Is holly still used today or is it just a way of naming the looking pattern?

I'm a woodworker who does a lot of inlay and I have a few pieces of genuine holly in my collection. Really is snow white, beautiful stuff and a pleasure to work. Ridiculously expensive though. As I understand it the holly has to be harvested and dried at a certain time of year to catch the white color. I think two of my pieces were harvested in England. I also have a lot of maple that is very, very light, almost indistinguishable from holly when it's first cut or sanded, but the maple does yellow or mellow a bit over time and doesn't stay quite as white. Seems a shame to use true holly on a boat floor though. Very light maple is close enough for me.

Lou, the Teak and Holly in our LeComte NE 38 was advertised as Teak and Ahern which is German for Maple.

Neither Holly nor Maple is rot resistant, and Holly, Ilex aquifolium, is not all that hard, at least as it grows around here. Norway Maple, Acer platanoides, the usual volunteer, junk tree around here, is pretty soft, too. (New England 'Rock Maple', Acer saccharum, is delightfully hard.) Holly is, of course, much harder to source in quantity.

Just checked my shop. Yep, I still have three pieces of English holly, as light as I've ever seen holly after at least ten years, just a little yellowing. This board is about 3/8 inch thick, five feet long, about four inches wide. Imported from England. The price tag is still on it. $223. That's a piece of African blackwood (mpingo, clarinet wood) for contrast. True holly would make for a very expensive boat floor.

BrotherDave said:

That looks great. Do you recall what tape you used?

Click to expand...

Bought it at Lowe's.

On one of our builds we used a better grade of plywood (Brunzeel) varnished , with 1/4 in strips of Teak in routed groves.

Gives the no skid ability of a proper teak & holly cabin sole .

Easily available most anywhere.

I used maple, 3/4" stapled down

FOG said:

Bought it at Lowe's.

Click to expand...

Thanks!

I used a product called AMTICO.


It's a laminate but not in sheets, it is individual 3' strips both the "teak" and the "holly". It's pretty much like using real wood in that you have to blend the colors and stagger the seams but it goes down with mastic.

You have to lay it out considering the hatches so you don't have a really narrow piece next to a hatch opening. I also had to build out the hatch openings because the gap was designed for carpet.

Going down the stairs to the galley and V berth, I matched the pattern. I also installed a border with mitered corners. The product has a raised grain similar to wood.

It was a pretty tedious job but ended up nice.

Pictured here top is a cherry wood sole in a Lowland that is a sister ship to Klee Wyck and currently for sale in CA. I have always coveted this floor. Klee wyck has teak and holly and it is very nice and plan to keep it(bottom photo). Libra came with carpet and that will have to go. I am not a carpet guy. That is next Winters project and I will look into the feasibility of this cherry. I think it looks spectacular and would feel the same.