What were they thinking.... Carpet in boats

If you can't tell I'm not too fond of carpet in boats... Up here in the great pacific nw where rain is a given, followed by mud and sand. that get tracked on and into carpets.... Add in oil, bilge water, incontinent pets, owners and guests. Then throw in beer, wine, other adult beverage, fish blood and you name it, the end result is the carpet looks like a Jackson Pollack painting... Why would boat builders think this stain, dirt and allergen collection medium would be acceptable to their customers ? It covers up poor craftsmanship of the builders and other flaws, is it that much harder to put in wood, vinyl, cork, or a myriad of other floor covering that aren't a dirt magnet and require a steam bath to clean. There is no question here just a rant

Carpet is cheap. That's why builders use it. Never understood wall to wall in a boat much less a trawler for the very reasons you cite.

Some days I can't stand having carpet on the boat, other days I don't mind it. It's a pain to keep clean, but it's comfy to walk on barefoot (which I am 90% of the time on the boat). And it does hide a few rarely used access hatches that aren't cut through the carpet (has to be folded back to lift those hatches). But I do periodically think about ripping it out and replacing with something else.

Our current boat has teak and holly sole everywhere. I wasn’t sure how it would be, but we now love it. Simple to clean, especially the dog hair.

I personally like area carpets but they can be vacuumed or stowed when doing something messy like cleaning and picking Dungies on the saloon table. But wall to wall, never!! Have no idea what sort of nasty animal life is lurking between weave and weft.

I'm with the no carpet crowd. But the Admiral had me put down a number of non skid throw rugs so that the dogs with aging hips could get up by them selves without looking like Bambi on ice. Both dogs are dearly departed and so are most of the throw rugs. Got to keep the Admiral happy!

I am a no carpet sort of kind of guy. I'm the cold off season, get cold feet and put back in the carpet pieces for the various deck locations. During spring, summer and fall, no carpet.

The only thing worse than carpet on a boat is carpet in a bathroom on a boat.

We have carpet everywhere aboard except in the head, on the wall, on the floor, everywhere. We started to remove it and will replace all of it next year as it is a nightmare to maintain and a nest for allergens.

L

Builders use it to save money in homes all the time.


On a boat - I equate it with carpet in the bathroom

Just a minute!
When we were in Turkey a few years ago, we bought some carpets. One was custom made for our boat: 18"x36" with a stylized trawler shape and our boat name woven in. I keep it below my feet at the helm.
Otherwise, I love my high gloss varnished teak parquet.

I don’t think I would like a high gloss finish with our dog. The matte finish doesn’t show scratches much.

Comodave said:

I don’t think I would like a high gloss finish with our dog. The matte finish doesn’t show scratches much.

Click to expand...

solution:
https://www.google.com/aclk?sa=L&ai...hUKEwj99pKsjKLlAhWzOn0KHcRSBcQQ9aACCFQ&adurl=

Sandpiper has teak floors throughout.

The only place it is exposed is in the pilothouse.

I don't like to walk on hard surfaces barefoot in the stateroom or to the head. Area rugs are a tripping possibility. The stateroom and hall have low pile commercial carpet on the floor, wall to wall but not fastened down. The head has an area rug, wall to wall that gets changed every two weeks.

In the salon, PO fastened lead sheets over the teak floor with a million tacks and covered it with carpet. I have the same low pile carpeting as the stateroom on the salon floor, not fastened down. The lead over the floor and the soundproofing I applied underneath the floor make it so quiet underway and withg enerator running that I've left the lead in place. Pulling all the tacks holding the lead in place, filling all the holes and refinishing the saloon floor is more work than I'm willing to do.

I have patterns for all the wall to wall carpet sections and can cut replacement carpet in a couple hours. I cut the carpeting with a hot knife to prevent unraveling without binding.

Another solution to dog floor scratches: https://www.amazon.com/QUMY-Waterpr...2?keywords=dog+sneakers&qid=1571275725&sr=8-2

Our poodle wears them whenever he's on the boat to keep him from sliding around on the decks. It took him a little bit to adjust to them, but now he hardly notices them. And if we pull them out at home, he gets super excited because he knows it's time to go to the boat.

On the floor finish subject, I've got a semi gloss finish on the teak parquet in my galley and heads. Everything else down below is carpet. My carpet padding is stapled down, as is the carpet on the engine hatch. The rest of the carpet is simply laid in place with tack strips around the edges, so replacing it is easy enough if a section gets damaged or worn or just won't clean up well anymore.

We have teak parquetry everywhere on the floors, except in the shower and the head. We have a full length runner from the aft entry door of the saloon to where the steps down to head/shower/cabin start. It is rubber backed and stays in place, we cut it in to suit. We also have an edge trimmed carpet square(actually it`s oblong) to sit over the ER hatch etc area. When we leave the boat we usually roll these back as we like to raise the ER hatch at the opening side a couple of inches to let heat easily escape from the eutectic compressor unit.
Nothing wrong with carpets that are not fixed permanently in place but stay where they are unless removed for cleaning, doing work, etc.
Carpet, monkey or mouse fur style on walls, I rather not have.

I love my carpet, and here is why

First off it’s quiet. Boats have a lot of sounds. Different pumps going off below decks, engines, etc... Carpet muffles the sound.

Second, carpet is “sticky” . I know that some here boat on inside protected waters but I do not. I boat in the wide open ocean. With carpet my furniture stays put.

Third Carpet is relatively easy to change out. Get it stained, get it damaged, replace it. I have dark forest green right now. Perhaps next time I’ll go with a grey. One never knows. I bought a great grade of carpet last time. Cost me all of $1800 for the whole boat.

Fourth, carpet is forgiving. My boat has some uneven surfaces. These are not manufacturing defects, these are designed in. Carpet flows over these uneven surfaces like a champ. Try putting a hard flooring over a uneven surface and you will know exactly what I mean.

I'm into comfort boating.

I have cut-to-fit, easily removable carpet that's topped with soft area rugs. Below that is a soft-under-foot, sound-deadening carpet underlayment that's been a God-send called Soundown. My ears AND my feet are much happier these days.

I fish and cruise year round. These rugs have seen many a spilt beer, ice tea, coffee, dropped bait or bottle of wine and so far nothing stains.

You "woodie floor" guys don't know what you're missing.

My last boat had wall to wall carpet every where except the kitchen/bathrooms. It keeps the boat warmer in winter and quieter. I even hat a white carpet, this made the boat much brighter in winter. The original owner didn’t want to pay for hardwoods and the builder did carpet to save him money. I had no issues with the carpet, I just replaced it in the fall every third year to keep things looking new. Carpet on a 42’ is so cheap you can replace it frequently with out busting the budget.

Kevin, post #17, saved me a bit of writing! I installed my carpet just over one year ago. Wish I had done it ten years ago.

FlyWright said:

...
I have cut-to-fit, easily removable carpet that's topped with soft area rugs. Below that is a soft-under-foot, sound-deadening carpet underlayment that's been a God-send called Soundown. My ears AND my feet are much happier these days. ...

Click to expand...

Makes we wish I went bare foot on the recent day-cruise with you.

For real winter boat living carpets are a huge plus.

NOT wall to wall , but bathroom carpeting that can be cut to shape with ease and is machine washable.

When the ice and snow season is months long ,owners will pull off boots etc, but visitors usually want to not take the time.

Besides being another layer of floor insulation , washable rugs make real winter easier to endure.

Most will last a second season if needed.

I liveaboard in the PNW and like carpet. Nice on bare feet, especially in the winter. Keeps the lower deck warmer. I have no problem keeping it clean. And I have a dog, too.

The PO had wall-to-wall carpet in the salon, with rubber underlay, that prevented easy opening of hatches in the sole. So it had to go, and there was no significant increase in engine noise. I don't often raise those hatches as the ER has a low door off the master stateroom, but now that I just have a rug on the sole it can be quickly done. They will be easy to change, and I might do it next year.

He also had carpet fitted to edges in the staterooms, but fortunately not fastened down. I think its fine like that, in that area. He had enough leftover carpet for me to carpet most of the ER floor - not fastened down either. That's really great - my ER is not standing height, so carpet is really good for moving around in there as well. Seven years on, its still clean! Yes, I change the oil and fuel filters myself. Its pretty simple - oil and diesel belong in the engine, and not on the floor.

For those that cannot avoid spilling stuff eg list in post 1 - all I can suggest is some hand-eye co-ordination therapy!

Our boat was originally carpeted... and we replaced that about two years ago, now, with even better carpet over a layer of Soundown. And in the galley and head -- with original Amtico faux wood flooring -- we had some cockpit carpet pieces cut and bound to size, same stuff we have in the cockpit and on the bridge.

Generally, I need the cushioning (dealing with aftermath of an injury 30 years ago)... and we don't find carpet care onerous. Just vacuum the main stuff, from time to time, or powerwash the cockpit carpet material.

There's some noise insulation benefit, as well... and the interior isn't as cold on winter days.

I could live with wood flooring if covered with area rugs... but all of our 15-20 "oriental" rugs (from Syria, India, Saudi, etc.) at home are too thin to provide much of a cushioning effect. Maybe common household carpet, cut to size and bound could work better...

-Chris

I installed Sea-dek on the entire walking areas of my boat. Removed carpet that came with new boat. Feels great to walk on and dog likes it too. However, I am not sold on durability - I had issue with one part and dealer from Sea-dek told me sun through windshield caused the problem. Not sure I believe it but there we are.

I also installed Sea-dek both inside and outside the boat, but I will still use carpet inserts for off season cruising.

The standard AT comes with carpet through out the boat except for the head area.
The galley is part of the saloon and the entire saloon is carpeted. I bought and installed a spongy rubber runner covering the carpet in the galley area. Easy to wipe down after preparing a meal. Yes, all spill things as we cook. SMILE I did not believe it until I put down the spongy rubber stuff.
Even in south FL in the winter the wooden floors are cold w/o the carpet.

We just removed all the carpet in our boat and are in the process of putting in Nautikflor vinyl flooring. We have a dog on board and this stuf is toough to scratch, not slippery unless you have standiing water on it, It is completely waterproof and stuff generally stays where you put it. It looks like teak and holly and looks like something that belongs on a boat. The downside is that it is expensive.

At least it will not absorb dog odor or any of the other strong smelling stuff that our old carpet would haunt us with.

I actually preferred the feel of carpet on my bare feet or (socks), but the admiral said "nope, out the carpet goes!" Not my hill to die on.

I have to admit that when I first saw this type of flooring in a boat, I was very impressed, thinking it was real, but equally impressed to find out it is vinyl. We still have our nice parquet flooring in the galley and fiberglas floor in the head and shower. In the V-birth, we will put something temporary on that tiny bit of floor, because we want to have that all reconfigured for more bed and less unnecessary room for a seat.

Thanks for giving me the first big laugh of my day. I love a good rant!
Btw I agree completely.
Liz