Well the spring project is creeping up.... Time to replace the carpets in the salon and pilot house. We can just replace the carpet, or with teak and holly wood flooring or some other wood strip flooring or vinyl plank... anyone have done this? what did you choose? why? and would you do it again? Thanks
Salon Flooring
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Bkay
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I've looked at this several ways. I love wood flooring and would gladly do wood strips set in epoxy on a plywood subfloor with about 1/16 or 1/8" gap between the strips. Then fill that gap with darkened epoxy. I think that looks good, wears well, and is something a fairly handy guy can do himself.
However, as a second choice (and what I'm doing on my next boat since wood flooring has a lot more labor costs involved) is a product called Bolon. It is a woven vinyl flooring that is as waterproof as whatever it is glued to. Provides good footing, not outrageously priced (but not cheap), easy to apply, and some of the lines capture airborne noise. This is a sheet or plank product that the owner can apply.
https://www.bolon.com/en/floors/artisan/ecru
Here is a link to one color/pattern. But they have many. My wife is an interior designer and has access to this through work. But I understand that Outer Reef orders a considerable amount of this from them when customers don't want wood.
However, as a second choice (and what I'm doing on my next boat since wood flooring has a lot more labor costs involved) is a product called Bolon. It is a woven vinyl flooring that is as waterproof as whatever it is glued to. Provides good footing, not outrageously priced (but not cheap), easy to apply, and some of the lines capture airborne noise. This is a sheet or plank product that the owner can apply.
https://www.bolon.com/en/floors/artisan/ecru
Here is a link to one color/pattern. But they have many. My wife is an interior designer and has access to this through work. But I understand that Outer Reef orders a considerable amount of this from them when customers don't want wood.
ctjstr
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I replaced the carpets on my last boat (4388 Bayliner) with engineered hardwood from Lowes. Its not particularly difficult. Couple issues to think about. How do you want to do your salon floor hatches? Run the "wood" right up to the seam or use some sort of edging. I chose the former and it was fine. Another thing to think about is the thickness. On my last boat, I wanted to avoid some problems and stuck with either 8mm or 10mm. Another issue is that when you cut it, the edges are raw and normally a lighter color. I opted to get a colored "pen" that matched the surface color and painted all the edges. Helped a lot. I glued the edges where needed and just used the snap together feature for most of it. Stairs take some work in that you need to find something to use as the leading edge. I did not like the bullnose that the flooring supplier suggested. I purchased some teak the right thickness, stained it to match the floor and used several coats of varnish, and fastened that as the leading edge. Worked great. I'm about to start the same on my current boat (camano troll) Smaller surface but essentially the same issues. The flooring is relatively inexpensive, which is a plus. It also wears very well. We have dogs and its way easier cleaning up with a broom rather than vacuuming every half hour. We were afraid noise would be an issue, but it was not significant. we used throw rugs. We thought it would be "colder" but again, not an issue for us. I was also worried about water getting on it...not an issue for us. We just don't track that much water in. I was also worried a bit about the dogs scratching it, and it was fine., although the dogs did have a tougher time going up and down stairs. Only had it on the old boat for a couple years and no appreciable wear.
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Thanks. so the choices so far are a woven vinyl carpet, engineered wood, and cork. Was the cork installed as a sheet, tile or strips? How thick? and how is it holding up?.. Has anyone done vinyl plank, I was told OA uses it, and Slow Boat has a few pictures New Airship | Before and After – Slowboat
13" square cork tiles glued in place with contact cement. 3 yrs on this boat as full time liveaboards. Also did it on our last boat (6yrs abuse with a dog). Still look like new.
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Keysdisease
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Nothing will be quieter than carpeting, especially if it has an acoustic underlayment. Also in many cases the easiest to replace.
But carpeting is falling out of fashion, and various hard floors are becoming more common. Of course the traditional teak and holly have been around for centuries, there are real wood products and there are synthetic products, some of the "fake wood" products look and wear very nice.
If I were to go to a hard finish floor I would for sure put a layer of mass loaded vinyl under it (if the salon is over engine room) as a noise barrier. I like many of the new vinyl products, and the vinyl plank flooring might be my first choice for a few reasons. It's heavy enough to bring some additional noise reduction to the project, is durable and wears well, is easy to install, some styles have a textured surface so it adds a little nonskid, it is available in many colors and styles, it is structurally stable and will not absorb water.
Any wood product on the other hand, no matter how its treated, is still... wood. Not a bad thing at all, but still its wood.
My $0.02
But carpeting is falling out of fashion, and various hard floors are becoming more common. Of course the traditional teak and holly have been around for centuries, there are real wood products and there are synthetic products, some of the "fake wood" products look and wear very nice.
If I were to go to a hard finish floor I would for sure put a layer of mass loaded vinyl under it (if the salon is over engine room) as a noise barrier. I like many of the new vinyl products, and the vinyl plank flooring might be my first choice for a few reasons. It's heavy enough to bring some additional noise reduction to the project, is durable and wears well, is easy to install, some styles have a textured surface so it adds a little nonskid, it is available in many colors and styles, it is structurally stable and will not absorb water.
Any wood product on the other hand, no matter how its treated, is still... wood. Not a bad thing at all, but still its wood.
My $0.02
I did our fwd cabin w PlasTeak last season. Old carpet was looking bad and Mainship used the sheet PlasTeak material in the salon so it was a natural choice.
The carpet had padding under it and it left a large gap along some of the edges when both were removed.
Looking at the website and talking w the mfg I learned that they sell a companion pad that can be played under the PlasTeak. They also told me with tight fitting hatches no edging would be required.
Here are a couple pics. As you might guess removal of old and prep was the worst part installation of new was fairly easy. The feel of the sheet vinyl w pad is pleasant under foot and welcome especially in the fwd cabin.
Note - The mfg indicated that where the white pad edge shows at hatches you can hit it with a colored Sharpie or scratch repair pen to blend it.
The carpet had padding under it and it left a large gap along some of the edges when both were removed.
Looking at the website and talking w the mfg I learned that they sell a companion pad that can be played under the PlasTeak. They also told me with tight fitting hatches no edging would be required.
Here are a couple pics. As you might guess removal of old and prep was the worst part installation of new was fairly easy. The feel of the sheet vinyl w pad is pleasant under foot and welcome especially in the fwd cabin.
Note - The mfg indicated that where the white pad edge shows at hatches you can hit it with a colored Sharpie or scratch repair pen to blend it.
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ranger58sb
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We replaced our carpeting with carpeting... and Soundown underlayment. The additional cushioning is great.
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TDunn
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When I redid my sole I used T&G Douglas Fir. Finished it with 8 coats of 2 part Epifanes varnish. It still looks new after 8 years.
On the sailboat I laminated 2.5" cherry planks to 1/4" white maple strips. I also varnished the with 2 part Epifanes. They still look good after almost 15 years.
On the sailboat I laminated 2.5" cherry planks to 1/4" white maple strips. I also varnished the with 2 part Epifanes. They still look good after almost 15 years.
Bkay
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I looked hard at cork. There is a lot to be said for it and I almost went that way. But I decided (right or wrong) that I wanted something waterproof. I spoke to a number of cork suppliers and reps and they all said it was only water resistant. I found a couple waterproof cork products that didn't look nearly as nice (those looked more like rubber flooring than cork).
If you don't set a standard of "waterproof" for your install - I recommend you consider cork. It's quiet, soft, light, looks nice, cost effective, and environmentally smart. I just couldn't get beyond my waterproof standard. I decided if it could not be used on a dirt house in a bathroom or below grade, it wouldn't work for me. That's just based on my boat and my lifestyle - your mileage may differ.
The Amtico product is good and I also looked at a number of waterproof Stone Plastic Composite products that looked good and had some sound and thermal insulating qualities. But the SPC was too heavy for my application and I wasn't in love with the Amtico look. But both products are solid choices based on my research, though.
Last point, when talking to flooring folks I found I needed to find a product that could be fully glued down. Many products looked good but were not stable in extreme heat and cold - meaning they would work in a boat but needed to be "floating". Again, you may not be concerned, but I didn't want any floating floors so I had to find products that were dimensionaly stable from 0 degrees to 140 degrees and could be fully glued down. Those products are certainly out there.
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Looking great is a fine goal, but doesn't anyone use their boat enough to be concerned about no skid?
Bkay
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That's a screening criteria - if it doesn't pass that it's not even considered. I guess I just don't type fast enough to list all of the other factors that screen things out of consideration. There is a commercial wear and traction rating - I don't remember off the top of my head what the numbers are for that, but if it doesn't meet a high wear and high traction rating, I didn't look any further.
Bkay
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Ah, I found my notes: DIN 51130 addresses slip ratings. I screened out anything that didn't have a commercial grade anti slip properties, but still considered R9 ratings. However, I weighed anything R10 and above higher. My choice and most of the others I seriously considered were R10 rated. Most flooring above R10 was pretty rough on bare feet in my opinion or was more suitable to poolside use than cabin interior.
So yes, some people use their boat enough to be concerned about that. BTW - traditional teak and holly (with raised holly) is probably R9 or R10. Flat wood products don't even rate R9 unless you start putting additives into the top coat.
So yes, some people use their boat enough to be concerned about that. BTW - traditional teak and holly (with raised holly) is probably R9 or R10. Flat wood products don't even rate R9 unless you start putting additives into the top coat.
Keysdisease
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As long as we're talking spec's, the noise barrier I mentioned above, mass loaded vinyl, can typically be found in 2 sizes
1Lb sq ft 1/8" thick STC 28
2Lb sq ft 1/4" thick STC 32
1Lb sq ft 1/8" thick STC 28
2Lb sq ft 1/4" thick STC 32
FF
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"Flat wood products don't even rate R9 unless you start putting additives into the top coat."
Don't know the specs , but Gym or Bowling alley or some Bar varnishes are fairly no skid even when wet.
Don't know the specs , but Gym or Bowling alley or some Bar varnishes are fairly no skid even when wet.
garylac
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I just purchased my boat this past september and replacing the flooring was a big part of my to do list. We also had carpeting. When considering the options, I can't think of anything less waterproof and stainproof than carpeting. the boat is a 2013 with light use. The only thing that showed any degree of wear was the carpeting. I also like the classic look of Holly and teak so started off that way. In the end, however, for a variety of reasons, we went with Vinyl plank. I have to say the realism of the grain, non skid aspects, expected durability and relatively maintainance free aspects were a big part of our decision. We looked at several products, but in the end, selected one called C-Flor. It is individual planks so can be staggered for realism. The thick and thin strips are butt jointed and glued down. Several wood types available though we selected Holly and Teak. All of the trim and stair details were done in mahogany stained to match. Couldn't be happier with the final result. See attached photos. Unfortunately, I only have a few photos that I could find, but will post more this week as I am headed down to the boat on Tuesday. My apologies on the second photo, could not figure out how to rotate it on the site.
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Bkay
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Garylac - that looks nice!!
Blue Tortuga
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Just redid my 2004 Mainship 400 from carpet to the thinner vinyl flooring available at lowes or homedepot. Thinner material is easy to work with. Lots of choices. Most the newer boats don't seem to have teak and holly anymore either. So we went with more a solid floor look.
BrianSmith
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Lots of good suggestions for what to use, based on your experiences. Anyone use anything they DON'T like, and DON'T recommend? Or know of a friend with a "DON'T like" experience?
Looks great. Do you have contact or web site for C Flor? Google shows nothing.
Bkay
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rochepoint
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Looks like it is part of Nuteak, here is a link.
dennismenace111
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Waterproof flooring
Was looking into this for my boat. There are now several versions of vinyl flooring that really looks alot like wood, but is totally waterproof! There are other versions of waterproof wood engineered floors available. Check Floor and Decor website or Home Depot.
Was looking into this for my boat. There are now several versions of vinyl flooring that really looks alot like wood, but is totally waterproof! There are other versions of waterproof wood engineered floors available. Check Floor and Decor website or Home Depot.
gb421009
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When we were cruising we put sound down 1/4" foam and 1#per sq ft vinyl under our carpet. Make a paper pattern for the carpet and have a carpet shop bind a rug for you. if you have hatches mark the pattern. The quite cruising is nice.
Juggerknot
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"gluing down flooring?" I hate autocorrect.
