New Boat Floor

[DLD24]

I recently got a great deal on a 96 Lund pro sport and I need to replace the floor. Should I do it with vinyl, carpet, or roll on stuff like tuff coat. Vinyl sounds nice for clean up, I'm kind of leaning towards that or tuff coat. What are some pros and cons?? Thanks for any advice

[delmuts]

I'm a carpet guy, BUT! That's just me!( I very seldom use any bait, so clean up is easy )

 Either of those will work. Look at cost, ease of installing, and weight of each. Be certain you have some sort of a textured surface to help prevent slipping.  Talked to many people that  love being able to hose a boat down after a fishing trip. 

 

 

 

[gunner55]

There used to be a guy here who did this at his shop. He was south of Owatonna & Steve Bakken was the name, I think. Might be a good source of info for you

[gunner55]

 Found him on page 8, Boats & Motors forum, Lund Boat paint thread.Should be able PM him

[delcecchi]

5 hours ago, gunner55 said:

 Found him on page 8, Boats & Motors forum, Lund Boat paint thread.Should be able PM him

 

Unless of course he no longer comes around hso ....  

[gunner55]

According to his profile he visited HSO last week, so it would be worth a shot IMO

[fishnowworknever]

Tuff coat hands down.  Carpet and vinyl will stink and rot the wood underneath.

 

Coat your marine grade plywood (both sides and edges) with polyester or epoxy and then 1 layer of fiberglass, then tuff coat over that.  If you use poly you'll need a primer, if you go with epoxy you won't need a primer.   You'll be able to spray down the entire deck and not have to worry about rot, ever.  On top of that it's chemical resistant (think gas/oil/etc)

Edited December 30, 2016 by fishnowworknever

[DLD24]

On 12/27/2016 at 10:39 AM, gunner55 said:

There used to be a guy here who did this at his shop. He was south of Owatonna & Steve Bakken was the name, I think. Might be a good source of info for you

Ha kinda funny he has the same last name as my girlfriend... I think tuff coat would be by far the easiest to apply, I just wonder how long it will hold up.

[BoxMN]

We put vinyl on our duckboat, and on a pontoon I rehabbed and it turned out GREAT! Been going on about 10 years for the duck boat, and i sold the old pontoon but it is still on our lake and spends summer and winter out in the elements and it still looks great! We used Dot Decco, or Dekko Dot or some such brand.

 

When we bought a new pontoon i ordered it exactly how I wanted it, and got vinyl flooring, and everybody who sees it and rides on it now wants vinyl. Looks great, wears great, and you can always put in snap in carpet if you want it. I don't. If you have dogs (we dont' anymore) you will LOVE vinyl as hair flies right off of it!

 

Good luck!

[DLD24]

Ok box ya made my mind up for me, vinyl it is....I've heard nautolex (spelling?) Vinyl is really good, so I'm going to go with that. What kind of adhesive did you use for the vinyl? 

[BoxMN]

We just used the "outdoor carpet and vinyl" adhesive from big box store. I will note that we used both green treated (duck boat) and marine (pontoon) and the marine is much better flooring to use, though it costs a bit more. 

 

With the vinyl we used, even though it was pretty thick, if looked very close you could almost see the "grain" of the plywood under it. We applied the adhesive acording to specs, and then once laying down the vinyl we used a rubber "roller" to help even it all out. That was so small we ended up getting my wife's bread rolling pin and it actually worked pretty darn well, and covered more area in each roll. Be careful not to push ALL the adhesive out when rolling, but you will want it nice and smooth.

 

Even with the green treat we have not had a corner come up yet. I did have a couple bubbles in the pontoon, and what I did was wait for summer when it got warm, poked a little hole in the bubble to let air out and shot a bit of adhesive back in and flattened it out and all was good again.

 

Key thing about using vinyl, is that once you have it on the wood under it will likely never get wet again, unless you sink your boat somehow! The water will just roll to the drains. On that note, we added a couple drains to our duck boat as boat makers just don't realize the areas where water needs to drain from... picking up decoys and crawling in with waders makes a guy know where water collects  Even in our 18' walleye boat, we added a couple drains to help water drain quicker even with our carpet. (We likely will be putting vinyl in that 20 year old alumacraft in the next year our so, and we really can't wait to do so!) We use SS shower style drains, about the size of a taper lock seat post, big enough to cover the taper lock seat base holes they cover, and they look pretty good and obviously allow plenty of water to drain quick.

 

I forgot I still have some pics from those rehabs here.... sorry for the guys who have seen me post it a few timies, ha!

http://www.boxmeyers.com/martha/martha.html

 

http://www.boxmeyers.com/pontoon/pontoon.html

 

Good luck! Take pics while you do it, it is fun to look back years later!

-Box

 

edit, this stuff we used is this, just google it if you like it...

Nautolex Decko Dot Marine Flooring 

 

 

Edited January 6, 2017 by BoxMN

[DLD24]

Ya I already ordered the wood, straight from Lund precut. I'm just going to buy the supplies here and there and tackle it in the spring. Trying to gather as many tips and tricks before then haha. 

[DLD24]

I have read online some people say to wrap the separate pieces of wood before you screw them down. Then it makes any repairs you might need to do easier. 

[BoxMN]

Doing the boat again, I WOULD cut them into a couple more manageable pieces. I also won't be wrapping the outside edges but cutting them flush and putting a small piece of synthetic trim (i.e. ripped synthetic brick molding trim, etc.) around it, likely. Just easier.

 

Main thing, if you do "wrap it" you will need to account for the "Bundle of wrap" on the edges. Do a "test wrap" to find the best way to do it.)  I found that out when doing my dock pieces, that "wrapping" carpet or vinyl will add anywhere from 1/8 to 1/4 and inch per edge.... makes fitting it tough... Also, you don't need to do it perfect like a xmas present, just get a single layer of "wrap" and staple it in to the edge. That will help keep the bundle down to only about what the thickness of the vinyl is.

[DLD24]

When you rip up the floor, do you only need  replace the foam if it's wet? Also am I going to have to take out the consoles and windshield. I'm assuming I'll have to....Thinking of starting the project in the next month or so.

[RebelSS]

36 minutes ago, DLD24 said:

When you rip up the floor, do you only need  replace the foam if it's wet? Also am I going to have to take out the consoles and windshield. I'm assuming I'll have to....Thinking of starting the project in the next month or so.

 

I would, but that depends on how many $$ or how far into it you want to get. If that's all wet, once you have everything out, I'd be checking for any inner leaks in/thru the hull...great time to do it...just sayin'. That foam got all wet somehow.

[delcecchi]

On 1/24/2017 at 11:54 AM, RebelSS said:

 

I would, but that depends on how many $$ or how far into it you want to get. If that's all wet, once you have everything out, I'd be checking for any inner leaks in/thru the hull...great time to do it...just sayin'. That foam got all wet somehow.

Ever leave your boat tied to the dock overnight and get a couple inches of rain?

[LindellProStaf]

Great pics of your projects.  I just bought that pontoon as the snow started to fly this winter.  Excited to get it going.  Hasn't been in the water for 12 years.  If the carpet is shot i will do vinyl.  We have two labs and I like your line about how dog hair just blows right off of it.  

[delcecchi]

Is there flotation in a pontoon ?  If so, where?

[BoxMN]

On 1/28/2017 at 0:24 AM, delcecchi said:

Is there flotation in a pontoon ?  If so, where?

 

Just the toons

[SkunkedAgain]

A little late to this one, but I'll throw in my two cents. Vinyl is nice and I'd lean that way. The only thing that I like better about carpet are the times in the summer when I use my fishing boat more like a cruising/ski boat. Carpet feels great when you're barefoot on an 85 degree day soaking up the sun. I haul supplies to my place using my boat, and it's now got stains and discolorations in the carpet to prove it.