flooring,vinyl or carpet?

[sidingguy]

Looking at flooring materials for my Islander [fishing boat].Vinyl seems the best choice but kinda pricey.Carpet seems cheaper but easier to snag with hooks.Any opinions?

 

[ahicks]

This is hardly a choice. You'll thank yourself for vinyl every time you clean the boat.

 

[madsonp]

Vinyl gets wet, gets slippery.

 

[Redrig]

Look at vinyl nautolex from defender , it's fairly reasonably priced

I installed it last year and love it , I have not noticed it being slippery when wet . It is a little tough on the knees though, but for a fishing rig it's ideal . Either that or gelcoat would be my choices

 

[Lowlysubaruguy]

I second the Nautolex pick a color thats light it gets hot. i went with Shark which is a light grey with medium speckles. Carpet is comfy until it rots everything its touching, Traction is decent its hard on knees when its new and a little crispier but it gets better. There are cheaper brands make sure you do research if you go with other brands. Perfect fit will sell and ship to your door fast and cheaper than just about anywhere. Ive got a ton of tips on the prep and install if you go with vinyl.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Go Rhino liner

 

[roscoe]

nautolex or similar is the way to go.
have had it in 2 boats
not slippery at all, ever.

Actually cheaper than a high quality marine carpet in most cases.
You can get it 6' wide, for $25 a yard.
Or 8.5' wide for about $85 a yard.

Don't buy their $80 a gallon glue.
You can use regular vinyl floor adhesive from Home Depot for about $13 a gallon.

had decodot in one boat, did not hold up well.

 

[Silvertip]

I've had both and much prefer a light tan/beige short nap carpet. I'm a barefoot fisherman and prefer carpet whether fishing or just cruising. Slipperiness of vinyl is not for me and never was. In rough water stuff slides around too much for my liking. Carpet cleans with a bit of soap and a light brushing and vacuuming after an outing. Rinse with water. My boats after years of use still look fresh and clean. But then my boats were always stored inside so they were well protected.

 

[Teamster]

I put vinyl in the old Alumacraft I redid years ago,..I hated it,...

Hot as all blazes in the summer,...

Slippery when wet, and stupid slippery in the late fall early winter fishing in snow storms,..

It was easy to clean, but I hated every minute of being in that boat after I was done re-doing it,..

A good OPEN LOOP marine carpet, Make sure it says OPEN LOOP and your worries
of snagging hooks is gone,..

 

[gm280]

And the options vary. Who would have guessed. :lol:

I like carpet for a multitude of reasons. Sound quieting being one, easy to sneak up on fish without any loud noises, easy on the feet, it doesn't get hot or cold, and I have never had any problems cleaning any carpeted hull either. But then again, every boat I always had was stored inside a boat storage/garage as well. And I have never ever had any issues with hooks, plugs or any other fishing gear snagging in the carpet. Maybe that is true with loop pile, but softer cut pile doesn't seem to be any problem. JMHO

 

[JimS123]

I've answered these posts before, but now I have new info, so I'll post my new thoughts.

A carpet is the LAST thing I would ever have in a boat. Uggghhh. Also, my boat is supposed to look like a boat, not the bed of a pickemup truck, so Rhinoliner is a double uuggghhh.

We've had Marideck and Nautolex in many boats now, and it was always my first choice. Wears like iron, cheap cost, washes right up and not slippery when wet.

Now, last year my son bought a new boat and ordered it with SeaDek, not just on the swim platform, but the entire boat. Wholly crap! Fish guts washes right off, soft on the feet, absorbs zero water, cool even in direct sunlight and makes the boat look like a yacht. They even send out free samples and a pattern kit for the DIYers.

The downside is the cost. If you are restoring on a budget, Marideck is the way to go. It's OEM on Starcraft and most tinnies, and also on FG boats with fishing interiors.

 

[Lowlysubaruguy]

I've answered these posts before, but now I have new info, so I'll post my new thoughts.

A carpet is the LAST thing I would ever have in a boat. Uggghhh. Also, my boat is supposed to look like a boat, not the bed of a pickemup truck, so Rhinoliner is a double uuggghhh.

We've had Marideck and Nautolex in many boats now, and it was always my first choice. Wears like iron, cheap cost, washes right up and not slippery when wet.

Now, last year my son bought a new boat and ordered it with SeaDek, not just on the swim platform, but the entire boat. Wholly crap! Fish guts washes right off, soft on the feet, absorbs zero water, cool even in direct sunlight and makes the boat look like a yacht. They even send out free samples and a pattern kit for the DIYers.

The downside is the cost. If you are restoring on a budget, Marideck is the way to go. It's OEM on Starcraft and most tinnies, and also on FG boats with fishing interiors.

I am thinking about something like the Marideck in my new boat. You stated patterns does that mean they will shape them with finished boarders like the ones in the picture and send them to me ready to go? I want something that looks great on top of peforming great lot of square footage for my floor. The phrase this not be cheap sits at the top of the estimate sheet. But I need to protect it from dive gear.

 

[legalfee]

I went with textured gray vinyl. I doesn't get hot or is slippery.

 

[JimS123]

I am thinking about something like the Marideck in my new boat. You stated patterns does that mean they will shape them with finished boarders like the ones in the picture and send them to me ready to go? I want something that looks great on top of peforming great lot of square footage for my floor. The phrase this not be cheap sits at the top of the estimate sheet. But I need to protect it from dive gear.

Marideck is a textured vinyl like Nautolex. It comes in wide rolls and you cut it yourself and glue it down. That's the cheap one.

The expensive one is SeaDek and that's what's in the picture. They send you a "kit" of template sheets that you lay down and make your own patterns. The flooring pieces they send you back are factory cut to match your patterns with all edges finished and adhesive applied. All you do is peel off the backer and lay it down.

I've had people tell me they are concerned about long term stickum. All I can say is that i removed a portion on the swim platform to install a kicker bracket and that stuff was really stuck! Also, if you have a late model boat that is in their database, they may already have the patterns.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Jim,

Seadeck does look great

what is shown there for SeaDeck is about $2k worth of SeaDeck for a DIY installed kit (I am estimating the swim platform) for a total installed surface of about 95 square feet, unless the costs have come down significantly recently.

Most boaters that want to get away from carpet (about $300-600 installed cost) and are viewing the vinyl as a cheap alternative when they get sticker shock

besides seadeck other choices are Flexiteek (not really that good), Nuteak, Marinedeck, Plasdeck, Atlanteek, Permateek, Plasteek, Aqua marine deck, Estec, Herculan, and a few others that have popped up.

At worke have used Estec on a few gangways, and while you can do funky patterns and colors, its only available professionally installed (outside the reach for most boatman's pocket books)

The same surface sprayed with Line-X XS650 would be about $1000-1500, however it would be impervious to fish hooks, fish knives, etc. and give you wet traction.

There is always the DIY non-skid surfaces which can be hit or miss. the durabak product has failed on boats as well as trucks - wouldnt recommend it. Monstaliner is another that I am not sure how it would hold up. Raptor liner doesnt build to the same thickness as the professionally sprayed polyurea products, however they do provide the gun with the kits and the kits are available in white and light grey. they are specifically listing marine applications.

 

[JimS123]

Sticker shock for sure. I called it "expensive", and that's why I recommended Marideck as a low cost alternative.

I had Marideck on 3 boats now, and the stuff wore like iron. We had our last boat (a Stingray) for 35 years and when we sold her the deck looked like new. It was a little hot on the feet, but the wife never complained. Just throw down a towel. The best thing was the water didn't soak in and we never had a rotten deck.

My Starcraft fishing boat had it too. The wife never went fishing, so it was a moot point.

My son's new boat and ours as well are fully SeaDek. Yeah, about $500 for the swim platform and $1700 for the cockpit. However, the wives think its heaven to walk on and when we fish the goop just washes right off. So, double plus - keeps Momma happy and we can fish too.

A recent post indicated that the OP has dive gear. Thinking about it, Marideck might take a beating as well. If Momma didn't dive with us, I think I would just lay down teak boards and call it a day. It should wash right off and a little sandpaper will fix the damage from the tanks.

 

[fishrdan]

I have light tan Nautolex in my 18'er and like it, not love it. Great for clean up and it's relatively cool in the summer. Negatives, as others have pointed out: noisy compared to carpet, stuff in the boat will slide around on it compared to carpet and something I didn't see mentioned, it's tough on the knees and elbows when kneeling or leaning on it. I haven't had any issues with it being slippery to stand on, even in pouring rain, but I imagine some frost/snow would make things interesting.

It's been installed for about 8 years and still looks great. I hauled the boat down the car wash, gallon of 50/50 simple green in a bug sprayer to wet all the vinyl, then hosed the boat down. The vinyl looked like new.

 

[JASinIL2006]

Whatever you do, stay away from Durabak. I put that in my boat and it has been totally worthless... anything BUT durable.

 

[Old Ironmaker]

Vinyl gets wet, gets slippery.

That's why they make deck shoes.

There are many that go barefoot, not a good idea especially if fishing. I don't really care if the owner want's to go bare foot but I have heard the cries from a puppy when they got a hook buried in their paw. Not a good sound, at all. Every boat we have refurbished in the last 4 years get Nautolex or similar with zero complaints. Carpets and fishing do not go together. .

 

[5150abf]

I am with Silvertip on this one, as soon as it is tolerable shoes are off and nothing beats carpet.

Ya it holds a bit of water and Is harder to clean but for comfort you can't do better.

Also easier to wrap around corners, a lot of storage doors on my boat.

In the end no matter what anyone says it is what you want in your boat, if a thousand people told me it was dumb to put carpet in a boat there would be carpet in my boat because that is what I want.