Nautolex Marine Flooring Question

[joza]

Hello.

I'm in the process of doing an inventory of all the things that I will need for my '59 Red Fish restoration... well at lest the things that I know of off hand. Ha!

Has anyone every used a product called Nautolex Marine Floor? Here is a link to someone on line: http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|10918|311409|311410&id=186217
I happen to run across the line of Nautolex products at a Joanne Fabrics store while looking at marine vinyls. Nautolex offers some nice patterns and colors for seating and some nice flooring options too. They're all special orders but I'm in no hurry to get it so I thought I would put the question out there to see if anyone has used them.

I was planning on carpeting my boat, but this may be a better alternative.

Thanks!

 

[erikgreen]

Re: Nautolex Marine Flooring Question

I've bought and used Nautolex shark grey for my boat floor. It looked good when installed, but it didn't work out for me long term.

Other folks swear by it, and if it had remained pristine I probably would have been ok with it. I blame poor installation and planning for my issues, not the product.

I installed it per directions except instead of the expensive nautolex glue I used weldwood contact adhesive and 3m super 90.

It went on ok except for the edges.. I believe they recommend mechanical fastenings for any edges because they will eventually curl up if they're subjected to any traffic.

After a year, the glue I used let water under the nautolex, and let it wrinkle and peel up in places. It got caught in things and got tears, and folded in one place.

I might have avoided this with the real nautolex glue plus better mechanical fastenings, but then again my boat's deck isn't really set up to easily permit use of this type of product.. I have a fuel tank hatch down the center, so I need mechanical fastening along both sides of the hatch and the deck there, which gets to be a bit much.

The only other thing I had go wrong was that I spilled epoxy on it at one point and quickly wiped it off with a rag with a little acetone on it. It didn't affect the nautolex itself, but it cleaned off the inked pattern on it, leaving me with a spot of textured grey vinyl surrounded by shark vinyl.

I still have a couple yards of the stuff left I'll use for small special purpose jobs, but I'm replacing the whole thing with an epoxy painted floor with non-skid.

All that said, it's much better than carpet, and would probably last a long time if applied properly.

Look at other posts on this board for pics of finished installs, it looks nice.

Erik