Carpet or Vinyl?

[Gerritt]

I am trying to make up my mind as to what I am going to cover my floor in.... Vinyl is nice because it is easy to clean etc.. Just hose it down.... Carpet is nice because it adds traction.. I am trying to weigh the pro's and con's of etc.. but I am still undecided.... I can pick up marine grade carpet @ Home Depot... But where can I buy Marine grade Vinyl? (the textured stuff)

 

Your thoughts? what would you choose? and where would you purchase it?

 

 

Thanks!

 

Gerritt.

Edited August 18, 2007 by Gerritt

[Dondorfish]

All my boats have had carpet, till this one. It has the vinyl flooring and I just love it - so easy to clean and maintain.

As far as where to get it - I am not sure of any places locally - but it is available in the cabelas catalogue.

 

 

Hope it helps

 

 

Don

[Tybo]

Use both.

Vinyl for fair weather fishing.

Then snap in carpet for those days you have freeze up.

[Mike the Pike]

Gerritt go vinyl I have the flat floor inserts on my Lund I absolutely prefer vinyl for fishing .I have had carpet in my previous boat and will never turn back.Fish blood and slime wash right off with the hose carpets are hell to clean.Yes its a bit colder on those November days but a good pair of boots will take care of ,that .Just remind Corey to bring his LOL.The only inconvience with my floor is it can be slippery when wet.

 

Mike

[Kerry]

I did my floor in my boat with the Deckmaster outdoor vinyl flooring two years ago.For a 16' bowrider it ran me just about 200.00 for the vinyl and glue.The glue is very strong so it must be done in a well ventilated area.It is basically non-slip anyway.I don't have any pics available to post right now but I can get a couple up next week when we get back.

Kerry

[Guest Trophymuskie]

I ordered my Crestliner with the all vinyl flooring after my previous Lund had vinyl in the cabin area and carpet on the decks. The carpeting just wears out as well as been dirty.

 

I can't find a bad thing about it, it sure isn't slippery like some tend to say, if you get ice on your carpet it's as slippery as ice on vinyl. I guess you just need to keep it dry in late fall like you would carpet. I actually think you may actually have better traction on vinyl then carpet.

 

Vinyl is almost maintenance free, all dirt collects in the corners so vacuuming is a 2 minute job. I keep my floors clean, been a full time trophy muskie guide I tend to clean my boat after every fish ( poop, blood and slime ) or as it gets dirty, I could just imagine how smelly it would get if I didn't.

 

Maybe you need to contact a local boat dealer and he may be able to help you with where to buy the stuff. Marine vinyl is the stuff you need, there is no substitute.

[sirfish]

Hey Gerritt, I got my vinyl at the local auto trim shop.Most should be able to get it. Its the marine grade and ran about $120 for 18 running feet , 6ft wide. I also went to a local A-1 flooring and they made me up a banded carpet that I can snap into the boat when tubing or out for a cruise. hope this helps.

[SlowPoke]

I have vinyl and it's great. I don't find it slippery at all when it's wet. The previous owner replaced the casting deck and purchased the vinyl from Home Depot. I will be doing the rest of the floor in the same

-Brian

[Andy]

http://www.grizzlygrip.com/boats.asp#

 

http://www.durabakcompany.com/marine.htm

 

 

I have often thought that if I needed to replace the carpet in my boat I would try a product like this if the plywood was still solid. Hope this doesn't make your choice even more difficult. P.S. It was good meeting you up north. Hope to bump into you again. Andy

[addict]

vinyl,vinyl,vinyl,yes it easy to clean but i dont find it very quiet or cozy nothing beats kicking off the old shoes on a nice day and walking on the carpet feels cozy.i guess it come down to preference.ive got vinyl in the back near the battery area but carpet in the front floor.plan on using carpet for my back bench and new casting deck im building.i got carpet from home depot fish and ski carpet but the store i went to no longer has it so i went to a carpet joint around the corner had some real nice indoor out door its gonna cost me about 200 bucks.unless you store your boat inside i recomend getting a cover its easier to replace a cover than carpet the sun wreaks havoc on it.carpet isnt to hard to clean if u go to the car wash or have a pressure washer.the only time i dont like carpet is after a week in the bush pike fishing.but after that its bass fishing for me,and all those sweet bass boats cant be wrong they all have carpet.happy construction cant wait to see the finale.i will try to post pics of mine since im remodelling her already got most of the supplies got a sweet pedastal for the front this mornin from bps waiting on some 5/8 ply from a friend then im gonna start.

[glen]

I vote vinyl. I got mine from home depot in barrie.

 

When i pulled the old carpet out there was a pail of sand in it.

 

The glue for the vinyl is nasty stuff though and you have to use it outside.

[Gerritt]

Thanks for all your suggestions guys... It looks like Vinyl is the way to go... I will look into home depot for it (wouldnt have thought of it)

 

Andy it was nice meeting you too.... how was the fishing?

 

on a side note... I have decided to put in a pedestal seat between the middle and front seat as I have 4' of space between the two... rather the trying the clamp on seat.. Besides... I got the pedestal seat for free

 

The floor is in progress I am working on the bracing now.. I will be sure to snap a couple pics..

 

Gerritt.

[Uncle Buck]

ive heard some bad stories about vinyl as in it not allowing the wood to breathe hence it rotted the wood underneath it...

 

might want to check up on that?

[Muskieman]

I just put the best of both worlds on my deck.. it's a poly-vinyl silicone carpet ...weatherproof

available in different colors, reasonable prices.. all the traction of a carpet , drainage & washability of vinyl.. but i forget the actual name. I got mine at Castle . it's a high tec outdoorcarpet.

but i got alot of buddies that have sprayed a liquid colormatched bedliner for trucks in their boats , and they swear by it, does'nt look bad either.

 

have fun shopping!!

 

MM

[fishdawg]

I agree with Tybo & Uncle Buck

 

1) get the vinyl as the base & snap in carpet for when conditions call for it

 

2) wood floors with vinyl are prone to wood rot - this winter ill be taking the wood pieces out of the boat in my garage for the weeks my boat wont in use & i'll let everything breath & dry & i'll be able to get the whole hull/pedestal bases cleaned up from all the little bits of junk that find there way in the crices ( ill post up some photos of that little project when it happens) my boat is 4 yrs old

[Vanselena]

Vinyl but make sure you don't use vinyl with a paper backing.

[sirfish]

Gerritt one thing you should know. The vinyl that home depot sells is NOT marine grade . As I said before your local auto trim shop should be able to get the proper stuff for you. If you do the job right then you should not have to worry about the wood breathing. It will seal it to the wood airtight.The only way you are going to get rot will be if you keep it outside and about 4 inches of water in it, and I don't think that will happen.

I replaced the wood in a transom about 10 years back and it still looks the same today as it did when I put it in ,but it is never left outside except when fishing and travel , so it all depends on how you store it i guess. Can't wait to see the finished product.

[solopaddler]

The vinyl that Mike mentioned he has in his Lund is the same thing I have my Lund SSV.

It's an insert sold as an accessory by Lund for their boats.

This particular insert is solid vinyl (or some kind of hard plastic), and is not wood lined with a sheet of vinyl. It's absolutely amazing.

Don't know if these type of inserts are available in generic sizes for other boats, but it would likely be worth looking into.

Who knows, maybe the Lund inserts would fit .