Is typical homestore HARDWOOD Floor ok to use ???

T

Thinkbruce

Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2009
RO Number
31835
Messages
36
Can anyone tell me if using standard home hardwood flooring is ok to put down in the cabin of my boat? I have a 79 silverton sedan & have pulled up all of the carpet. I would like to put down hardwood & then area rugs..... Any one have good/bad experience with putting typical hardwood floors in their boat??
 
I used engineered hardwood last year. The galley, dinette area and v-berth came out great. The salon which is all hatches came out just ok. Gluing it down worked great in the forward areas but I ended up having to use nails (brads) on almost the entire salon because of the hatches. The glue wasn't strong enough. Overall I will give the project a grade of B-. The good thing was the cost which was only $300.00, here are a couple pictures.

Good luck
Niles

DSCN0797-1.jpg


DSCN0798-1.jpg
 
Great info! Thanks so much. It looks beautiful! I have only on level as my galley is by the cabin door and only one hatch to deal with so that works in my favor (engine room hatches are aft cabin with V drives) - I assume you've had no issues with warping from humidity? Thanks again!
 
It has gone through one summer and winter now and there hasn't been any warping. My biggest issues was all the hatches in the salon.

Niles
 
Exactly how did you handle the hatch edges?

I have a curved stairway that I'm considering doing and my salon floor has 3 hatches as well.

RWS
 
We have wood, not laminate flooring in our boat. We had carpet and hated it.
But our floor is 3 ft wide and 11.5 ft long. We pulled up the carpet and glued
down the wood. It is 3/4 inch thick wood, not thin. Looks great, feels great.
Easy to clean.
 
there is a lot of change in humidity and temperature on a boat so I would inquire of the maker about the temp and humidity stability of their product.
 
I got 2 boxes of wood flooring in the sale rack at Sam's. It is individual 3/4" thick planks, it isn't the pieces that look like several planks together. My wife just swiffers it clean.
We keep her in the water year round, no issues with warping or buckleing. I don't remember the brand, but I can check when I get home Tuesday.
 
Just set the wood on the boat to acclimate bfore you start to install it.
 
Paul is 100% on the money!!! Virtually ALL resillient (non-tile) floor covering (wood, laminate, vinyl, linoluem, and even some carpet) has a 48 hour minimum acclimation period.
I actually put CHEAP laminate in my boat 2 years ago. $5.00 per box at Big Lots, floated over the old carpet adhesive, still looks good today.
Based on my success with junk, I think proper acclimation to the humidity with quality products should hold up, even with incidental water exposure.
 
RWS, dealing with the hatches was the biggest challenge. The original hatches were 8 lift out sections. One of the previous owners had made 1 hatch out of 2 sections on each side over the engines. He then added piano hinges and installed struts. That was all great when the carpet was in there. When we did the floor we had to remove the hinges and reinstall on top of the new flooring. For the sections over the engines we made careful measurements and laid the floor right over the cracks. My son in law then used a skill saw and a straight edge and made the cuts for the hatch edges. For the 2 sections running northsouth down the middle we installed the new flooring to fit the hatch itself.

All looked great but our theory started to unravel a little. First off we should have used longer screws when we put the piano hinges back on. What happened was when the first hatch was raised the strut was pushing from underneath on the hatch and the hinges was only holding onto the new flooring and just a little bit into the hatch.. The glue wasn’t strong enough and the two pieces started to slide apart. After fixing that with longer screws and using a lot of brads our nice gaps weren’t as nice as they used to be.

If I had to do it over I would not use glue, just brads and I would fit the flooring to the hatches leaving nice sized gaps to raise and lower the hatches. We discovered that even with a not so tight fit and some stain to cover the cut edges the gaps aren’t that noticeable. Here is picture. It is still better than the mauve carpet!!

Niles

DSCN0787.jpg
 
I have Pergo in my galley and dinette area, going on four years and with wet kids from swimming ect - still looks good as the day i put it down.
 
ALL great info guys !

Thanks - we'll be putting wood in - Thanks for all the tips
 
Regular hardwood has held up well for us also. here is the galley.

Boatfloorrefinish-11.jpg


Boatfloorrefinish-09.jpg
 
Navman,

Sorry to bombard you but:

1. Is your floor glued down or floating?
2. Did you have someone locally do it to do it yourself?
3. Template used or just cut-n-fit as you go?
4. Do you know the brand of flooring?

Looks beautiful! A semi-light hard floor really seems to 'open up' the interior.

Marlin
 
my neighbor just did his 30 SR and used solid BAMBOO. added 5/8" hard as nails. used the waterproof glue and it looks great.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Don B

my neighbor just did his 30 SR and used solid BAMBOO. added 5/8" hard as nails. used the waterproof glue and it looks great.

Click to expand...


would you have any pictures of that. I am in need of a new interior as well. I was looking at lumber liquidator bamboo.
 
The question is; Can you get teak and holly floring at a floring store or home center?

And can you get it in 3/8" or 1/2" thickness?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top