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opinion replacement carpet for interior cabin
- Thread starter defboat
- Start date
Bob, Cabelas does sell Marine grade carpeting on their website. I'm looking for how thick it is and if anyone has used this brand.
KiDa, good suggestions, but the carpet on this boat wraps 'up' the sides of the interior about 3-4" all around the cabin...so we better stick with the carpeting, probably easier to replace.
thanks for the suggestions!
KiDa, good suggestions, but the carpet on this boat wraps 'up' the sides of the interior about 3-4" all around the cabin...so we better stick with the carpeting, probably easier to replace.
thanks for the suggestions!
As BobJ said, use good quality nylon carpet...loop pile will give the best wear and use outdoor carpet adhesive to glue it down. I'm assuming its going over plywood. if you have to use staples, make sure they are stainless or monel. You can make a pattern from paper or plastic sheet, but cut the carpet a couple of inches bigger than the pattern and use a utility knife with a new, sharp blade to cut the carpet. If you're gluing it, rough cut the carpet in first, fold it in half, glue that half, then fold up the other half and glue it. Don't let the carpet shift while you're spreading the glue.
I did not like the backing on any of the marine carpet. I purchased remnant berber, high quality carpet for the cockpit and cabin. Snaps hold the carpets in place in the cockpit. Instead of removing the old carpet, I cut and overlaid the flat areas and left the area where no footprints reach alone. Snaps also hold the interior overlay in place. It costs as much to bind the carpet (serged) as the carpet cost. It was still half the price of replacement marine carpet. Even if it lasts half as long, it will be a better buy because the next replacement will be free of wear.
Just some comments re carpeting interior of boat: blueflew mentions adhesive and/or staples. Mine was originally stapled with 10,000 staples...maybe 11,000. My buddy installed new with tackless like you would use at home; why not? He also mentioned using a new/sharp utility knife. If you are doing the work; definitely invest in a carpet installer's knife....10X sharper; you won't believe it. I posted a picture of one somewhere on website.
blueflew; not trying to one up you but my next slip neighbor did mine & he does it for a living. I actually bought the carpet knife while removing old carpet; thank God!
blueflew; not trying to one up you but my next slip neighbor did mine & he does it for a living. I actually bought the carpet knife while removing old carpet; thank God!
I was a carpet installer in my younger days and Bob J, you're right about the carpet knife, but a good utility knife with sharp blades will do the job for the do-it-yourselfer. Those carpet knives are so sharp and a I thought a novice may leave some blood stains on his new carpet so I suggested the basic utility knife. I've carpeted vans, boats, patios, etc. and there are several ways to install carpet in a boat. You can do the tackless install, but the moisture will eventually get to it and will mildew and rot the tackless and the nails will rust. Also, tackless requires padding and if the pad ever gets wet, it will hold a lot of water. The 10,000 staple technique works also, but carpet staples are are brass and if they get wet, will stain the carpet. If you want to change the carpet in the future, try pulling out 10,000 carpet staples...they are very long and narrow and you have to pull them out with pliers 1 at a time. I've ripped up glued down boat carpet and its messy...no doubt, but I scrape off the large noticeable bumps of dried adhesive until its relatively smooth. Use an outdoor adhesive and lay in the carpet. You may need a few staples to hold narrow edges or vertical areas. One very important thing...never use any sort of rubber back carpet when doing a glue down installation or you'll be scraping off rubber pieces the rest of your life if you want to replace it later on. Use regular actionback carpet. Nylon is the strongest fiber, but olefin holds up ok. BobJ, your tackless installation may hold up just fine if it stays relatively dry, but sometimes that's a difficult thing to do on a boat, that's why I feel the glue down method will work better for most boats. I carpeted the cockpit of my friends Baja 2 years ago and it still looks new. If you glue down the carpet with an outdoor quality adhesive and it gets soak and wet, you just have to wet vac as much water as possible and then let nature dry it completely. If your tackless install gets wet, you have to rip up the whole thing so the padding can dry and have it re-installed. Oh, and another thing, carpet is sensative to humidity and when installed with tackless, you can get buckling in the carpet after a while and you will need a restretch. No buckling ever in a glue down job. Sorry for the lengthy dissertation, but I did this professionally for years and wanted to give the pros and cons of the different ways carpet can be installed in a boat.
blueflew; I pulled those 10K staples last spring. The wrist & palm s/b getting close to normal in another few months, hopefully! I hear what you say & agree but I went for the tackless with padding.....hey, it's only money & it feels good under foot. BTW, my original stapled (new) had padding. That added another 5K staples.
IMO larger boats all have some type of household carpet in the interior spaces Just had the carper replaced on my 44 and the original was installed using tack strips, staples and glue depending on the area. The installer did the same.
On a larger boat in an area that stays relatively dry, a tackless/padding installation should work fine. I would tend to do what ever was done originally by the boat manufacturer. There really is no right and wrong way to go here. You have to evaluate the pros and cons of each type of installation and decide what works best for you. FYI, any household carpet that is nylon or olefin can be used inside or outside. They use 100% synthetic fiber and backing and will not rot or mildew. If it gets wet, you just have to let it dry out.