Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

I am stripping the deck off our pontoon to put on new wood and vinyl and noticed that Tracker did not put carpet under the fuel cell, just a sheet of aluminum between it and the deck?
When I install the new vinyl should I, Option 1- do it the same way or, Option 2- put the vinyl over the deck and the aluminum over that?

Any good/bad thoughts either way?

Edit:
Was just thinking, this could possibly have something to do with static electricity? Maybe I should do it the way it was?

Im a little off your topic but wonder why you chose to go with vinyl instead of carpet. I am just researching options other than carpet and want to hear your reasons if you don't mind. Also does it come in different thicknesses (thicker may be softer) and does it come wide enough so there are no seams. Where did you buy it? Thanks.

Big Fish Little Fish wrote:Im a little off your topic but wonder why you chose to go with vinyl instead of carpet. I am just researching options other than carpet and want to hear your reasons if you don't mind. Also does it come in different thicknesses (thicker may be softer) and does it come wide enough so there are no seams. Where did you buy it? Thanks.

We went with vinyl for ease of cleaning. Much easier to remove sand, dirt, mud, blood. Use a broom instead of a vacuum.
We ordered it from Pontoon Stuff and they have it in 39 mil and 80 mil.(we went with the 80 mil, great quality)
No seams, it was 8-1/2' wide and 6" longer than our pontoon.

Pontoon Stuff gives a 10% discount to our forum members. Discount code is: Forum10.

I likely will go with vinyl for same reasons. I just sent for the free samples so I can see the vinyl. Will start removing the carpet from my boat next week. A little worried about how difficult it will be to remove. I assume I will have to replace to wood floor. How much time did it take for you to remove and replace your floor?

Put vinyl on mine three seasons ago. Got the thick stuff from pontoonstuff.com. Very satisfied with it. The carpet on my (at the time) 12 year old Bennington came up easily and I had zero floor rot. There was a lot of adhesive left over, so I spent a few hours with a random orbital sander smoothing things out. The toughest thing about replacing carpet is everything, and I mean everything, has to come off the boat first.

Read this before you start:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=15791

Big Fish Little Fish wrote:I likely will go with vinyl for same reasons. I just sent for the free samples so I can see the vinyl. Will start removing the carpet from my boat next week. A little worried about how difficult it will be to remove. I assume I will have to replace to wood floor. How much time did it take for you to remove and replace your floor?

My carpet was very bad and came off easily, removed in about 10 minutes.(had very little glue)
Removing just the plywood took me about 5 hours without help. First I removed the screws that came out with the drill/driver.(about 1/2 of them) Next I used a hole cutter on the drill and started to cut circles around remaining screws down to the aluminum. Lifted off the plywood and then use a sawzall(or cutting wheel on a grinder) to cut off the screws. I have bad knees and cannot stand for more than 20-30 minutes at a time and have to sit for a few, so your time will probably be better.
Putting on the new plywood and screwing down took me about 2 hours.(I did have help setting it in place)
Vinyl install took about 1 hour.(I did have help for this)

TIP: I used a Dremel Multi-Max with a scraper attachment to remove the joint sealing putty/goop from the aluminum. Took me less than 15 minutes to remove all of it.

Back on topic.... I would suggest contacting who you bought the vinyl from and see if it is gas and oil resistant. Some materials dont handle gas very well. You might have to put the aluminum straight on the wood to prevent the gas coming in contact with the vinyl for this reason. If they say it is fine then it wont really matter.

Another comment back on topic.....

On my Bennington, the carpet ran under the plastic fuel cell. When I replaced the carpet with vinyl, I followed suit. The vinyl is under the fuel cell. I did this in 2013 and I have had no problems with that method.

I installed vinyl and have the gas tank on top of it, no problem with it, and I love how it drys on the drive home, not drip for days like with carpet

I would guess vinyl is best in the manufacturers mind (I really don't know for sure) because it was an upgrade when I bought toon. But at the end of the day I would say it is a preference for either.