What's under that rug of yours?

[tuned]

I’m still waffling between leaving the beautiful, top quality carpet on my project boat and tearing it all off and laying down vinyl. It’s now or never as they say.

It’s not so much the amount of work or the cost, both of which are substantial. I just started thinking about how many boats are still being made with carpet. Perhaps they are making it (along with the glue) better nowadays. More rubber equals less rot?

So how long does quality boat floor decking last with wet carpet on it? I am not the type to use a playpen cover so it will sit in the rain. Thoughts?

TopDeck.jpg (48.4 KiB) Viewed 5427 times

[Texoma Toon]

Mildew in the carpet may be your biggest problem.

[hyper]

20 years? is my guess

[jimrs]

Carpet seems to last longer than most seat vinyl if not covered and kept out of the weather.

[Ron Burgundy]

I thought this was a thread about toupee's.

[Texoma Toon]

[evinrude2stroke]

I would go with vinyl. My next toon will defiantly have a vinyl floor. A guy in my marina has it and it looks nice + no mildew.

[tuned]

I thought this was a thread about toupee's.

I worded it that way to attract ur attention. Perhaps I was worried about 'mind mildew'.

Seriously, thanks for the advice guys. Guess I'm still leaning towards doing the work. Now I gotta figure out how to get the damn 25' trim rails off without beating them all up. I can't find a screw or a rivet anywhere. They must be glued on. I think I'll try my oscillating tool or a perhaps a good fillet knife.

[rancherlee]

I just went through this, my toons an 87' model and I JUST replaced the factory floor and carpet. It was a Dock Queen for the pervious owner and it spent all it's summers tied to a dock with no cover. 25 years is good enough for me, and I like the look and feel of carpet better.

[MacToon]

I'm not much of a fisherman, so bait and fish guts on the carpet is not an issue for me. My 'toon is mostly carpeted, but has (light beige) vinyl decking on the aft swim step and I can tell you that during the Arizona summers, that vinyl gets hotter than hell! We had debated getting all vinyl flooring throughout the boat and are now very happy we didn't. I understand why it's on the swim step and I'm glad it's there, but I wouldn't want it throughout the rest of the boat. It may not be such an issue in cooler climates, though.

[NH Tooner]

I think your rails have a C channel built in to them. look under to see if they are attached from the underside.

[tuned]

I think your rails have a C channel built in to them. look under to see if they are attached from the underside.

Nope. Not a screw or rivet above or below. Just the corner caps. I am trying to get info from the factory, but I am 90% certain that they are just glued on. I have some long Sawzall blades that flex and may get under there.