Carpet or Vinyl Boat Floor

[Nomad]

I got a 22' Crestliner with 3 wood floor panels all covered by vinyl. The vinyl is torn and needs replacing. To replace with Vinyl, I need to pull the floor panels out which means I also need to pull the seats and sidewalls and whole list of other things. I like the idea of carpet and thought I could have snaps along the edge of the floor and carpet and just snap it in like you see in a lot of newer boats. I wouldn't have to tear the thing apart this way and carpet sounds kind of nice to the wife and kids.

Any thoughts on this? In particular, pros and cons of carpet vs vinyl. I don't worry about keeping the boat clean while fishing so the carpet will get blood(fish and sometimes human), food, coffee and variety of other things on it. I know the vinyl cleans up nice, not sure about carpet.

Any advice would be appreciated

[ESOX]

I have carpet. yea, its a little tough to get clean, but I like the slip resistance. Especially since I tend to push the seasons as far as possible. Icy decks are no fun.

[davedmg]

I have a 16 ft Lund Rebel with carpeting. My son's 26 foot Glacier Bay Catamaran has slip-resistant fibreglass decking. He can clean his boat with a garden hose in a minute or two. It takes me about an hour to vacuum my little boat, and the vacuuming does not get rid of coffee stains and such. I have therefore thought about ripping out my carpet and installing wall-to-wall vinyl. Somebody must make a non-slip variety. If the new deck is still too slippery, boat shoes would probably solve the problem.

Good luck with your project. Let us know how it turns out.

[fishwitch44]

i have a 21ft thompson fisherman with dark brown carpet...i would go with the carpet for footing and get a decent indoor outdoor carpet and not worry about the stains...good luck :cool:

[davedmg]

Fishwitch:

I'll bet you are a neat person. I am Mr. Messy. I can live with the stains -- in fact, I usually do. But spilled nightcrawler dirt, potato chip debris, uneaten pork rind bits, fallen submarine sandwich detritus, etc. are unsightly after a few weeks, And have you ever tried to find loose hooks dropped on the carpet, or tiny lure snaps? AAARGH!

[Stinky]

Clean up is relatively easy and I have not seen any slippage yet, just redid all may floors last year.

If you fish a lot the carpet can hold the smell longer and thats what gets the flys around. Good Luck.

[fishctchr]

I put carpet in my Tiara 3 yrs ago and it has the non skid. My opinion is the carpet is much less slippery, can be hosed down quickly, a few sprays of Febreze before each trip, and much easier on the feet. I use the stiff jute backed indoor / outdoor carpet and replace it every 2 yrs. I don't anchor it down as I have to get to my engines and bilge areas so I just roll it out of the way when I need to. Much nicer when the seas get rough.

[Getaway]

Nomad,
If you decide on carpet, look into the marine grade stuff. They use it on most new boats (Lunds, Starcrafts..etc). I think it comes pre-scotch guarded. It cleans up much easier than regular carpet and hooks come right out without snagging and pulling the fibers.

I purchased a chunk at West Marine and I don't remember the exact cost, but it was not overly expensive.

Good Luck!
Bob

[Nomad]

Thanks for the input. I'm thinking the carpet route sounds better than tearing my boat apart this winter to put vinyl down.

Does the marine carpet have a water proof backing so water runs off rather than soak through and stay damp between the carpet backing and the boat floor?

[fatboy]

I have carpet it's nice to look at ! but my boat see's plenty of fishing and it's a pain to keep it clean. if i had my choice i'd go with the hard floor. i'm like davemg, you have a few guy's fishing and the smashed chips and worm dirt etc... get's old fast !

[davedmg]

Fatboy: I knew we were kindred spirits!

[Getaway]

Nomad,
The marine grade carpet semi-repells water. When it does get soaked, it will dry out very fast.

I have a bunch of it that I purchased from West Marine. If you want PM your address to me and I'll mail you a small sample of the stuff for you to look at before you fork out the cash.

[ESOX]

BRRRR, My toes curled at the thought of wearing boat shoes in a nice November cold rain. I'll stick with the carpet. Smashed Cheetos and all.