2002 410DA Cabin Flooring Project

Strecker25

Well-Known Member
SILVER Sponsor
Nov 20, 2014
4,905
Rochester, NY
Boat Info
2002 410DA
Engines
Caterpillar 350HP 3126
I made the leap of tearing out the 20 year old cabin carpet from our 2002 410DA to replace with waterproof vinyl plank flooring. I've done this project but on a much smaller scale in our 1998 290DA, so I have a process in mind.

This is a completely different beast than our old boat, though. More hatches, curves, sloped floor in places, and uneven fiberglass underneath the old carpet.

First order of business is to remove the carpet. There are HORROR stories about this step. My advice - use a multi-tool with an oscilating scraper blade set to the fastest speed. Work the blade slowly as you pull the carpet back and it will release the glue cleanly. Patience is your friend on this step and will save lots of scraping and aggravation later

09A4B92A-7253-4CB1-A9E7-3BF804B90D28.jpeg


Next up I make a template with construction paper. Its available at lowes for cheap in the paint section. This will let me lay the floor out at home to cut the pieces ahead of time. more on that later

Once home - I trace the paper pattern in chalk so I know where to assemble the flooring to cover the necessary area. Then, get the orientation right (I want the seams to line up with the hatches and run parallel to them). Assemble the floor, lay the paper over the top, and mark it. Now, here's where I'm changing my strategy from the 290. That boat has a small area so I was confident in the template. The 410 has a lot more room and as a result a lot more room for error. I am going to mark and cut the first couple pieces that will go under the galley but the rest I will leave marked to be cut at the boat. My theory is it will leave room for adjustments instead of me being off by 1/4"+ all the way around since the template isn't perfect.

FED52712-D021-475D-B87C-98B05E10F845.jpeg


I picked a cheap-ish 3mm floor first. I liked the color in the store, but once I put it in the boat I hated it against the cabinets. I've since returned that product and went with a waterproof 6.5mm vinyl with pad attached. This is a premium floor at about $3/sqft, but it SO much nicer. It will hide some imperfections in the floor and is the right color for our taste.

The floor I hated:
F0FC7270-5CC2-4E72-9FDB-9760BEB64555.jpeg


the new color:
AE614DBB-4D6A-43A6-8B85-3E5BA48459B8.jpeg
 
Last edited:
Wish I had 10% of your skills and talent. Hell, I'd settle for 2%. Drive, dock and wash is all me, anything over that and I'm opening my wallet or looking for a sucker with skills as a new friend.

haha, thank you! My son is only 3 so he hasn’t sucked the energy out of me yet. That, and since our season is so short I have too much time to ponder new boat projects (or stuff to fix that probably isn’t even broken)
 
I made the leap of tearing out the 20 year old cabin carpet from our 2002 410DA to replace with waterproof vinyl plank flooring. I've done this project but on a much smaller scale in our 1998 290DA, so I have a process in mind.

This is a completely different beast than our old boat, though. More hatches, curves, sloped floor in places, and uneven fiberglass underneath the old carpet.

First order of business is to remove the carpet. There are HORROR stories about this step. My advice - use a multi-tool with an oscilating scraper blade set to the fastest speed. Work the blade slowly as you pull the carpet back and it will release the glue cleanly. Patience is your friend on this step and will save lots of scraping and aggravation later

View attachment 118354

Next up I make a template with construction paper. Its available at lowes for cheap in the paint section. This will let me lay the floor out at home to cut the pieces ahead of time. more on that later

Once home - I trace the paper pattern in chalk so I know where to assemble the flooring to cover the necessary area. Then, get the orientation right (I want the seams to line up with the hatches and run parallel to them). Assemble the floor, lay the paper over the top, and mark it. Now, here's where I'm changing my strategy from the 290. That boat has a small area so I was confident in the template. The 410 has a lot more room and as a result a lot more room for error. I am going to mark and cut the first couple pieces that will go under the galley but the rest I will leave marked to be cut at the boat. My theory is it will leave room for adjustments instead of me being off by 1/4"+ all the way around since the template isn't perfect.

View attachment 118355

I picked a cheap-ish 3mm floor first. I liked the color in the store, but once I put it in the boat I hated it against the cabinets. I've since returned that product and went with a waterproof 6.5mm vinyl with pad attached. This is a premium floor at about $3/sqft, but it SO much nicer. It will hide some imperfections in the floor and is the right color for our taste.

The floor I hated:
View attachment 118356

the new color:
View attachment 118357
Looking great!
 
My floor was no where near level enough when we installed the flooring in our 2000 310Da. did you have to do any leveling or deal with high spots.

I don’t anticipate needing to, I’ve laid the boards in any spot that I thought might pose a problem and it’s not noticeable enough to have to deal with. If need be I have a really aggressive belt sander and very sharp chisels to pull some of the glass off but I don’t expect it’ll be necessary.

how thick of a floor did you put down? This is 6.5 mm and a pretty thick foam pad attached that helps hide imperfections
 
The Plasteak flooring that we used is a 1/8" thick non laminate. The pattern and color goes clear through the flooring. Because this style of flooring is a sheet material and is a full glue application it was installed over a 1/2" subfloor . With the subfloor installed all the floor storage covers just needed another 1/2" piece added to them to get them to fit correctly without carpet. Our 310's floor area is relatively small compared to your 410 so foot traffic is supper high. Plasteak being a harden solid surface will not wear or scuff. Our floor did have some spot that would give under foot where you came down off the steps and in front of the Vee berth where you would hop down. The subfloor made it feel like a floor in your house . The leveling was done with urethane adhesive.
 
The Plasteak flooring that we used is a 1/8" thick non laminate. The pattern and color goes clear through the flooring. Because this style of flooring is a sheet material and is a full glue application it was installed over a 1/2" subfloor . With the subfloor installed all the floor storage covers just needed another 1/2" piece added to them to get them to fit correctly without carpet. Our 310's floor area is relatively small compared to your 410 so foot traffic is supper high. Plasteak being a harden solid surface will not wear or scuff. Our floor did have some spot that would give under foot where you came down off the steps and in front of the Vee berth where you would hop down. The subfloor made it feel like a floor in your house . The leveling was done with urethane adhesive.

That makes sense. That stuff is beautiful but definitely translates from the subfloor.
 
Templating can be made a little easier using thin pieces of Luan. Cutting strips 1.5 wide and using a hot glue gun to adhere them around the perimeter of the cabin. Gluing a small piece on top to join two pieces. Once the permitter is finished and hatches are outlined you can easily cut the template to remove it from the cabin. Razor knife can easily cut curves in luan. Makes for a solid template and reduces shrinkage that can happen with other materials.
 
Last edited:
Templating can be made a little easier using thin pieces of Luan. Cutting strips 1.5 wide and using a hot glue gun to adhere them around the perimeter of the cabin. Gluing a small piece on top to join two pieces. Once the permitter is finished and hatches are outlined you can easily cut the template to remove it from the cabin. Razor knife can easily cut curves in luan. Makes for a solid template and reduces shrinkage that can happen with other materials.

great idea, I could see how that would work well.
 
Love that color choice. The high contrast to the cherry cabinets results in a really nice look. Good call to ditch the first one. I can see how it would look great in a home, but not against the cabinets in your boat.
 
Great choice on the colour change. Looks fantastic.

Question for ya @Strecker25 or anybody else that has done this upgrade. What do you do with the carpet that is running up the side?

I would love to do this upgrade and get rid of the ugly green carpet, but its runs up the side and everything on my 270. Anybody just put the vinyl up and tack nail the pieces?
 

Forum statistics

Threads
112,942
Messages
1,422,698
Members
60,927
Latest member
Jaguar65
Back
Top