Cockpit carpet

[TMK988]

I just took the snap in carpet up for the first time this season (my 06' 290 is new to me and only in the water for a few weeks) and it appears that the carpet backing is disintergrating! Three questions:
1) When it is time to replace that outside carpet, is it generally because the backing has gone bad. The carpet side of mine looks great.
2) I spent a good three hours trying to get, what is now a very sticky residue of the old rubber backing out of the little depressions in the floor. I used a brass brush for what I could and then an exacto knife to pick out the black spots that were really adheared to the floor. What a horror. Is there a better way to get that old backing up?
3) Does any one make a snap in carpet that has a better quality backing than the original SeaRay stuff?
Thank you,
Tom

 

[quailrunner]

Don't know about the quality, but these folks make replacements and they have the templates for a lot of Sea Ray boats: Custom Marine Carpet LLC,www.snapincarpet.com (note that I have not used them yet - still in the process)

 

[Nehalennia]

Corinthian marine carpet just signed up here as a vendor and according to Frank W's first hand account sounds like nice high quality stuff. It's on my list for next season.

 

[fwebster]

snapincarpet.com uses the same latex backing you have now, so a replacement from them is going to look just like your present carpet about a year from now. The backing on Corinthian Marine carpeting is vinyl and is guaranteed not to fail for 3 years.

There is no fix for what you have, other than throwing the old carpet away. But worst of all, the longer you try to use it, the worse the mess gets. About the only way to remove the residue is with a slow speed buffer and compound. when you have removed what you can, a plastic scraper and a lot of time will handle the rest.

 

[Moose]

Both Custom Marine Carpet and Corinthian have almost duplicate berber colors to OEM but without the black stuff. Custom's backing is called Nu-Wave and Corinthian's is AquaLoc. Ask for samples and you will see the difference.

 

[Lake Erie Boater]

I also got mine from Custom Marine and it has the ribbed gray backing.

 

[jrock1062]

I would use a power washer to remove the black backing left on the floor

 

[TMK988]

Thanks fellas. Jrock, I actually thought of breaking out my powerwash to finish cleaning up the remains. I am distressed that three years seems the average time for these carpets to last. It looks like it is going to cost close to a grand to replace these things. For this year, I will go carpetless or... I am going to look into getting a large sheet of thick ply clear plastic. I'm thinking that I could lay it down, do a rough trim on it, lay down and snap in the carpet, then do a fine trim. Any thoughts on this?

 

[Spot]

I orderd my boat with out carpet...in the cockpit. Just an idea. I do however have a comfort helm removeable pad under my feet while driving.

 

[Dave S]

Frank.........Is it the sun that destroys the backing on these carpets?

My backing is still fine on my nearly 4 year old boat but my cockpit gets exposure to the sun only when the boat is on the water. The rest of the time it is in a covered slip with either the camper canvas up (for winter) or the mooring cover in place for summer.

Dave

 

[mwph]

Like Dave... I'm in a covered slip & always have the camper canvas or cockpit cover on.

I would think that the direct sun/heat has got to play a roll in the backing breaking down. I'm not 100% sure mine is original but its in decent shape for 12 years old. I'd also bet that any harsh cleaners left on the deck would not be a good idea.

For what its worth, mine is the smooth, gold colored backing. Again it "looks like" some 1998 stuff.

 

[Turtlesboat]

Mine lasted for about 5 years. Around year 5 I started to see signs of the backing start to flake a little. Year 6 all hell broke loose. seems like once it starts, it goes quick.

 

[chumbley]

Frank.........Is it the sun that destroys the backing on these carpets?

My backing is still fine on my nearly 4 year old boat but my cockpit gets exposure to the sun only when the boat is on the water. The rest of the time it is in a covered slip with either the camper canvas up (for winter) or the mooring cover in place for summer.

Dave

I don't think so. My boat is covered with a cockpit cover and in a covered slip. The only time the sun sees the carpet is when we're out on the boat. At year 7 I noticed a little flaking. At year 8 it was pretty bad. Replaced it at year 9. I did pull the carpet and pressure wash it each year, and I've read where that can contribute to the problem, though I'm not sure.

Also, for cleaning up the old rubber bits on the floor, I found Spray Nine to work well.

I got mine from SnapIn Carpets. They sent samples of both the original black rubber backing (the OEM carpet), and a newer poly type backing, which is what I went with. Slightly different color, but we actually like it better.

 

[Corinthian Marine]

Frank.........Is it the sun that destroys the backing on these carpets?

My backing is still fine on my nearly 4 year old boat but my cockpit gets exposure to the sun only when the boat is on the water. The rest of the time it is in a covered slip with either the camper canvas up (for winter) or the mooring cover in place for summer.

Dave

Dave,

The sun doesn't necessarily destroy the backing--It's just the general make-up and composition of the material. That black rubber OEM backing is carbon-based and just cannot hold up over time. If you got four years out of that backing, consider yourself lucky! Most people see a lot of problems with that backing within the first few years. This is precisely why we only manufacture our carpet with a vinyl-ribbed backing. It's not too uncommon for me to see a customer send in a 10 year old AquaMat with the carpet pretty worn and the vinyl backing still in perfect condition.

 

[Corinthian Marine]

3) Does any one make a snap in carpet that has a better quality backing than the original SeaRay stuff?
Thank you,
Tom

Tom,

Give me a call at the number below or private message me, and I'll get you some FREE samples sent out of our high quliaty carpet with vinyl-ribbed backing. Thanks!

Here's a pic of the Aqualoc backing: