Experimenting with new floor covering

[370Dancer]

Messed about this weekend on my other boat to see how this material works out.
So far, I'm pretty impressed. I'll run it through its paces this summer.
Thinking about making a cockpit piece too.
AFAIK, there's no Teak and Holly version yet.


Home depot sells as Allure

1994 43 Portofino -

Ripped out the carpet

It's a vinyl laminate product that lays like engineered wood. Waterproof, floating floor, removable, cheap, and easy to install. Nice relief on it - not slippery when wet

10 hours from "hey I'm gonna try this" to completion - 10 bucks worth of tools

Sorry for the sloppy pic

Lots of corners, and wierd angles. Made paper templates for some of the small rooms

The Admiral is happy! Now she wants me to do the salon in Beach House...

 

[Sundancer]

When can you start on my boat? We've been trying to figure out what to use. Is this water proof?

 

[chollyjohn]

Great Work 370 Dancer. FYI, I purchased this product to do a studio floor in my house. I used the barn floor oak pattern which was uniquely embossed. The cost was just pennies over standard linoleum products sheet goods and much easier to install than one large piece. Great use of that product you are to be commended. FYI if anyone is looing for boating carpet, at lesser cost than Yacht carpet, Home Depot has a nice product called "Obsession", "Impromptu B1" and "Coral Beach". All are HI UV Polypropelene or 100% UV Olefin. You just gotta appreciate this well done renovation 370 Dancer has done.

 

[dgrumm]

Nice work! I bought the teak version but haven't installed it yet.

 

[berth control]

great job! I did a similar floor in mine, replaced the carpet with a vinyl wood floor. Mine glued down, your floats. You Win!! I wish I had found that product, but everything I found had wood or wood product in it and would not last in the wet environment.

 

[everthing's irie]

That stuff is great. We have been using it in our rental houses for a few year. They also make a 12 x 12 tile comes in sheets of 3 that we put in the laundry and bath rooms looks like travertine tile.

Great stuff.:thumbsup:

 

[fxsales]

Very nice,
I was loking at that also as a prlacement for acrpet in my cabin. Is this the type that does not glue down? If so, how owuld one manage engine hatches etc? I read an article where folks used two sided tape to anchor the middle strip.
If I do my salon, where the engine hatches are is this feasible?

thanks

 

[Henry Boyd]

Great Job. A couple questions. How easily/hard was it to get up the old carpet? Did this glue together, or is it the snap joint stuff? Finally, what did you use for 'baseboard'?

Henry

 

[StressAweigh]

Henry you beat me to my question I also would like to know what you used for molding on the sides and for the baseboards

 

[370Dancer]

When can you start on my boat? We've been trying to figure out what to use. Is this water proof?

It is water proof. It is your mom's vinyl floor in the kitchen, but twice as thick, and has a very realistic top layer.

 

[370Dancer]

That stuff is great. We have been using it in our rental houses for a few year. They also make a 12 x 12 tile comes in sheets of 3 that we put in the laundry and bath rooms looks like travertine tile.

Great stuff.:thumbsup:

I did a balcony (40'x7') with the tile version last week. That's what gave me the confidence to do the salon with the oak version.

 

[370Dancer]

Very nice,
I was loking at that also as a prlacement for acrpet in my cabin. Is this the type that does not glue down? If so, how owuld one manage engine hatches etc? I read an article where folks used two sided tape to anchor the middle strip.
If I do my salon, where the engine hatches are is this feasible?

thanks

I only had a day hatch for the bilge to worry about (see the pics). Just cut for the hatches and find a way to fasten them to the hatches, or just remove them when you need to open.

 

[370Dancer]

Great Job. A couple questions. How easily/hard was it to get up the old carpet? Did this glue together, or is it the snap joint stuff? Finally, what did you use for 'baseboard'?

Henry

The carpet was pretty easy to remove. It was a house style installation. Tack strips around the edges, pad, and carpet.
This floor is a combination of glue and snap. Each piece has an adhesive strip - Over on 2 sides, and under on 2 sides. So, as you would snap two pieces of engineered wood together, you press to pieces of vinyl tiles together and apply pressure with a roller. See You Tube, or the Konecto.com site for installation examples.
The best advice I can give you is to make sure the floor, and the product is around 75 degrees when installing. That is the best temperature for adhesion, without the glue on the strips getting on everything, or the floor seams pulling up because it was too cold. Temp and pressure on the seam are the key to a great install.
I have some other tips about dealing with the inaccuracies of a salon floor, and seam gaps that I'll post later.
I have not installed any baseboard (if you mean trim around the edges) at this point. I was pretty careful about the edge cuts to minimize this. If I do put a quarter round on, it will have to be a composite material, and it will have to be glued to the Vinyl, not the wall.

 

[Asureyez]

Very Nice job, I'm impressed with your gutzsey approach and ability to make a ship shape job of it.

However, I'm more than curious, what is under these brown access hatches? It appears you've just covered them over. Is there any reason to have to access the holds under there?

 

[370Dancer]

Very Nice job, I'm impressed with your gutzsey approach and ability to make a ship shape job of it.

However, I'm more than curious, what is under these brown access hatches? It appears you've just covered them over. Is there any reason to have to access the holds under there?

There's nothing in the holds except in the center, where the fresh water tank is. With the old carpet, none of these holds were accessible without pulling up the carpet. The one exception is the hatch you see near the lav. That accesses the forward bilge pump, shower/a/c drain sump, holding tank, and associated thru hulls.
If I REALLY needed to get into the other spots, I could pull up the flooring (remember, not glued down), or cut a piece out with a razor knife.

 

[Daniel P Thomas]

370 Dancer
I too have toyed with using this material in my salon.
In fact I have a box of it inmy garage that was left over from a job we did last winter.

My question is about your shower sum access panel.
Was the metal trim on there already?
Or did you add it?

In my salon, I have areas where the carpet wraps up
under the cabinets and fridge and other areas where it is on the
side walls but can be left in place if need be.
That and the stairs are my issues that I am trying to figure out.
See pictures attached.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Great looking job!
Dan

 

[370Dancer]

Sorry I missed your question (last Spring!)
The metal trim ring on the access hatch was already there. I believe that it's a hatch trim ring. See the original pics in this thread.
By the way, lots of action over the summer, and it still looks like it went in yesterday. Not slippery when wet, and I don't have to police the companionway to keep wet suits out of the salon. all in all, I am a happy camper.

 

[Go Aweigh2452]

I used the same material for our flooring inside the cabin and have run with it since Spring. Great product, no slip when wet and cleans with a portable vac.

I cut a "lip" under the vertical bulkheads and cabinets and slipped the flooring under for a tight fit. I did not use any glue to glue it down. The floor "floats" on the marine ply beneath the new floor. I have done real wood laminate in a previous boat and this stuff is hands down simple and fast. I completed my project in a couple of hours (including grinding high spots, removing the old carpet (gross black underside), and "lipping" the edges. It is very tight but I could, if it got damaged, replace a section without worries..

Yours looks great!

 

[370Dancer]

Sorry I missed your question (last Spring!)
The metal trim ring on the access hatch was already there. I believe that it's a hatch trim ring. See the original pics in this thread.
By the way, lots of action over the summer, and it still looks like it went in yesterday. Not slippery when wet, and I don't have to police the companionway to keep wet suits out of the salon. all in all, I am a happy camper.

Just came across this old thread as I am getting ready to finally do Beach House II salon. 7 years on the floor of the Portofino, and it still looks new.
Case Closed.

 

[importmonkey]

Padding under? No glue? How'd it do with temperature and humidity expansions? Do you find it shifts under rough seas? Thanks! P.S. have a ton of experience doing installs for houses, but not in boats. Looking for hardwoods in new boat, but might just save at signing and do it myself.