Interior Redo May 2010

douglee25

Well-Known Member
Jan 13, 2008
4,761
Dallas, TX
Boat Info
Cruisers 3575
Engines
Twin 7.4l
So in late 2009 I became rather bored with my interior. For those that know me, I don't own a Sea Ray (although I did look at several) because the layout just didn't work for me when I was shopping for a sub 30' cruiser. What I liked about the Larson was the open cabin between the aft and V-birth. It's very conducive to conversation and it also gives the feeling of a larger area. I also liked the added headroom in the Larson where I have no issues standing (6'2"). What I did notice about the Sea Ray's was their interiors did have a plusher feel for the model years I was shopping for (mid/late 90's). I had this vision if you will, to design something that had some flavor of both models, with some added touch from me.

What do you guys think?


Here is the before -

Notice the bland colors and the ugly floral prints.

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Initial plan -

1. New flooring (either new carpet or other)
2. New upholstery with redesigned look
3. Veneer salon and other paneling
4. New pillows
5. Larger flat screen tv
6. Limber hole repair (separate from interior)

Final plan -

1. After a long selection process, I selected Amtico flooring. I looked at real hardwood, flexiteek, other wood products, etc, but in the end I selected Amtico. Amtico is used in Hatteras yachts and other high end boats. I had the flooring cut to my specs (2" wide teak, 1/4" wide holly (actually beech)). The flooring is actually real wood veneers that are sandwiched between a base layer and a top layer. The materials are bonded to the floor substrate with Amtico's epoxy. I opted to redo the steps with new carpet and padding instead of the Amtico for added slip resistance.

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2. I looked at many different upholstery fabrics and selected Spralding Whisper Ultraleather. Ultraleathers are actually vinyls that are coated with urethane for wear resistance and this brand also included a mildew product that keeps it down in the marine environment. This product has an awesome look and feel, excellent UV properties, cold crack resistance down to -20F, and it has excellent wear resistance (100,000 cycles, Wyzenbeek #8 cotton duck). I bought a walking foot juki machine and started practicing on dining room chairs. I finalized my design which you will see in the pictures. I opted for a vertical pleat pattern as opposed to the original horizontal pattern on the backrest. I kept the original look on the seat portion. After I started sewing, my buddy heard about my project and sent his family friend over who was an upholstery for 40 some years to check it out. He said he was looking for a job to keep him mentally going. He gave me a price which was peanuts as opposed to my time. I said here, take the rest of the pieces and finish it. I also sewed up a new aft cabin mattress cover with a checker/diamond finish.

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3. I originally was going to do a cherry veneer. I selected materials and started disassembling the salon. At the 50% mark, we ended up moving. Between moving expenses, lack of time, etc, I decided to put this one on hold. In the end, I may not have to do it anyway because the color actually compliments the new fabrics very well.

4. I selected nautical themed canvas to sew some new pillows up. You can see the pictures below. One picture shows one completed pillow.

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5. I received a 26" Vizio for Xmas. I purchased a mount online and I'm still in the process of mounting it this week. I will post those pictures up shortly.

6. I had an issue in the summer with my limber holes. I had a heavy rain at the marina and my drain holes on the hatch got plugged with sand/dirt. The water flowed over the top and into the bilge. After I vacuumed out the bilge, several days later I noticed water seeping from the limber holes on both sides. It appeared as though the 3M 5200 separated from the PVC tubes and water penetrated and was now leaking. I ended up pulling the tubes out to fiberglass in actual fiberglass tubes. When I pulled out the tubes, I realized it wasn't PVC but sanitation hose. -1 to Larson for skimping out on this. I found no rot when I pulled the tubes, just a little dampness. I dried everything out for several weeks while I worked on other things. I cut the new tubes to fit, mixed up some epoxy and thickened it with carbosil. I puttied them in and them put two layers on glass over top. When everything dried, I cut out the hole for the tube with my dremel, mixed up another bath of epoxy, and sealed the edge on the tubes. I just put my first coast of paint on them last night. I will follow up with some more pics on that repair.

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Here is the final product. The floor is complete and so is the upholstery along with the navy trimming (converted from the hunter green). The pictures lack the nautical pillows as well as the upgraded TV. I will get some more when I finish it up this week.

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Looks really nice - great job!
 
Wow, you've been busy! Looks great.
 
THanks for sharing - it looks like you put down a plywood sub floor to smooth out the surface? what thickness did you use? Also the trim work for the bilge panel, do you have a finished pix?
 
THanks for sharing - it looks like you put down a plywood sub floor to smooth out the surface? what thickness did you use? Also the trim work for the bilge panel, do you have a finished pix?

I ran a 1/4" sub floor on only the lower portion of the galley. The original flooring could only be leveled so much with a grinder where they glassed in the floor to the sides of the hull.

For the bilge access panel, I layed out the flooring and cut it to fit. I layed it all out and glued it in place in order to keep the teak and holly matching from front to rear. When the epoxy dried, I cut it back out with a utility knife because the epoxy seeped into the gap where the hatch rests. I trimmed out the hatch, nailed it into place, and sealed it with a couple coats of polyurethane. See the picture below.

Doug

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I will say for anyone who is interested that the Amtico flooring is a kick ass product. It looks like the real thing. I do need to call Amtico and give them my feedback on the install process because it flat out sucks. They specify that their 'proprietary' epoxy must be used otherwise the warranty is void. I purchased two gallons of their epoxy because they specified only a 40-60 minute working time. Because of this, I decided to prefit the entire floor. This required a chalk line down the middle of the floor, and start fitting each and every piece. I labeled R1A for right piece, #1 to the right of the chalk line, and 'A' for the most forward piece. Subsequent pieces were labeled R1B, C, D etc as you went towards the stern. Next row would be R2A, etc. To the left of the chalk line would be L1A, etc. I taped everything with masking tape to keep a tight fit. When everything was done, we took clear tape and ran several rows side to side and picked up the entire upper or lower portion and set it aside. Now you must trowel the two part epoxy down. The directions state that you must pierce the top canister, it flows into the lower canister, then you separate the top portion from the lower, mix, and trowel into place. When I opened up the gallon container, I realized the gallon of epoxy was only a 1/2 gallon at best. So now you're required to lay the entire thing in one shot because you only have 40-60 minutes. So one person tears off the strips from the tape and one lays as fast as they can. By the time you're done making it look good, 45 minutes has passed in a heart beat. Now Amtico requires you to roll the floor with 100 lb roller. How the hell are you going to get a 100 lb roller into the cockpit? I found my roller support that is used for supporting wood when cutting on a table saw and I flipped it upside down. I put my body weight into it, and presto a 100 lb+ roller. Now after rolling it, the epoxy seeps up ever so slightly. They specify cleaning the glue off with denatured alcohol. Any mineral spirits or acetone causes the material to swell apparently. Again, you're working against the clock to get it all off before it dries, all while keeping the pieces from shifting around. The top portion in the galley was much easier than the bottom. The bottom you basically end up working yourself into a corner where you're required to stand on the floor before it's dried. Now one would figure how the hell would you roll the floor out anyway if the floor isn't dried? So the slightest movement on the floor causes the pieces to shift slightly. Now glue seeps up and gets on your shoes. So you strip the shoes off and down to your socks. Now it gets on your socks. You're basically fighting a losing battle. I need to communicate this to Amtico because it definitely can be improved upon. Again, the product looks amazing afterwards, but I would not suggest a self installation unless you're pretty handy and put some thought into the process prior to popping that epoxy. The flooring ain't cheap and some places will only sell it by the 45 sq. ft box!

Doug
 
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Doug,I saw the Amtico at the boat show yesterday and love the look. I want to give it a go. I would have a carpenter friend give me a hand. I spoke with one of the retailers and they sell it for $12 a foot for the T & H. I am sure it would be easier w/out the holley as that seems to be the product of chioce on the new Sea Rays. Is it a lot harder w/ both or would you recommend just one color? Does the price sound correct? Also did they ever make any improvements to their Cement? I will probably have to lay down a 1/4" plywood as well. Thinking about a template and dropping it in but it maybe too tight. I have a couple of hatches to work around as well. Awesome job thanks for the photo's. Any other advice?
thanks Rob
 
Looks amazing. What a huge difference!
 
Doug,I saw the Amtico at the boat show yesterday and love the look. I want to give it a go. I would have a carpenter friend give me a hand. I spoke with one of the retailers and they sell it for $12 a foot for the T & H. I am sure it would be easier w/out the holley as that seems to be the product of chioce on the new Sea Rays. Is it a lot harder w/ both or would you recommend just one color? Does the price sound correct? Also did they ever make any improvements to their Cement? I will probably have to lay down a 1/4" plywood as well. Thinking about a template and dropping it in but it maybe too tight. I have a couple of hatches to work around as well. Awesome job thanks for the photo's. Any other advice?
thanks Rob

I'm assuming it's $12/sq. ft? I looked at my receipt and I paid $5.80/sq. ft. If you're buying from a retailer, that would make sense. I bought directly from Amtico through a local rep. Personally I think it looks better with the teak and holly vs. just one color, but I'm a little old school I guess. Either way works though. The color codes for my product are: Teak R-W699 and Beech R-W793 (they don't call it holly). They allowed me to specify the width of my order, so I also had mine custom cut to 2" on the teak and 1/4" on the beech. As far as installation goes, I think the entire area that you're covering needs to be prelaid in order to make all your cuts beforehand. I struck a chalk line down the center of the floor and then prelaid every piece labeling them in such a way to note if it was to the left or right of the chalk line and then in order from bow to stern. I don't know with 100% certainty, but I seem to recall reading on boat fix dot com that someone mentioned that Amtico redid the adhesive in some way. I don't know if the product itself changed or the application method. Whatever adhesive you get, make sure you read the instructions and verify what adhesive remover that they suggest. Previously they suggested alcohol. It doesn't harm the finish on the flooring, but it did remove the adhesive. Something like lacquer thinner would probably soften and haze the flooring surface. Either way, it was not the most user friendly to install. Luckily the product looks great, so the installation hassle was worth it. I did make a template out of cardboard for the subfloor. That was pretty effective. Make sure you use plenty of screws... around every 6" or so. You do not want to have any flex in the subfloor. Make sure you don't work yourself into a corner during installation. Also do not wear shoes when you install the flooring. Otherwise you will end up tracking adhesive everywhere as it seeps up through the cracks in the flooring. Bring several pairs of socks and change them often. Consider putting cardboard or a small piece of wood down so you can kneel and work your way out of area while you wipe up the excess adhesive. Obviously stagger your flooring seams and make sure you let the product acclimate before installation. That's about all I can think of at the moment. If you have any further questions, feel free to PM. Or if you'd like, I'd be glad to give you my number as well.

Doug
 
Doug, I called the man who is selling and installing at the Boat show and brought him down my boat yesterday. I live close to Boston. he measured and priced the install at $800 for approx. 36sq/ft. Soup to nuts. I dont have a ton of carp skills and to hire/ have a friend help would probably run close after buying material and underlayment and finshing off 2 hatches/stair/ and a rise in the v-berth flooring. he said the costs on the material were 10/sq or for me if I wanted to buy it. All things being equal he is a terrific installer/carp and I can't wait to get it done. I hope it looks as nice as yours and I will take before and afters. Rug is gone already so that saved me some $$$. Thanks again for the help. Rob
 
That's not a bad price for install. I think you will be very happy. Good luck and keep me posted.

Doug
 

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