wood flooring question....

[CliffA]

i have seen a lot of post showing either real or laminate wood flooring being installed in the cabin of some cruisers....the projects turned out great and really enhanced the look and feel of the cabins...i have also read where removing the OEM carpet can be a real PITA....

my question is does the carpet really have to be removed?.....could you just screw down some 1/4" or 1/2" subflooring on top of the carpet and just install the wood flooring on top of that?.....this would even allow the cabin to be returned to being carpeted later on if for some reason that was desired....

thanks....
cliff

 

[Sous]

I'm sure its possible but I don't know how practical it would be. Off the top of my head I'd be concerned with: limited ability to truly level the subflooring, the impact it may have to sliding sections (for instance my settee slides out at the base for the sleeping configuration), any access hatches would be funky with the carpet sandwich in there, maybe minor but you'd lose an inch or so of headroom.

I'm sure that this plan would vary from model to model as to its benefit/success, but in the end I'd still be left thinking that if I was going to do something this major and this visible, I'd rather just do it right.

 

[dpmulvey]

I would be very concerned about mold in the carpet should any liquid get between thelaminate strips.

The he carpet in SR. is top notch, as is the install. Removal is a VLPITA. It's one of those all in projects.

 

[mj_duell]

i have seen a lot of post showing either real or laminate wood flooring being installed in the cabin of some cruisers....the projects turned out great and really enhanced the look and feel of the cabins...i have also read where removing the OEM carpet can be a real PITA....

my question is does the carpet really have to be removed?.....could you just screw down some 1/4" or 1/2" subflooring on top of the carpet and just install the wood flooring on top of that?.....this would even allow the cabin to be returned to being carpeted later on if for some reason that was desired....

thanks....
cliff

Remove the carpet, it is a must. The old carpet would serve as a sponge and then create mold. The carpet is easy to remove, use a scraper with a metal edge, try to pill up in large sections and have a utility knife handy. You can level the dips with leveler used on basement floors if needed but mine was plenty flat for the job. Be very careful when screwing into your fiberglass floor. All kinds of things under there. I laid down rubber matting over the fiberglass and installed an engineered hardwood made by Home Depot (Home Legend). Its a floating floor and looks great. We tested it in a bucket of water for three days before laying it down. It was amazing and had no delamination, highly recommended. It feels, cuts and acts like wood when installing. Welp, that's my .02

 

[WDCboater]

One tip, SeaRay actually lays the flooring on a piece of plywood cut to the shape of the room it's going. They then place the completed piece in the cabin. I've seen them assemble the hardwood floor in the factory.

This may not be entirely possible in an existing boat, but I like the idea of putting down a plywood subfloor so you have something to nail too. This keeps you from putting too many holes in the Fiberglas.

 

[CliffA]

thanks for the replies.....if we decide to go with wood flooring it will be a winter project....we would not want to miss any of the normal boating season due to the work being done and i am sure there will be some noise created from sawing and hammering......i don't want to disturb my dock neighbors with construction noise....things slow down considerably at our marina during winter months so that is a good time to work on projects like this....

cliff

 

[Free Pour]

Did you use a floating floor or glue/nail it down? Looking at doing the same in my 2000 EC, and hope someone can advise the best way that won't see me redoing it in a few years due to not installing it correctly. Thanks for any help