Carpet alternatives...

First post here! Great forum you have here.

Recently partnered with my son on a 1981 Sea Nymph JB 142 and am redecking the fore and casting deck.

I have two other boats with carpeting on them, and thought I’d try something easier to maintain on this ratty boat.

Here’s the main point: I bought a couple rolls of the Northern Tool Anti-fatigue mats. I made a dead-nuts accurate template for the forward “wedge” part of the deck (trolling motor and lights mount there).

I rolled out the mat And let it sit flat to take the coil out of it.

I carefully cut out the foam mat. The boat was outside in the sun, BTW. I laid the mat on and it was perfect. I had other things to do, so let it sit for a couple hours. When I looked again, it was about 1/4” too big and not sitting flat, so I trimmed off the extra. This AM (real cool outside) I was going to glue it down and it had contracted that 1/4” AND another 1/8” or so.

The big question I suppose is: glue it when cold or hot? This stuff is super thermally unstable. My guess is glue it hot so it doesn’t buckle and bubble.

Any thoughts?

Probably glue hot and would just 'dotted lines' of glue so that can expand or move too, where I'd use a contact cement product.

yeah that stuff will expand and contract with heat/cold. The bad part is that once you glue it at whatever temp, and then you go fishing out in the hot sun, the stuff will expand. Then later it cools. It will actually break the glue bond and then it comes up while you're running across the water, or you're trailering it. If you glue it hot and then when it cools, it'll curl up. If you glue it cold and then when it gets hot, it'll bow. Just not a good material for a boat unless you're just going to leave it lay there without any glue.

I don't like carpet. Nautilex is pretty nice. It's like a vinyl but it has a texture to it, it is paintable, or you can order it in whatever. Pain to install, sorta like vinyl flooring you have to use contact glue and that stuff is nasty. Once it's stuck, it's STUCK.

I threw some self-stick hydroturf in mine and after owning a boat with carpet, nautilex, bare aluminum, bare glass (with a texture) and now hydroturf, I will choose hydroturf as my favorite. It is NOT cheap. But it is not junk either. Wish I'd have gotten it a lot sooner.

So on the foredeck..... I used carpet tape around the edges and a few strips in the middle. Did while hot in the sun (95*). Checked it a while ago (82*) and looks good.

I also covered the casting deck today with it, but I glued it down with weld wood. Let me tell you, that stuff is sticky! Coated both the plywood and the foam, let it sit for 15 min, and once you think you have it positioned, there’s no going back!

Looks great, non slip and cool on the bare feet compared to the bare alu benches.

I’m going to try to upload a photo of the foredeck before I taped it:



I’m going to fish it in a couple of days, and see how it holds up before using it on the mid floor and aft deck. Northern Tool has it on sale for 11.99 a roll.

I fished the boat twice this weekend and really like the anti fatigue mat!

The fishing was a scrum yesterday with 14 bass in 2 hrs. on the water. And 20 min of that was screwing with the motor fuel system ( that’s a interesting story I’ll share sometime...).

A couple fish were big’uns and had me on my knees to land them. These 63 yr. old knees thanked me later!

The carpet tape will have to come off on the foredeck, and I’ll glue it down.

I hooked a crankbait treble hook into the rear deck carpet, and after wrestling it out had me later sticking a treble into a piece of scrap mat, and it pulls right out and kinda “self heals”. And if a hook isn’t pressed into the mat (by stepping on it or a hooked fish flopping around) it just slides around.

The trolling motor controller did make a mark on the casting deck, but was completely healed the next day. Maybe a negative: You cannot skootch the controller around the deck with your foot, it just will not slide.

I mounted the trolling motor bracket on top of the mat and bolted it down. Last night it was dead calm on the lake, and I think maybe it attenuated some of the slight vibration throughout the boat from the motor that I noticed when we first fished it with the bare aluminum foredeck.

I’m going to do the mid and aft deck with it this week sometime if it cools off.

Lastly, I left the boat on the trailer, uncovered overnight at the lake under a cottonwood tree, and there were some leaves and thistle fuzz in the boat in the AM. The mat decks cleaned up easily, the carpeted mid and aft deck needed a picking and sweeping.

I think you'll be kicking yourself for using that foam matting. I tried it on my boat and it breaks down after a while. I don't like the price of hydroturf but it's your best alternative. You'll be looking again here after a while, I guarantee it.

Maybe, but hydro turf is about $365 for the sheets to do this cheap boat we found. The foam mats were $44. Im trying to keep the cost of this rat boat/motor/trailer to under $800.

I have a FeelFree Dorado pedal kayak that has what I’m sure is hydroturf factory installed. It was 3 times the price of this boat, too.

Regarding breakdown: I own a manufacturing company and we use the same Northern Tool mats on the floors at our lathes. They hold up fine with an operator standing 3-4 hours a day with metal chips/curls and cutting oil.

I also use it for the bedding area in a portable dog kennel at the shop and that pad has been in it for 5-6 years. Easy to clean and doesn’t stink.

I picked up another 3 mats today while getting a cover for this boat, also on sale!

I hope it works out for you but I've found that UV breaks down the stuff I had. It may be that what I had just looks like what you're using. The stuff I had came in black, came in a roll and looked like a diamond tread pattern and the mat itself was approximately a 1/4 inch thick between the diamonds. After a season it would just make your hands black. If that foam you're using works out I'd sure be interested in using it on my boat. Let me know how it works out for you. Hydroturf is really good but, like you state, it's really expensive.

I agree that I bet the UV really wears them down fast. If you store your boat covered that will obviously help greatly. I wonder would some type of Velcro system work for holding the mat down vs gluing it? May helping with thermal expansion and if the mat breaks down you can easily remove it, trace it, and place a new one in with a lot less work.

I recently ordered a bunch of samples of the Nautolex and MariDeck vinyl and both look very nice. I'm flip flopping in my mind between using that and Hydroturf on my boat. I believe the vinyl will be slightly cheaper, easier to clean, and last longer but it offers zero cushion like the Hydroturf. I'm actually pondering using Hydroturf on the decks and vinyl on the flooring.

This boat will be my mobile fishing rig.

This Sea Nymph will be covered and trailered and fished at non-home ground lake. If we had the money, we’d have bought a Tracker Grizzly and not worry about decking (or wood... or covering it... or my knees!).

I have a pontoon I beach at my home lake and it’s been in the sun everyday for two years except when I trailer and cover it during the winter months. Not sure what the deck covering is on it but it has held up great. Some kind of marine vinyl. I do cover the seats though as they showed some weathering after the first year.

10 month update:

The foam mats are holding up great! Fished on it maybe 20-25 days on the water the past 10 months.

The main center floor size was too big for a single piece of foam mat, so I just stapled a extra piece of carpet on it, and it weathered/wore much worse than the foam. I didn’t want to have a seam with the foam mats because of the expansion/ shrinkage issue.

We try to keep a tidy boat, and last weekend, Mr Fumblefingers (Me) spilled two beers and a Pepsi on the foredeck. Cleanup was a couple big 5-gal buckets of water dumped on it, and drained out with the bilge.

I store the boat outdoors covered when not using it, but so far no discernible UV breakdown.

If Dogecoin hits $1, I’ll SeaDek it!

Stay safe!

Thanks for the update. Always good to hear how things held up.

Good luck with the Dogecoin. Who know, you might make it!

I covered the rest of the benches tonight in the foam, and raised the center deck to the same height as the benches. I yanked the troublesome Merc 40, controls and tank off of it, and will now go all electric with 2 trollers.

Re: Doge...
I sold half my Doge when it hit 0.70, cashed it out, paid the capital gains, and ordered a Minn Kota Terrova with the rest.

Glad the stuff is working out for you. I know that stuff I had turned to something resembling dust after a while.

Well, it has been almost over two years since I put that foam padding in our Sea Nymph and....

It’s still holding up fine. The only negatives so far is if I kneel on it for a while, I get black smudges on my knees, so it is breaking down somewhat. Also, if there is a cooler, tackle box, etc. in the way, you cannot just scootch it out of the way with your foot. Too sticky. Had a corner come loose and just stapled it down for a quick fix last spring and forgot about it.

My winter project is removing the dinky side console and installing a narrow center console. While I have the lower center floor opened, I’ll tear out the only carpet remaining in the boat. BUT I just might redo the entire boat in something “fancier” too.

I have been running the anti-fatigue mat for over three years. I have it covered by a ribbed vinyl top though. It is great on the legs and knees. And ultra quiet. On the deck it is held down by alum angle and strips. On the floor, just by seats and console. It was installed on a hot sunny day, but occasionaly get wrinkles.

The wrinkle you see by the forward seat is more caused by having and aluminum floor that follows the mod-v taper and having a plywood base that spans the gap. The fatigue mat only goes up to the edge of the plywood.

I used RaceDeck garage flooring on the bottom of my Jon. My Jon boat has deep ribs on the bottom and it sits or floats on top of them. Easy to scoot stuff out of the way. Eaiser to stand and kneel on and if any water gets in the boat your feet stay dry. Very easy to cut with a jig saw or oscillating tool. And the floor becomes flat instead of ribbed. It may work for you too.
https://racedeck.com/

I have marine vinyl floor covering. Can't say anything bad about it. Doesn't add any appreciable weight, easy to clean, and durable.

Someone with a whole lot of time on their hands should make up a spreadsheet with materials, cost per square foot, weight and a list of pros and cons.

LDUBS said:

I have marine vinyl floor covering. Can't say anything bad about it. Doesn't add any appreciable weight, easy to clean, and durable.

Click to expand...

I am only considering a pontoon boat with the vinyl flooring. Doesn't hold water, easy to clean, especially ADK pine needles. Carpet is nice on bare feet, but that is about all I like about it.