Best place to buy vinyl flooring?

[JL8Jeff]

I put the Nautolex in my boat but it has aluminum flooring so no way to wrap it around anything and add fasteners. I used the contact cement and it looked great when I finished. But my boat sits at a dock out in the sun 7 months a year so it has started to come unglued as it shrank and tightened up. I don't know if I can get it glued back down adequately and the edges are curling pretty good now. It's still better than standing on hot aluminum but I need to find a new solution. If your boat sits out in the sun, I would definitely wrap it and staple it.

 

[thill]

Good looking boat!

Seeing your post just reminded me of something. A customer had a newer boat like yours, with aluminum decks and vinyl floor. Around the perimeter there was a metal edge trim, maybe 1/2-3/4" wide. I just remember that it looked very clean and neat.

That could be a nice solution for situations where you can't wrap and staple. I'm guessing that someone here has that system, and can post a picture.

 

[thill]

That might be something to consider, JL8Jeff. If I recall, it was put down with either small flat head screws or 1/8" rivets.

I wish I could remember more about it. Was years ago, and I think I was working on the trailer. All I remember was looking inside and thinking, "Wow, that's a nice, clean interior. Kind of looks like the Mannington vinyl floors we install in kitchens."

 

[thill]

Well it reached 50 today, so I decided to coat the floor.

I worked the first coat in thoroughly and then laid on the wet coat and sanded it with the coffee can sand-shaker. Then I backed up and did the next section, working my way from bow to stern. Here you can see the sanded part in the front with the next area getting done behind it:



I worked my way to the transom, sanding as I went. Once the whole floor was sanded, I came back over it and painted the sealing coat, again bow to stern:



It went very quickly, and I'm pretty happy with the final product:




Here is a close-up pic of the texture of the floor:



I started a little too late in the day, so I covered the boat and have heat blowing under there to keep it warm. It's supposed to drop into the 20's tonight. Hopefully, it will dry without incident. Not sure if anything will happen if it freezes, but I don't want to find out.

It's strange that the paint looks blue in all the pictures except for the last one. It's actually gray. We'll see how everything looks when dry. If I'm not happy with it, I'll color-match the original gray, and will top-coat to blend everything together. I just wanted to get it done fast. Good enough for now.

 

[thill]

And just for the record, the gallon of porch and deck paint was $37.99 and the sand was $5.49 at Home Depot. It took about 2 hours from start to finish.

So for less than $50 and 2 hours of time, I have a nice floor that is tough, non-slip and easy to clean.

Now I have to decide on whether I'm going to install front and/or rear decks or just leave the floor level. I like the big, single-level floor. The boat feels huge inside, with lots of real estate, but I'm not going to make any final decisions until I get the console and engine installed.

It mainly depends on whether this is going to be a lake boat or a Bay/river boat. Being a Mariner-V, it's suited for either, but I also want to see how it handles the chop before deciding.

 

[LDUBS]

Thill, that floor looks terrific. You weren't kidding about having a seamless dance floor!

 

[thill]

Thanks, Ldubs.

I'm pretty happy with it. The only negative I see is that where I glued around the perimeter, I should have run a finger down it to make it smoother:



You don't really notice, unless you look for it. It's just the perfectionist in me. One thing nice about this system is that you can always touch up spots, if desired. It really blends in perfectly.

You may wonder why I didn't fill in the gap and sand it smooth. I thought about that, and realized that could be disastrous if anyone ever needed to replace the floor. If you can't tell where the wood ends and the metal begins, one might start cutting or chiseling the edge of the floor, only to realize that they just cut through the hull!

 

[thill]

This subject has digressed somewhat. Back to the vinyl questions...

When you cut out a hatch with the vinyl, do you use a heat gun to stretch the corners down to cover, or do you cut and patch it in like you do with carpet?

The boat I'm planning to use vinyl in has several hatches. Thanks.

 

[thill]

It's still rough, but here is the floor of the boat completed. Now that the floor is so clean, the years of missed paint kind of bug me. Trying to decide if I shouldn't just roll the rest of the inside of the boat. That being said, I'm very happy with how the floor turned out.

 

[JL8Jeff]

I don't think I would try to heat and stretch the vinyl, I pushed mine into place by hand while gluing it down with the contact cement and it has all pulled back and lifted up. I didn't think out the hatch well enough and I just cut the opening for the lid and left the hinge side uncut. So I have no material tucking down in and it's all coming unglued. I would cut the hatch lid separate with extra material to wrap it down the sides and cut the opening in the main piece leaving extra material to tuck down inside.

I thought about buying some flat stock aluminum to put along the edges and riveting it down to hold the edges of the vinyl, but at this point, I really need to reglue the whole flooring and I might just switch to some sort of paint or matting instead. Sitting out in the sun, the glue doesn't stand a chance of holding up.

 

[thill]

Thank you for that info. I guess it depends on the hatch style, as to how that will look. I'll have to plan carefully.

Sorry you are having a headache with the vinyl flooring. It really did look good!

Hopefully, you get it worked out. Worst case, you can do what I did, but that might be a step down in looks, compared to the vinyl. I've seen guys use contrasting colors and do a super nice job, though. It gives excellent traction, is pretty durable and it's very easy to freshen up whenever needed, as long as you save some of the paint.

 

[JL8Jeff]

The main reason I want something is the bare aluminum gets too hot sitting out in the sun and I'm usually barefoot in the boat.

 

[thill]

I agree. I usually wear slaps in the summer, and they come off as soon as I get on the lake. It was time for the topcoat on the deck, and I used "Modest Silver" instead of the standard gray. It should be cooler on the feet.

Having at least two coats of paint over the sand makes it both more durable and more comfortable to walk on while barefoot.

 

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[thill]

edited

 

[Lundtom]

It's still rough, but here is the floor of the boat completed. Now that the floor is so clean, the years of missed paint kind of bug me. Trying to decide if I shouldn't just roll the rest of the inside of the boat. That being said, I'm very happy with how the floor turned out.

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I am restoring my 1994 Lund 1775 Pro V the carpet is a major job so I am considering Raptor coating it is supposed to adhere to all types of surfaces I will watch to see what you decide Advavce Auto Carrie’s it.

 

[thill]

A friend just bought a boat with that type of liner coating inside. It looks good, very similar to mine, but a bit quieter underfoot. I am interested in trying something like that on one of these boats I have, maybe even the pontoon boat.

 

[jethro]

Boy I sure missed the boat (pun intended) on Defender Marine. Looked like they changed their whole website and business model. The advantage to them over any other seller of vinyl is they sell by the YARD. $24.99 a yard as opposed to $14.99 a foot on Amazon or Walmart. Makes a big difference on my big boat as I need 16 feet of the stuff minimum. The big change is that last year they would ship the roll for free, but this year they are charging for oversized freight and it's $189 to ship the roll to me. I was waiting until this spring to do my floor but I really screwed up not buying the material last year. May have to make a road trip to CT to pick up in person. Just food for thought, carry on with the thread!

 

[jethro]

I put the Nautolex in my boat but it has aluminum flooring so no way to wrap it around anything and add fasteners. I used the contact cement and it looked great when I finished. But my boat sits at a dock out in the sun 7 months a year so it has started to come unglued as it shrank and tightened up. I don't know if I can get it glued back down adequately and the edges are curling pretty good now. It's still better than standing on hot aluminum but I need to find a new solution. If your boat sits out in the sun, I would definitely wrap it and staple it.

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I think in your situation I would probably make back wrapped panels out of 1/2" plywood and surface mount them. Not an ideal solution, certainly adds unwanted weight, but would look decent.

 

[thill]

JLateJeff,
Your situation sounds like a good one for a roll on or spray-on liner-type product. You just need to get it prepped properly. Won't be quite as pretty, but should last and work well. Something to consider when the time comes.