Carpet on boats. What does the team think?

[Durcott]

Hi folks,

I have an old Newbridge Venturer, with original carpet on the cabin floor, and a few other places here and there have had carpet added where there was once lining material.

She has got well and truly wet this year, and the carpet needs replacing, not to mention that all of the remaining lining is coming off..

So - 2 thoughts come to mind ...

Why not carpet the whole boat? (INSIDE obviously...) It ought to be more durable than lining, and seems to give a 'warmer' feel.

If that's not the daftest idea ever, then what carpet should one go for?

A cheap and cheerful rubber backed job, or something a little better - taking advantage of tiny offcuts perhaps?

What got me thinking about this was trying to clean a client's motor boat that was lined in a deep shag white synthetic 'fabric' which had gone mouldy. I thought a better quality, and a more suitable colour might actually work.

Has anyone here gone the whole hog and lined the interior with some sort of carpet material?

Any thoughts gratefully received as always.

Cheers

Jeff

 

[sarabande]

I lined the wheelhouse and forecabin with Flotex tiles.

Indestructible, easy to clean, did not smell rubbery, easy to cut to shape, dried quickly, anti-bacterial so no nasty smells,....

 

[boatmike]

If you get in touch with someone who specialises in marine fabrics you will find short pile tufted carpet designed for the job that won't rot or go mouldy and will easily dry out if it gets wet. Don't use normal domestic carpet, it won't do the job and after two or three seasons will smell musty and stay damp.

 

[VicS]

Hi folks,

I have an old Newbridge Venturer, with original carpet on the cabin floor, and a few other places here and there have had carpet added where there was once lining material.

She has got well and truly wet this year, and the carpet needs replacing, not to mention that all of the remaining lining is coming off..

So - 2 thoughts come to mind ...

Why not carpet the whole boat? (INSIDE obviously...) It ought to be more durable than lining, and seems to give a 'warmer' feel.

If that's not the daftest idea ever, then what carpet should one go for?

A cheap and cheerful rubber backed job, or something a little better - taking advantage of tiny offcuts perhaps?

What got me thinking about this was trying to clean a client's motor boat that was lined in a deep shag white synthetic 'fabric' which had gone mouldy. I thought a better quality, and a more suitable colour might actually work.

Has anyone here gone the whole hog and lined the interior with some sort of carpet material?

Any thoughts gratefully received as always.

Cheers

Jeff[/QUOTE]

FWIW:
There is vehicle lining carpet available probably hard wearing ( polypropylene I'd guess, synthetic anyway) and availbalbe in many colours and patterns

For a softer feel there are some soft soft polyproylene pile carpets sold for boats. Probably expensive but look at what Hawke House and Toomer and Hayter have to offer. I believe it may now be self adhesive

Other wise look at inexpensive polypropylene carpet in the Carpet warehouses.


Id avoid rubber backed ... it seems to deteriorate in contact with the GRP. At least the rubber backed hallway runner I have on my cabin sole has although to be fair it is quite a few years old now

Avoid wool carpet... a bit of Wilton might look nice but it does not like the damp.

 

[Skysail]

Turtle mats worked fine for us. Can be cut to fit, washable. The only initial problem was a lot of fluff - always shake downwind!

 

[poter]

carpet

I have carpeted all my interior with school grade carpet. Its pratically indistructable and has been down for about 6 years. Talk to a good carpet contractor who does school work & buy some off cuts.

 

[greenalien]

My forecabin is lined with polyprop carpet, glued directly onto the hull. Nice and cosy, never gone mouldy, and it still looks as good as new after nearly 30 years.

 

[Boathook]

Use man made carpet with no rubber backing. Any thing natural like hemp as a backing just rots and smells imho.

 

[Easticks28]

Another vote for Flotex. It's incredibly hard wearing and can be pressure washed perfectly safely as required (provided it can be removed from the cabin ).

 

[Burnham Bob]

did my boat with an offcut from a carpet shop. its hessian backed - agree that you should avoid rubber and foam. my boat is very dry - the bilges do get water in but ventilation is good so we never get damp and mustiness. a few strips of industrial velcro from my time doing exhibitions stops it moving around too much. wouldn't bond anything to the grp but any short piled carpet would be okay if your boat isn't damp. and at the price of offcuts if it gets nasty chuck it away and replace it.

 

[Feneris]

I used megastretch carpet, in my cuddy cabin, from megavanmats.com. I used this carpet previously to line my VW T5 van, and it worked really well. I had problems with the boat cabin, because I had to do joins in the carpet where it butted up against carpet. There is a very noticable line everywhere I did the join. (The entire van interior didn't have any butt joins) Also, for the boat, I ordered a lighter colour of carpet which turned out to be slightly thinner. It's only been in for a few months so no idea how it will last in the long run, but in the world of van to camper conversions, it's probably the no.1 used carpet in the uk.

Here's my cabin,

When I did the van, at the start of a camper conversion, it worked very well. The carpet is so stretchy that the wheel arches are done in a single piece, same piece that does the entire side. It's glued with supplied spray contact adhesive. I used a hairdryer to heat it and help it stretch. I must admit, if I did another boat cabin, I would consider other alternatives.

Hawke house sent me a sample of their self adhesive sidelining 'carpet', which cost about the same as megavanmats carpet per square meter. The hawke house stuff was tissue paper thin, not soft, not stretchy, no good. I'd have sent it back; if you're considering it make sure you get a sample. I would not describe it as 'carpet'.

 

[lustyd]

I used leather effect white vinyl with closed cell foam behind it. The foam was self adhesive on both sides so no glue to worry about. Easy to cut and fit. The vinyl is waterproof and wipe clean. Both available from Hawke House.
Cheers
Dave

 

[Searush]

My boat had shag pile when I bought her & I thought it was awfully "unboaty" until I got out of bed with bare feet & decided it was brilliant. easy to take topsides & shake clean regularly. When it finally died I replaced it with a rubber backed bathroom carpet off cut (cost a tenner I think) which has lasted about 10 years.

I have also put hessian backed carpet on the aft cabin "walls" to replace the foam backed vinyl with similar success. It's warm, easliy cleaned & equally easily (& cheaply) replaced. Wouldn't use anything else now.

 

[Zagato]

Previous owner put commercial tiles in my Folksong from new (sort of rubber/bitchumen/plastic backing and sort of placcy fibres!) still good and not unstuck after 15 years - no mould either...

I've just bought somthing similar, those £1 door mats to lay in my lockers!

 

[dulcibella]

Yes, Flotex is outstanding. Available as tiles or by the metre. It isn't cheap but it's a real good-looking, hard-wearing job that doesn't absorb the usual horrors like used engine oil.

 

[Wansworth]

I bought a white shag pile carpet ,turned the humble cabin on my Commando Class yacht into a boudoir,thats French for room.Lasted a year,singed by wood fire.

 

[Beau Nidle]

Just done the bow cabin in mine with the megavanmats carpet. There are a few joins visible but no worse than was in the original vinyl, looks good, feels modern and was relatively cheap to do.

To be honest if it only lasts a few seasons it will still have been well worth it.

 

[Ex-SolentBoy]

I think it depends on how you use your boat.

If you have a boat that gets wet frequently then wool is not a good idea. You need removable synthetic stuff.


We virtually never get water below so normal 80/20 domestic carpet is perfect and gives a luxurious feel.

 

[Hoolie]

We replaced the foam backed carpet with a £40 roll end of polypropylene loop pile carpet. Felt backed - assured it's also poly so doesn't rot. We've still got enough to do the whole job again when needed and some left over for damage.

Next time I'll use some latex on the edges to stop fraying but TBH it's not really a problem. We were lucky we had a previous carpet to use as a template, but a liner paper template would be easy to do.

 

[dslittle]

We replaced the foam backed carpet with a £40 roll end of polypropylene loop pile carpet. Felt backed - assured it's also poly so doesn't rot. We've still got enough to do the whole job again when needed and some left over for damage.

Next time I'll use some latex on the edges to stop fraying but TBH it's not really a problem. We were lucky we had a previous carpet to use as a template, but a liner paper template would be easy to do.

We bought a large offcut roll and had the (landbased) fitter cut it to size on the boat and then bind all of the edges. Boat now fully carpeted. We made sure that there were cuts/edges over the bilges to ease access. Carpet is normal domestic but bleachable (not needed so far). As we practically live aboard, and will do full time in the future, this has been a luxury that has been well worthwhile having (see comment above about getting out of bed during the winter!!!)

Glad that this thread has run, I was feeling a bit self-conscious having carpets on the boat but it seems that we are not alone...