Alternatives to cream foamy vinyl?

[MYStargazer]

Can anyone think up an alternative to cream leatherette foam-backed vinyl as an interior surface? I mean for curved interior surfaces, which cannot take sheets of melamine, etc. The surface it's going onto is just fibreglass. I want something that looks a little more, well, contemporary...

 

[VicS]

The vinyl comes in several colours. White, ivory, sand or vellum ... well shades anyway.

Also found parchment, cream, magnolia and several shades of white.

Different surface embossing patterns available too

s'pose you want black or something!

 

[Stemar]

There are all sorts of paint effects, from spray from a can speckle effects to specialised finishes with prices to match. They all have the advantage that when you've had enough of one, you can put something else over the top.

For a first, off-the-wall, suggestion, how about hammerite? It's easy to apply and hardwearing.

Probably more than you wanted to know about paint effects here

 

[catalac08]

UPVC cladding can be used for cabin roofing and sides and can look very good although the edges need edging section to finish neatly. A range of sizes and colours available and cheap! Worth considering as flexible enough to take a fair bend and concave surfaces.

 

[markdj]

Toomer and Hayter do different colours of vinyl or you could go for something like alcantara.

Going onto bare fiberglass you will need some form of insulation to reduce condensation.

 

[David_Jersey]

Have you considered fur?..........Nylon Tiger Fur

 

[Otter]

Have you considered fur?..........Nylon Tiger Fur

Looked round an Iroquois at Emsworth a few years ago all done out in fake blue animal fur, like a fluffy blue sheepskin. Sort of needed a sign in the cockpit saying "Don't come a knocking if the boat is a rocking"

 

[saxonpirate]

As others have mentioned....there are many different colours and grading patterns with foam backed vinyl. Toomer&Hayter being an excellent supplier.

Something I have used before for covering hull sides and the inside of lockers etc is polypropelene carpet without the foam backing, glued with Dunlop Thixofix. It's extremely hard wearing, doesn't rot and best of all feels warm to the touch, (no condensation). I think it can still be purchased off the roll at carpet shops, and it's cheap. I say that, because we all know what happens to items when the words boat/marine are added to items for sale. The carpet I've used before was ribbed, about 4/5mm thick and looks pretty smart if the lines follow the hull contours. The first production boat builders that used it were Marine Projects on the Sigma Range. It's also used a lot in the carpeting of car interiors and lining of boots/trunks.

 

[MYStargazer]

What amazing suggestions! Thanks! Toomer & Hayter are a revelation to me! I may well spend a fortune in there...

 

[richardabeattie]

Surely cream foamy vynyl is mandatory in UK regestered vessels under 10m?

 

[Ubergeekian]

Can anyone think up an alternative to cream leatherette foam-backed vinyl as an interior surface? I mean for curved interior surfaces, which cannot take sheets of melamine, etc. The surface it's going onto is just fibreglass. I want something that looks a little more, well, contemporary...

Hawke House Marine do a huge range of vinyls ... well known in the Westerly world.

 

[alahol2]

Look here http://www.sailcloth.co.uk/index.htm and go to products, marine interior, headlining and sidelining. They sell a kind of thin carpet that can be stuck directly to the glass sides of the cabin. Looks nice, stops condensation and is relatively easy to apply. They will probably send you swatches if you ask.

 

[JohnTH]

We have a light ash (I think) laminate floor from Wicks on the top half of the cabin interior wall of the canal boat and very short pile (cheap) carpet on the lower half. Looks good to me.

The head lining on the Centor is needing replaces as the foam backing has crumbled. Someone on this site used cheap short pile carpet as a replacement and it looks good to me too.

73s de
Johnth

 

[srm]

I used self adhesive wall 'carpet' from Hawke House - although it was realy a sort of felt. warm to the touch and no condensation. In retrospect I would stick an insulating layer of foam or bubble wrap foil (building trade not boat material) under it first.

 

[nigelmercier]

glued with Dunlop Thixofix.

One thing you may want to consider is flammability ...

 

[saxonpirate]

One thing you may want to consider is flammability ...

A very good point.... Unfortunately, although there are water based adhesives on the market (we've tried a few) they just don't cut the mustard when trying to glue absorbent materials, especially to the curvature of a boats hull.

Believe me, I would far rather use a non toxic water based glue than thixotropic adhesives. Both for the application (unless you want to get high) and as you mentioned "flammability"

I've no doubt, a product will eventually come to market that does away with the need to use petroleum based glues. One suitable for the gluing of the materials we are concerned with. But unfortunately as far as I know, it's not available yet.

If anybody out there knows of one I'd love to hear about it.

 

[Grehan]

We're in the process of re-lining Grehan #2 (black vinyl throughout the aft cabins . . . ) and have used the cheapest possible thin (so it bends round curves) synthetic carpeting. A beigey, berbery, knobbly kind of style. Not foam-backed. It's not that easy to find, because most thin cheap stuff is foam-backed. But the results have been excellent, warm, and much cheaper than any 'marine' stuff.

 

[MYStargazer]

We're in the process of re-lining Grehan #2 (black vinyl throughout the aft cabins . . . ) and have used the cheapest possible thin (so it bends round curves) synthetic carpeting. A beigey, berbery, knobbly kind of style. Not foam-backed. It's not that easy to find, because most thin cheap stuff is foam-backed. But the results have been excellent, warm, and much cheaper than any 'marine' stuff.

Thanks for posting that - that's just the sort of thing I'm after!

 

[aquaplane]

Something to consider, how dry is your boat?

Someone had lined just about all the forecabin and saloon of the Jaguar 25 I bought in '91 with light gray thin carpet. It looked great when we bought the boat.

It was difficult/impossible to keep looking good. It showed any dirt. It pilled up when any effort was put into cleaning it, scrubbing was a no no, even gentle sponging left a mark.

One of the windows developed a leak, watermarks were bad below that window, marks from condensation runoff were not so bad under the other windows but noticable.

There is a reason folk use good old wipe clean foam backed vinyl, it's a shame it's so **** to replace when the inevitable happens and the foam breaks down.

HTH.

 

[oldsaltoz]

Taking a wider view, I would anything foam backed as the foam eventually breaks down, material over foam is easy to damage, any leaks behind the foam will cause large water marks.

The problem with water marks also applies to most fabrics, though not all, but some of these produce a lot of static electricity.

The next thing to consider is insulation, this not only prevents wet sufaces due to condensation, but also reduces heat transfer in both directions.

The last problem is how to cover areas with compound curves without wrinkles, gaps and patches.

In all my years around boats I have only lined 2, one of them was a simple batten and sheet, the other was combination of carpet and cork, this was all done using tiles and was a breeze to complete, the trick is to dry fit first then cut to shape as required making sure no cuts in convex areas, then glue the area and plop plop plop and your done.

No foam to degrade, no water marks, Insulated and no joins visible.

I hope this helps.

Avagoodweekend......

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