Cabin flooring

monkfish24

monkfish24

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I've just ripped up all the old cabin decking. It was poorly designed, requiring you to lift the whole of the floor panel to get to the bilge which made us lazy. I'm replacing it all and putting in inspection holes to get to the bilges easily to mop them out. I don't want to leave it ply because it just doesn't look nice. However, I'm not paying an 1/8 in the boats price on expensive flooring.

What options are available to me with regards to a laminate i can apply to some ply floor boards that will last more than a season. I painted all the old floor boards white last winter in a vain attempt to try and lighten the interior but it just got dirty and hard to clean as i put a non slip additive. if i use a laminate i will put down some non slip additive in the final varnish/epoxy/whatever is required.
 
I am in the process of replacing all of mine and after a few trials i am using a dark faced (sort of like mahogany) marine ply lots of coats of well thinned varnish until the grain is more or less filled then cream coloured self addhesive cove lines (to give the holly stripe effect) available from motor factors, halfords etc.
Then lots more varnish
 
saltylegs said:
I am in the process of replacing all of mine and after a few trials i am using a dark faced (sort of like mahogany) marine ply lots of coats of well thinned varnish until the grain is more or less filled then cream coloured self addhesive cove lines (to give the holly stripe effect) available from motor factors, halfords etc.
Then lots more varnish
Click to expand...

That sounds like a good idea, how labour intensive is it proving to be?
 
saltylegs said:
I am in the process of replacing all of mine and after a few trials i am using a dark faced (sort of like mahogany) marine ply lots of coats of well thinned varnish until the grain is more or less filled then cream coloured self addhesive cove lines (to give the holly stripe effect) available from motor factors, halfords etc.
Then lots more varnish
Click to expand...

Sounds like a good idea. I tried using marine ply and routering out "inlay" strips to give the holly effect. Lots of work and I think the trick is, as you say, plenty of thinned coats of varnish.
 
I bought some interior flooring strips from the Nu-Teak folk in the USA last year, just to do some areas of the cabin sole in way of the galley and chart table.
Here is a link - http://www.nuteak.com/Frames_Pages/NuTeakInterior.htm
I can't remember how much it was per square foot, however I seem to remember it was about half the cost of the exterior stuff, which was about on par with Tek-Dek and the others in the UK.
 
If you want the teak'n'holly look then buy some 2.5mm teak veneer from Robbins or Howells, cut into 50mm strips, glue it down (polyurethane glue is OK) leaving 5mm gaps to be filled with white Sika then 2 coats Ronseal matt varnish and it wil look M$$$$ for not a lot of money - and last forever.
 
Some friends had a fine job of flattening some sole boards. The boards were hardwood laminated onto ply. They really looked good, but after two years the builders had not completely sealed the underside. The boards lifted and went everywhere. The lads routed out the back of the boards, flattened them and epoxied steel frames in the back and refinished them. Personally, I would have started again. On saying that I've mounted strips of hardwood on ply, and finished with varnish
 
A really cheap option that actually looks really good is Wikes sticky backed oak plastic laminate strip flooring. As long as you make sure it gets good contact with the ply and cut it well, it stays down and looks real. It's about £8 for a 1.2 m2 pack. Doest need varnishing, no maintainence and cleans easy.
 
flooring

amtico is fantastic stuff may seem expensive but you are buying so little it dosnt cost that much,they sell it in numerous widths and you can buy a corking strip aswell,looks fantastic ,lots of different wood efects.ive had it fitted to my heads and wet room for about nine years and its as good now as the day i put it down.i had already done the cabin soal with teak and holy before having amtico fitted in my kitchen otherwise i would have done the lot.Kieron
 
An article in PBO a few years ago showed pics. of cabin floorboards simply painted with grey Danboline and it looked very good and workmanlike. I refinished the ply panel floorboards of a pre-war dayboat with grey Danboline all over [top, underside plus all edges] and then an extra coat of non-slip deck paint on top except where masked for about 20mm. around the edges of each panel. I like the appearance.
 
B&Q

I fitted B&Q self adhesive vinyl hard wood look flooring strips onto my old plywood floor. Been down a year now and fine. Great non slip maintenance free surface and easy to keep clean. About 5 pounds per pack for 0.9 m2
 
Theshipscat said:
A really cheap option that actually looks really good is Wikes sticky backed oak plastic laminate strip flooring. As long as you make sure it gets good contact with the ply and cut it well, it stays down and looks real. It's about £8 for a 1.2 m2 pack. Doest need varnishing, no maintainence and cleans easy.
Click to expand...

I used the B&Q version and I'm really pleased with it.
 
Boo2 said:
What was the original point / provenance of the holly stripe effect can anyone tell me ?

Boo2
Click to expand...

Purely decoration on high quality yachts of yesteryear . Now most boats have faux teak and holly to give the impression of "expense" . We have faux teak and holly through out the whole boat lovely to look at but bloody cold in winter so all nicely covered with best quality carpet !!
doh.gif
 
monkfish24 said:
I've just ripped up all the old cabin decking. It was poorly designed, requiring you to lift the whole of the floor panel to get to the bilge which made us lazy. I'm replacing it all and putting in inspection holes to get to the bilges easily to mop them out. I don't want to leave it ply because it just doesn't look nice. However, I'm not paying an 1/8 in the boats price on expensive flooring.

What options are available to me with regards to a laminate i can apply to some ply floor boards that will last more than a season. I painted all the old floor boards white last winter in a vain attempt to try and lighten the interior but it just got dirty and hard to clean as i put a non slip additive. if i use a laminate i will put down some non slip additive in the final varnish/epoxy/whatever is required.
Click to expand...

I had a similar problem a few years back and ended up abandoning all thoughts of trying to improve the floor. All the solutions were expensive or unsatisfactory. I used carpet tiles over the whole floor and EVERYBODY - even my surveyor - liked the result. Easy to cut, easy to fit (use the extg floor boards as a pattern), and most of all easy to replace if you buy a few extra. You can get polypropylene ones - the best as they don't rot and give good grip - for about £2 upwards for 500 by 500 in lots af places. And you have a big choice of colours. Go for a light colour - makes the boat seem bigger.
 
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