floor material for salon and cabins: carpet or wood?

[vas]

bit of a ramble to start, but bear with me, some questions at the end...

I was dismantling the existing cabin floor panels on MiToS so that I can clean/sand/epoxy the hull from the inside and generally do all the patching and repairing.
I'm also going to replace all the salon flooring which is low quality ply affected by the water sipping in from various places and is in a sorry state.
I also have to do some repairs on the minute galley floor which means that I'll probably replace that as well...
I've a great dislike for carpets (thankfully shared by the family)
As a result, I've been thinking that the idea of ****-ply on softwood beams, covered with a glued-on wiggly rubber and a carpet slapped on top is something I'd like to avoid

Now, I see all these beautiful new boats that you've been taking snaps of and discussing layouts at LIBS and notice that they don't usually feature carpets in the salon. However the master bedroom is usually under the salon which means that there's no noise issue there from the engines and no engine hatches either...

so to sum up my scattered thoughts:

Q1 on a Med boat used with ambients of 25+C what's the point of carpets in the cabins?
Q2 how many db one "gains" by using carpet on top of the engine hatches in the salon? Can that be reached/improved by more sound insulation and careful construction in the first place?
Q3 wet slippery feet vs laquered timber is a no go... so teakish/rough stuff in the salon, laquered downstairs makes sense?

cheers

V.

 

[Whopper]

Can't comment on Q1.
We have carpet in the salon essentially "on top" of the engines. We also have a piece of carpet which fits over the "fitted" carpet if you get me? Without the extra fitted carpet I don't think there is any noticeable sound difference. I'm sure engine room sound proofing/insulation is the best bet for sound reduction.

Re. Q3. would you consider "posh lino" like Amtico? (http://www.amtico.com) I'm sure its relatively hard wearing and less slippy than lacquered wood. I've always though it would be interesting fitted to a boat.

 

[BartW]

OK there might be different opinions on this, interested to hear others, but here is mine;

in the saloon and the galley, wood looks more classy and more solid,
more "ship" feel
easy maintenance, and "really" clean, no soaked juices, odeurs, etc..

In the galley I have a "treated" type of premade parket, its OK for grease, you could opt for a vynil, but I don't like vynil.
In the saloon I have solid wooden planks, African Panga Panga, very expensive I have been told, but very nice
many wood options available with same result

in the cabins on the other hand, I prefer carpet,
more silent when walking, more cosy, softer on your feet,...

in the heads I have teak and like this very much.

about noise reduction from engine room,
make sure the roof over the E/R - saloon floor is really solid, thick layer of wood,
eventually place a layer of 4..8 mm rubber on the E/R seeling,
and add a layer of Rockwool underneath. (or any other fire resistent absortion foam)

Carpet in the saloon will only have a very small contribution to the isolation, hardly noticeable (unless you have a thin plastic floor)

 

[pete1987]

I wouldn't think that carpet would make much difference to noise levels in the saloon. There are 4 ply panels in the saloon floor on mine but they only need to be removed very occasionally so these can be screwed down to avoid any vibrations rattling their way into the boat. Ive got thick insulation(about 4 inches of foam backed rubber with a fire retardant foil skin) above the engines which keeps the saloon quiet and also on the forward facing side of the e/r bulkhead which keeps noise out of the cabins.

Loudest noise that the engines make is from the exhausts...

I put teak and holly flooring down in the galley, stairs and corridor bit but carpet in the saloon. I chose carpet because I couldn't really afford to do the saloon in wood but after 1 season the carpet is pretty grim so it was a bit of a false economy.

 

[vas]

Can't comment on Q1.
We have carpet in the salon essentially "on top" of the engines. We also have a piece of carpet which fits over the "fitted" carpet if you get me? Without the extra fitted carpet I don't think there is any noticeable sound difference. I'm sure engine room sound proofing/insulation is the best bet for sound reduction.

Re. Q3. would you consider "posh lino" like Amtico? (http://www.amtico.com) I'm sure its relatively hard wearing and less slippy than lacquered wood. I've always though it would be interesting fitted to a boat.

Re Q1 comment: oh comeon, you do get over 25C a few days a year, don't you

thanks, haven't thought of lino as a covering material, would work nicely with plywood underneath and will be light for lifting hatches, will think about it! Would be ideal for small cabin irregular shaped floor and the corridor.

OK there might be different opinions on this, interested to hear others, but here is mine;

in the saloon and the galley, wood looks more classy and more solid,
more "ship" feel
easy maintenance, and "really" clean, no soaked juices, odeurs, etc..

In the galley I have a "treated" type of premade parket, its OK for grease, you could opt for a vynil, but I don't like vynil.
In the saloon I have solid wooden planks, African Panga Panga, very expensive I have been told, but very nice
many wood options available with same result

in the cabins on the other hand, I prefer carpet,
more silent when walking, more cosy, softer on your feet,...

in the heads I have teak and like this very much.

about noise reduction from engine room,
make sure the roof over the E/R - saloon floor is really solid, thick layer of wood,
eventually place a layer of 4..8 mm rubber on the E/R seeling,
and add a layer of Rockwool underneath. (or any other fire resistent absortion foam)

Carpet in the saloon will only have a very small contribution to the isolation, hardly noticeable (unless you have a thin plastic floor)

Bart, agree on saloon and kitchen, cabin floor area otoh is so little on MiToS that your feet wont be able to do enough steps on the material to feel the difference Not everyone has 70ft boats to walk around you know

I wouldn't think that carpet would make much difference to noise levels in the saloon. There are 4 ply panels in the saloon floor on mine but they only need to be removed very occasionally so these can be screwed down to avoid any vibrations rattling their way into the boat. Ive got thick insulation(about 4 inches of foam backed rubber with a fire retardant foil skin) above the engines which keeps the saloon quiet and also on the forward facing side of the e/r bulkhead which keeps noise out of the cabins.

Loudest noise that the engines make is from the exhausts...

I put teak and holly flooring down in the galley, stairs and corridor bit but carpet in the saloon. I chose carpet because I couldn't really afford to do the saloon in wood but after 1 season the carpet is pretty grim so it was a bit of a false economy.

Pete, good to know, thing is the engine hatches (I take it yours are similar to mine) are quite LARGE. OK, I can handle them singlehanded, BUT if the top side is the actual final finish I'm worried that it will be a mater of a couple of lifts and refits before corners are chipped and then when in place it looks like a mess
I've seen on a Italcraft a strippy engine hatch (4-5 0.60m X2.00m pieces) that could easily fit a teak or generally plank type flooring as it will be nice and smooth with no visible hatch openings across the saloon floor. That way pieces will be small enough to be manageable and less of a pain to handle.

So looks like I'll be able to have a carpet free craft then

any other ideas?

cheers

V.

 

[MattM]

Re. Q3. would you consider "posh lino" like Amtico? (http://www.amtico.com) I'm sure its relatively hard wearing and less slippy than lacquered wood. I've always though it would be interesting fitted to a boat.

+1 for Amtico. I have this in my home and is very hard-wearing and non-slip when wet. Iirc, some Sunseekers also have Amtico spec'd in the saloon and stairs.
One point to note, Amtico requires very flat surface to go on otherwise any lumps, bumps etc. will show through.