Saloon Carpet - DIY

Fire99

Fire99

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Afternoon all, (Happy Christmas)

I'm looking at doing a DIY carpet refit in the saloon. It previously had underlay glued down with a one-piece mat laid on top. The issues (other than the faded colour) was that the mat didn't reach to the edges where the underlay did so it looked messy.

I've since stripped out the mat and cleaned up the floor under the underlay so am going to re-lay it. I'm using some good quality regular carpet that I've acquired and I'm going to reapply 10mm underlay again.

Has anyone had a crack at this?
 
I bound the edge of a replacement carpet in a small sailing boat (i.e. a cheap simple job was required - you may require something more glamorous) with IIRC Cow Gum, which became more or less invisible once it dried, proved perfectly satisfactory for my purposes and was still doing its job when I sold the boat quite a while later.
 
We have local independant carpet outfit who will bind the carpet for you once you have cut it to size in your boat. You can either buy the carpet from them or elsewhere,it looks really neat and professional.
Bound to be one near you near and was not expensive.
 
Ahh thanks guys.. I hadn't thought too much about the binding but good idea cutting it to size and getting them to bind it.
I have a piece of carpet that was left after I had a job done for a family member so it's a nice piece and I thought why not use it so that's the plan..

I guess the carpet needs binding, since I don't have skirting boards on the boat to hide the edges?
 
Depends on the quality of the carpet. We had some left overs from carpeting the house. Got our local carpet shop to bind the saloon and forward cabin carpet, cost around £60. He said it wasn’t worth doing the rest, ie aft cabin etc. so we didn’t . Still good as new after three years and several lifting up of the carpet to get to the bilge.
 
Fire99 said:
Afternoon all, (Happy Christmas)

I'm looking at doing a DIY carpet refit in the saloon. It previously had underlay glued down with a one-piece mat laid on top. The issues (other than the faded colour) was that the mat didn't reach to the edges where the underlay did so it looked messy.

I've since stripped out the mat and cleaned up the floor under the underlay so am going to re-lay it. I'm using some good quality regular carpet that I've acquired and I'm going to reapply 10mm underlay again.

Has anyone had a crack at this?
Click to expand...
I use 100% polypropylene carpet. It is bleach cleanable.
I make a template out of card. I spend ages making it perfect. mm perfect. I get A1 card sheets from hobbycraft and parcel tape them together. If you cut a bit too much off especially on curves tape some extra card on and cut it again. Don’t ever think “that will do” at this stage. It has to be perfect. Don’t think about the old carpet as a template it isn’t good enough.

I then cut the carpet with a hot knife normally used for cutting rope. From the back. At a 30 degree ish angle so the pile is slightly bigger than the backing.

It burns the carpet edge to stop fraying and glued down carpet has a perfect edge up to cabinetry if you take care with the templating.

I only have loose carpets bound.
 
Elessar said:
I use 100% polypropylene carpet. It is bleach cleanable.
I make a template out of card. I spend ages making it perfect. mm perfect. I get A1 card sheets from hobbycraft and parcel tape them together. If you cut a bit too much off especially on curves tape some extra card on and cut it again. Don’t ever think “that will do” at this stage. It has to be perfect. Don’t think about the old carpet as a template it isn’t good enough.

I then cut the carpet with a hot knife normally used for cutting rope. From the back. At a 30 degree ish angle so the pile is slightly bigger than the backing.

It burns the carpet edge to stop fraying and glued down carpet has a perfect edge up to cabinetry if you take care with the templating.

I only have loose carpets bound.
Click to expand...
This is good stuff. Thanks.. I was thinking about the cardboard template route. Looks the way to go to get a good quality job. I'll take my time with it..
 
If you can't or don't want to go the commercial binding route (which is the best) you can buy iron on carpet binding tape in a wide range of colours.
 
Fire99 said:
This is good stuff. Thanks.. I was thinking about the cardboard template route. Looks the way to go to get a good quality job. I'll take my time with it..
Click to expand...

Dont be afraid to use a template and tape it to the cabin sole in a couple of places as that helps to stop the edges moving whilst you move on it, if you cut through from the back of the carpet (easiest way) just remember to get the template the right way round...... nothing worse than a beautifully cut and fitting carpet but the pile upside down..... and if there is a pattern to the carpet do think which way the carpet is running when you cut if there is more than one piece you are doing. Even a plain carpet should have the pile running in the same direction in each piece of it or it can look different.
 
chrishscorp said:
Dont be afraid to use a template and tape it to the cabin sole in a couple of places as that helps to stop the edges moving whilst you move on it, if you cut through from the back of the carpet (easiest way) just remember to get the template the right way round...... nothing worse than a beautifully cut and fitting carpet but the pile upside down..... and if there is a pattern to the carpet do think which way the carpet is running when you cut if there is more than one piece you are doing. Even a plain carpet should have the pile running in the same direction in each piece of it or it can look different.
Click to expand...
Good advice. Thanks.. That would try my temper If I found I'd cut the carpet perfectly upside-down.

Should be a nice little project though. I've not done one before and the carpet is free so I think it may be worth having a stab at it. Unless I find someone to do it for me cheap, then no doubt I'll change my mind in about 20 seconds. :D
 
Elessar said:
It’s such an effort to do carpet neatly why would you want to bodge the edges?
Click to expand...
I definitely want it to look nice. I'm doing a lot of boat jobs myself as I'm that kinda guy but I want to avoid 'false economy' where to save a relatively small amount of money, I have a horrible looking job.
 
Fire99 said:
I definitely want it to look nice. I'm doing a lot of boat jobs myself as I'm that kinda guy but I want to avoid 'false economy' where to save a relatively small amount of money, I have a horrible looking job.
Click to expand...
Found a pic of my bound edges bit. The edges of the fitted bits aren’t very clear but it’s the best pic I have.
You can see how the carpet is wrapped around (and it is stapled under) the engine hatch.
The binding is the same material as my outside seats. 41DE67B5-E463-4216-94A7-EED393320298.jpeg
 
Elessar said:
Found a pic of my bound edges bit. The edges of the fitted bits aren’t very clear but it’s the best pic I have.
You can see how the carpet is wrapped around (and it is stapled under) the engine hatch.
The binding is the same material as my outside seats. View attachment 148242
Click to expand...
That looks very smart. That would be the kinda route I'd like to go down.
 
Fire99 said:
Good advice. Thanks.. That would try my temper If I found I'd cut the carpet perfectly upside-down.

Should be a nice little project though. I've not done one before and the carpet is free so I think it may be worth having a stab at it. Unless I find someone to do it for me cheap, then no doubt I'll change my mind in about 20 seconds. :D
Click to expand...

No do it yourself. The satisfaction is worth a lot in my book and you learn so much. Paying it done is just the easy way out and no fun at all
 
Bigplumbs said:
No do it yourself. The satisfaction is worth a lot in my book and you learn so much. Paying it done is just the easy way out and no fun at all
Click to expand...
I think I'm probably gonna go for it myself (despite the temptation to get it done). I've done a lot of jobs on the boat and it's becoming quite a little project so I'd be happy if I can do a half decent job. :cool:
 
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