New flooring in the 24V - Part 1

[CDAWaves]

I finished my flooring replacement project and thought I would share the process with you all. The old black carpet was showing its age, and when it got wet, it would smell, so it was high time to make it happen.

There are a number of flooring options out there, so I did quite a bit of research into which flooring I was going to use. Each has its pros and cons. Here is a summary of my findings.

Flooring Options in order preference (in my opinion):

Synthetic Teak (SleekTeak, Permateek): This is a product similar in look and feel to EVA foam, but the top layer is a synthetic teak rather than foam. Until recently, it was typically only found in high-end yachts.

• Pros - - very durable, long warranty(10+ years to lifetime), can be repaired if damaged, not prone to sun fading, soft underfoot, easy to install, modern look, color options, pattern options, stain resistant, mold and mildew resistant
• Cons – More expensive (depending on the brand, can be very expensive), warmer underfoot depending on color, install should be over a finished (gel coat or similar) floor.

DECKadence: This is a unique synthetic carpet similar in feel to miner’s moss.

• Pros – easy to install (it lays down in one large piece, and you trim to fit), no need to have a finished floor underneath, the weight of the flooring and single piece fit keeps it in place (it doesn’t fasten to the floor) so you can remove it to clean, doesn’t stain, feels soft under foot, color options and graphic inlay options.
• Cons – it looks like carpet (maybe not a con, but I was looking for something that didn’t look like carpet)

EVA Foam (Seadeck and similar):

• Pros - Soft under foot, easy to install, modern look, color options, pattern options
• Cons – can stain, easily damaged, prone to sun fading, short warrantee (1-3 years), short expected life, must be installed over finished floor (if your floor isn’t finished under the carpet you need to finish it).

Carpet: We all know the pros and cons here. It’s cheap and glues down, but it absorbs water, stains, and starts to smell which is why mine is now in the dump.

When I initially went into this, I was leaning toward an EVA foam product because I really like the look and feel of it. However, after researching, It was obvious that people were having issues primarily around staining, getting damaged, sun fading, and general deterioration. I wanted something that would last (buy once, cry once). This led me down the synthetic teak path. It had what I liked about EVA foam without the cons. Most synthetic teak products need to be glued down and welded together but there is a hybrid option that has the benefits of EVA and synthetic teak in one.

I settled on SleekTeak synthetic teak because the price was competitive with the higher end EVA products and not nearly as expensive as some of the other synthetic teak products. I became aware of the SleekTeak product while looking at DECKadence flooring (the companies are apparently related). A number of members here have used DECKadence with good reviews and it was my second choice. This is mostly because I wouldn’t need to finish the floor under the carpet, which would have made this project much faster and easier.

Here is a closer look at how the synthetic teak products I looked at compare:

Permateek
Pros:

1. Durability: Permateek is known for its high durability, able to withstand various environmental conditions over time.
2. Aesthetic Appeal: It closely mimics the look of real teak, providing a visually appealing alternative to natural wood.
3. Long-Lasting: Due to its durable nature, it has a long lifespan, making it a good investment over time.

Cons:

1. Susceptibility to Heat Damage: The strips of Permateek are welded together, which makes it susceptible to breaches under long term exposure to sunlight.
2. Installation Process: Requires labor-intensive and messy adhesive application, which can be time-consuming and challenging (I was afraid of the process as an average DIY’er).
3. Cost: At around $100 per square foot, Permateek like most synthetic teak options, it is expensive

SleekTEAK
Pros:

1. Durability: Like Permateek, SleekTEAK is extremely durable and designed to withstand various environmental conditions.
2. Integrated Design: SleekTEAK is made in one molded panel without welded parts, eliminating the risk of breaches due to heat or other factors.
3. Ease of Installation: Being the first peel-and-stick synthetic teak in the marketplace, SleekTEAK offers a much simpler and cleaner installation process compared to traditional adhesive methods.
4. Cost: Priced similarly to EVA foam, SleekTEAK is more much affordable than Permateek, providing a cost-effective alternative.
5. Aesthetic Appeal: Also designed to look like real teak, SleekTEAK offers a visually appealing option for those seeking the look of natural wood.

Cons:

1. New to Market: From the makers of DECKadence marine this is still a newer product, SleekTEAK may not have the same track record or long-term user feedback as more established brands.
2. Hybrid Nature: Being a hybrid product, there may be some uncertainty because it is so new to the market place.

Ok, on to the preparation and install process. My boat is a 2005 24V with snap-in carpet in the bow and glued-down carpet in the cockpit area. The bonus is that the bow section is gel coat, so no need to finish this area. The only prep required for the bow floor was to remove and fill the snaps from the floor (using 3M 5200) – easy peasy. The bummer is that the floor under the old glued-down carpet in the cockpit area of my boat is not gelcoat; it is raw fiberglass. Because there are exposed areas between the panels of the synthetic teak, I needed to finish this area with a factory-like finish that is also durable. In addition, the center panel of the floor is made of aluminum, so this needed to get a white finish to match the rest of the cockpit floor as well.

After much research, here is a list of what I used for this process. It all worked out very well and I am quite happy with the floor finish results. If your boat already has gelcoat under a snap in carpet or a finished floor, count yourself lucky. You can skip most of this post and skip down to the template or install section.

Materials list: Note that It is important for the products to be both compatible with the substrate and with each other. The products below are compatible.

• Fairing Compound: Total Boat Total Fair 2 Quart Pack (was enough with a little left over to complete the entire project). Fairing compound is a special product used to level surfaces in marine applications. It is strong, flexible, bonds extremely well, sets up pretty quickly, and it’s also easy to sand. Easy to sand is very important because you will need to do many coats to get a really smooth surface.

• Primer – Epoxy PrimeKote (2 part primer). One quart was enough. This is specifically for priming the unfinished fiberglass and areas of fiberglass that also have fairing compound applied.

• Primer – Interprotect 2000E (2 part primer). One quart was enough. This is specifically for the aluminum panel and aluminum frame that the panel fits into. You need special primer for aluminum.

• Finish Coat – Interlux Perfection (2 part epoxy, “Off White” color). One quart was enough. This is a highly durable finish coat that has a gelcoat like shine. I believe this is the easier route than trying to gelcoat the area. Getting a good result with gelcoat is complicated and difficult.

• Interlux 2333N (I used 2 pints). You need it as thinner (reducer) and as a cleaner for your brushes and containers.

• 2” natural bristle brushes

• Package of small foam rollers for applying primer and finish cotes. You will probably need 6 rollers or more.

• Mixing cups and mixing measuring cups to work out your 2 part mix ratios

• Total boat aluminum etch wash 1 pint is enough (optional)

• Tack cloth for removing dust

• Acetone – get a gallon jug, you will use it and may need more.

• Respirator that works for VOC’s (3M cartridge respirator)

• Small wood stir sticks (like a tongue depressor but a bit bigger)

• Box of heavy duty gloves.

• Roll of blue 2 inch painter’s tape

• Random orbit sander with 80, 120 and 220 grit paper

• Sanding block and sheet sandpaper 80, 120 and 220 grit

• Rivet gun and rivets (I used 3/16 and medium length.

• Aluminum “L” channel ¾” x ¾” 60” long (from Home Depot) I cut one side down to around 3/8” to fill the gap on the aluminum panel covering the gas tank.

• Circular saw and aluminum cutting blade to trim the above L channel

• Basic tools – putty knives 2” and 6” and bondo spreaders (plastic like a spatula), drill/drill bits, impact driver, lots of clean rags (Costco shop rags work great).

Step 1 – Rear bench removal and carpet removal

• Remove the rear center bench seat (remove bolts that hold the rear back and the fiberglass back), remove the carpeted floor molding (think baseboard) strip that surrounds the cockpit area. There are small phillips head screws that are embedded in the carpet of the base molding strip about every 12 to 16 inches. They can be a bit of a pain to find. Remove the 3 screws holding the bottom of the rear bench fiberglass. Remove the 2 triangle seats on either side of the rear bench. Now you can pull up and remove the entire fiberglass bench.
• Once the bench is removed you can pull up the center panel that covers the gas tank. You can peel off the glued down carpet on this panel pretty easily. Next start at any edge and start to pull up the glued down carpet on the rest of the cockpit floor. It all comes off pretty easily. Tip: cut a piece of plywood to lay down in place of the aluminum floor panel. This way you can work easier in the boat and also work on the aluminum panel outside the boat.
• Remove the bolts that hold down the captain’s seat and remove the seat/seat base.

[CDAWaves]

Flooring process part 2 (because the forum has a word limit

Step 2 – Remove the carpet glue.

• Don’t sand off the carpet glue because you will embed the glue into the substrate. This can cause bonding issues later in the process. You must use a combination of scraping and acetone or other glue solvent to remove the glue. Use your respirator and gloves for this. Repeat this for the aluminum panel and panel frame.

Step 3 – Prepare the cockpit floor for fairing compound.

• Apply painter's tape along the base of the floor (where you removed the carpeted base molding) to protect the gel coat in future steps.
• Once you have a high level of confidence that all of the glue is removed you can prepare the raw fiberglass for fairing. Use your random orbit with 80 grit and work on smoothing out the floor surface. The floor is textured and uneven in spots and the fairing will fill/smooth these imperfections. Don’t go crazy here, you just want to knock down the raw fiberglass a little bit and give it a surface that the faring can bond to. You will do the same thing with the aluminum panel and frame to prepare it for primer and fairing.

Step 4 – Aluminum panel prime, resize and fairing

• The first step is to prime the aluminum. Aluminum oxidizes very fast, so you must prepare and then prime it as soon as possible (within 1 hour is best). Make sure all glue is removed and you have cleaned the surface well with acetone so you don’t embed anything in the aluminum when you sand.
• Sand the aluminum with your orbit sander and 80 grit then 120 grit. I used an acid aluminum etch after sanding, but if you do a great job of sanding, you can potentially skip the acid etch. If using an etch, follow the directions on the bottle. Cut your aluminum L channel to length and trim one side to the proper width to get your desired space around the panel. Sand and etch the L channel as well.
• Primer the top and sides of the aluminum panel and L channel with Interprotect 2000E ASAP after sanding/etching. Only put on 1 cote of primer for now. Note that the fairing must go on top of the primer and not on bare metal. If you don’t follow this order, you can get blistering in the finish. This will be the base for adding fairing compound to the panel in the future. This primer product is specifically for Aluminum.
• The aluminum panel is undersized because carpet had to wrap around and under the panel and around the frame. To fix this, I riveted an L channel to the long side of the aluminum panel (see image). Just clamp it in place flush with the top of the panel, drill holes for the rivets and fasten in place one by one. You should now have the panel the proper size and everything is primed and ready for fairing.
• The aluminum panel may have low spots that could use fairing, but the primary area that will need fairing is the joint between the L channel and the panel. You want to fill this joint, so it appears to be one piece (see image). Take care to feather the edge and aim for a total width of 8-10 inches of fairing to make it feather and smooth. If you do a good job of applying it, you will have less to sand. If you are skillful, you can get away with one coat of fairing; if not, you may need to reapply and sand a few times.

• Now that the panel is nice and smooth, you will need to apply 2 more cotes of the Interprotect 2000E primer for a total of 3 cotes. Sand very lightly with 220 grit between coats and remove dust with a tack cloth.
• The aluminum frame in the boat floor that holds the aluminum panel will also need primer and fairing in the same sequence. Clean, sand, etch (optional), prime, fairing compound. Remember the Fairing needs to go on top of the aluminum primer to avoid blistering of the finish.
• There are screws holding the aluminum frame to the fiberglass floor. I countersunk all of the screws flush with the frame and applied fairing over them to make the frame, screws and fiberglass floor all appear flush.

Step 5 – Apply fairing to the raw fiberglass

• Give the raw fiberglass another wipe down with acetone and apply fairing compound to fill in low areas and imperfections. Pay particular attention to all edges. There is where the final adhesive flooring will stick, and there will be about ½” of exposed edge where the panels come together (see image). This will take several cycles of sanding and reapplying the compound to get it nice and smooth. Note that you shouldn’t need aggressive sandpaper for the fairing. I found 120 was enough to make good progress but not leave heavy scratching.

[CDAWaves]

Flooring process part 3 (because the forum has a word limit

Step 6 – Prime the fairing and raw fiberglass

• Now your floor is prepared for primer. Clean off dust residue with acetone. Make sure the surface is clean and dust free. Apply 2-3 cotes of Primekote to the raw fiberglass and fairing compound. Sand lightly with 220 grit between cotes and remove dust with tack cloth.

Step 7 – Templating

• Prior to applying the finish cotes, you will want to go through the templating process. This involves laying down a mylar sheet, taping the edges in place and tracing your floor onto the mylar sheet with a Sharpie. All of the manufacturers seem to use this process and it’s pretty easy to do. Some models may already be templated so you can reach out to see if it’s available and potentially skip the template process. There are already youtube videos out there on how to template if this step is necessary.

Step 8 – Finish cote
The surface should look smooth and all surfaces primed, clean and dust free for the finish cote. Apply 3 cotes of Interlux Perfection (off white) 2 part epoxy. Follow instructions provided on the manufactures website. Interlux has a phone number you can call and they are very helpful with questions about any of their products.

Step 9 – Caulking and screw hole repair

• There will be a gap between the newly finished floor and the surrounding seat bases. I applied white silicone caulk here. Is shiny like the gelcoat and blended perfectly making this seam disappear. Instead of trying to fill or repairing the screw holes from the carpeted base board, I just put in stainless steel screws with a finishing washer. This looks really good and looks like it came this way from the factory.

Step 10 – Apply the flooring
This project is all about the prep work. Putting the actual floor down only took an hour. The main thing is to avoid trapped air bubbles. To avoid this you should apply it on a warm day or use a heat gun to soften the material. Start by arranging the panels where they belong. Make sure the edges line up and if you have pattern lines that they align with each other. Take a razor knife and score the backing of each panel very lightly before laying them out. You tape half of the panel in place then peel the backing off and roll out the panel to stick it down to the floor. Then remove the tape and peel the backing off the other side while sticking it down to the floor.

I hope this helps. Feel free to shoot me a message if you have any questions. I couldn't figure out how to embed images between text paragraphs so I just attached them.

[duffymahoney]

Rad! I lov it. Now I can just copy your template

[CDAWaves]

I'm in CDA Duffy so you can check it out if you like. We'll be up at Priest for the week of the 4th.

[duffymahoney]

I’m most likely selling mine. I just fixed a few things and I think it’s time.

[CDAWaves]

You will be selling a legend in the maximum ballast world.

[Northwestjoe]

Nice work, look solid! I've been entertaining the idea of redoing my boat and you've put out a ton of info to ponder. I'm in Spokane, spend most of our time on lake CDA but headed up to priest this sunday as well!

[duffymahoney]

Nice work, look solid! I've been entertaining the idea of redoing my boat and you've put out a ton of info to ponder. I'm in Spokane, spend most of our time on lake CDA but headed up to priest this sunday as well!

I'm In sandpoint!