Newbie question - Floors

[Nusse]

OK read, and read and read.
Many people use carpet on their deck floors. I dont know how that would work with all water but vinyl seems to be popular among many.
How about teak? Why is it never mentioned used on pontoons?
It is very popular on other boats.

[Ron Burgundy]

Probably cost and maintenance. I've seen some faux teak, and some real teak on the higher end pontoon boats. It's a nice look on any boat.

Look up "wooden pontoon" if you want your mind blown.

[ROLAND]

Teak looks great, but like Ron said, probably due to cost.... carpet looks nice ( for awhile ), but you have to keep after it to keep it looking nice. Just think about it, people boarding right off the beach or out of the water.. spilled drinks.... you can keep it looking nice but you have to keep after it. I have vinyl on my boat, but we use our toon for fishing probably 90% of the time... Vinyl cleans up nicely by using a power washer or sometimes I just use a garden hose to wet her down, pour a little car wash detergent on it, then scrub it with a stiff long handle broom and rinse... viola, she's good to go....

[moregooder]

I looked into all manner of floor coverings ass I am in the middle of my rebuild , for good vinyl ($2000), for imitation Teak ($5000). we are going back to carpet ($200) not so much the cost but for a more homey feeling, last year we spent 92 days on the lake 60 nights (full top) and this time around I'm shooten for a hundred. If I was ordering a new boat it would be a carpet core and vinyl weather decks.

[Bamaman]

To put teak on a pontoon boat, you'd just be adding unneeded weight. You'd still need a plywood decking under the teak. The boat'd weigh 150% of what it should weigh, needing more engine horsepower and passenger capacity would be much less.

Secondly, left natural and teak is dull and weathered. But rub it down with oil and the beauty comes out. Unfortunately, the oil doesn't last long.

If you like the look, spring for the faux teak vinyl. It's a great compromise, and is absolutely beautiful stuff.

We hear more online about people ordeing vinyl flooring on their pontoons. I cannot remember anyone speaking negatively about vinyl floors. You can also order snap in carpet to put over the vinyl floors, but we hear most people end up never even using the snap in carpet--preferring the easy maintenance of the vinyl.

[Gonefishing]

Mine has both. Carpet in the seating area and fake teak in the rear fishing area. I had other boats with snap in carpet and never took it out. Like everything else you need to keep it clean. I always clean my boat every time I return from an outing. That keeps it looking good and doesn't take all day when you do it a little at a time. Carpet s cool in the heat and comfort on the bear feet. Unlike vinyl that will get hot from the sun.

[RonKMiller]

For what it's worth I applied several coats of very high quality elastomeric roof coating over raw marine plywood: top, bottom and sides. The next to the last coat included pulverized walnut shells for anti-slip. It was about $140.00 for 5 gallons versus about $50.00 for the cheap stuff. I doubt if I'll ever need to re-coat it again.

While the roof coating is not *designed* for foot traffic I'm not too concerned. It IS designed for repelling water and UV rays.

I've got several small 100% vinyl loop throw rugs to keep it cozy, and they do an excellent job of trapping sand. To clean 'em, just toss 'em in the water.

The rugs I've got have no backing to allow water to drain through: http://www.americanfloormats.com/vinyl- ... ance-mats/

toon deck coating.jpg (449.83 KiB) Viewed 6610 times

[cleatus]

"For what it's worth I applied several coats of very high quality elastomeric roof coating over raw marine plywood: top, bottom and sides."

Sounds like a good alternative, how long ago did you apply it? How's it holding up?
You didn't need to prime the plywood? A friend wants to rip out his carpet, that's why I'm asking.

[RonKMiller]

Looking back I paid about $150.00 for TWO 5 gallon buckets, I had it tinted to kind of a light beige color since the white was just overwhelming. No primer needed for new surfaces. My new plywood just sucked it up since it was kiln dried. I put two coats on the bottom and four on top since I started with all new sheets. It's about 50 mils thick now - about the same as a credit card. So far it's holding up just great. I've also had two coats on the roof of my house for 8 years now - with constant extremely harsh sun exposure. It is starting to "chalk" a bit, and it will need a new single coat to renew it next year. Quality stuff.

http://henry.com/roofing/coolroofcoatin ... oofcoating

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Henry-4-75-G ... SOPx_JA3FI

I would think that a previously used surface would need some serious prep - as in sanding... that initial coat would need to bond tightly or it might peel over time, although they do have a *primer* that might work well:

http://henry.com/roofing/coolroofcoatin ... icbasecoat

[Bamaman]

There are elastomeric coatings that are designed to walk on. Ames Research sells through Tru Value Hardware. They're best when embedded in a polyester roof fabric. Otherwise the seams can leak.

[RonKMiller]

There are elastomeric coatings that are designed to walk on. Ames Research sells through Tru Value Hardware. They're best when embedded in a polyester roof fabric. Otherwise the seams can leak.

Yep, it looks like their granulated Safe T Deck might be an excellent choice, but at $179.00 for 5 gallons - ouch...

http://www.amesresearch.com/_Safe-T-Deck.html

One thing is for sure, I went WAY overboard on my crushed walnut shells, I could have used about 1/4 as much. I sprinkled them on top of a wet coat, let 'em dry into it, then put another top coat on. If I did it again I would just add a cup per gallon of paint and roll it on. I would also mask off adjoining areas and just coat "walkways" instead. The one big advantage of having lots of shells are that the throw rugs and coolers, etc. don't slide around on the deck so perhaps coating storage areas is a good idea too.

I did notice that my coating does seem to trap some dust and grime, but a few drops of phosphate free dishwashing liquid (Dawn is fine) and a wet rough surface broom gets it looking like new in a heartbeat.