New Interior Flooring

[Shel]

Looks like I will be replacing the older carpet in the interior in the lower part of the boat forward of the main salon.

I was going to put down the teak and holly veneer on plywood. However the cost of doing this seems to high for me.

I have hooked up with some guys at NuTeak. They sell an interior product that looks very real and at a great cost per foot. My question is, should I lay this down on the plywood floor, or should I get some marine plywood and cut them in pieces to fit the sections of the floor, glue the product to those pieces and put the pieces down?

Putting it down straight on the floor may be easier, but the space under the doors to the staterooms will be much greater, like about 1 inch or so. Also I will have to wait until the weather warms up for the glue to be able to set. If it was done with more plywood, I could cut the pieces and glue the product on at home where I can control the temperature.

Anyway, I am looking for possible pros or cons that I have not considered, if any.

Thanks,
Shel

 

[Shel]

Also, has anyone used NuTeak's interior product and have pictures of it?

I am thinking of going with the American Cherry, as it looks more like the honey color of the other teak in the boat.

This is the Teak one. No golden color at all.

Thanks,
Shel

 

[Bob J]

This is a vinyl plank floor I installed in my galley in '07. Glued over plywood floor. Planks are 3" x 4' each. Made by Mannington.

 

[Goat Locker]

Shel - My only concern for not installing it on the boat would be the difficulty in making sure it is the exact size. If you could use a template to ensure size I would see no problem with putting it together at home and then installing the whole thing on the boat. Just make sure you take into account expansion and contraction. You may want to pull the old floor up first and check measurements. Also consider the difficulty in laying the pieces into the boat. I do not know the size or shape you are talking about but I would imagine it could be done.

 

[Shel]

Goat, yes I was thinking of using the old carpet to trace the template on some scrap plywood, then when I had the template correct, I would use the template pieces to cut the marine plywood. Expansion and contraction is an issue I didn't think about. I would hate to get it all laid and then see spaces between my pieces. That is absolutely an argument for laying the product straight on the floor.

Bob, I know you answered this before, because I remember seeing that picture of your floor on here before, but, what did you trim the hatch with?

Thanks,
Shel

 

[blueflew]

A couple of considerations: what condition is the plywood that the carpet is attached to? If its full of old adhesive, I would put new plywood over it. You need a perfectly smooth floor for any vinyl flooring product as imperfections will telegraph through. How will you attach the new plywood to the existing plywood if you have the nu-teak attached to it? I would fasten plywood down with stainless screws every 12" all over, then fill over the screw heads with some wood filler and then glue down the nu-teak. I know you want to get this done, but I don't think you will get a perfect fit by preinstalling it at home. Wait for better weather and install it directly in the boat. If you want to make a pattern, don't use the old carpet, make a new pattern using some builder's paper or thick plastic sheet.

 

[Bliss]

Is this for a 34' Tolly?

 

[nwaring]

Shel...we are doing the same thing to our Mainship, salon, galley and front v-berth floor. Yesterday I finished ripping out the carpet and now I have a few hundred staples to pull!! I have been looking at all the material with marine in the description but the cost is really high. I love the Lonseal teak and holly but the cost to do our project is $1400 just for the material. I am leaning toward some non-marine material like Bob J did. Right now my thought is the resilient flooring sold by HD, which would cost $250, that’s a big difference! I am still trying to figure out how to do the hatches. A previous owner had done a parkay type flooring in the galley and when I ripped that up it pulled some of the original plywood floor and I may lay down some luan down, the salon plywood floor is good shape. What kind of price are you getting on the Nuteak? I am prepping now but don't plan on finishing till things warm up a lot. We splash 5/2 and I hope to have it done by Memorial Day weekend.

Niles

 

[rduhon]

We are going to put something other than carpet in our boat after Contraband Days in May.
Keep this going so I don't have to think so hard when it is time.
We cannot figure out what we want yet.

 

[Shel]

Bliss, yes a 34' Tolly.

So I went up to the boat today and removed the carpet... and a trillion staples!!! If I had a dollar for every staple, I'd be able to fix the economy!

The floor is in decent shape.

Notice there is some water stain below the island berth. It is from a stupid installation of the AC drain pan under the berth, it doesn't drain. I will fix that before she is splashed. It is dry, it is just stained. I did find a little bit of wet plywood behind the head. That must be dry before I glue anything down. there was carpet in the head that got wet and held the moisture.

I have a question about how to finish the hatch in the middle of the floor off. I was thinking I was going to frame it with some teak product, outside the hole, do the hatch cover in teak and holly like the rest of the floor, and then fill the gap around the rim with a light colored wood like holly to set it off.

There is no glue on the floor so I shouldn't have a problem sanding it a bit to get it perfectly even. However there are two spots that concern me about laying the product directly on the floor.

That picture is of the port side of the island berth. The top stair is tabbed with fiberglass to the hull side. I am wondering if I can sand this down enough to make it even enough to glue to strips of product down to it? If I cannot, I will have to put a thin piece of marine plywood over just that stair and screw it down before applying the product.

Also notice the floor in a small section is tabbed to the hull side, I really hope I can smooth this out enough to apply the product as I really don't want to lay more plywood over the floor in pieces like I was saying above. Much more work.

The screws you see in the edges of the steps are what was holding some nice teak bullnoses. I was very pleased to see them when I removed the carpet as I thought I was going to have to buy something to cover a bare plywood edge. However, after a little refinishing they should look stellar.

As to feeling the flaws in the floor through the product, I'm not sure this product would have that problem. This is a very ridged product, It is about 2-3mm thick, and comes in planks, not a roll. It is not a soft vinyl flooring product. Here are some photos of it close up. It has 3 layers to it.

I am also still stuck on the shade to go with. Here are some comparisons of the product compared to the other teak in the boat.

If we want a match, we can go with American Cherry

If we want some contrast, and maybe a little more modern, we can go with the teak.

Colors confuse me....

Niles, the NuTeak product you see above, I got for $12.50 CAN per square foot, Montreal Boat Show price. I assume that it would be cheaper in US dollars. I am doing 65 sq ft. I want this done mid April since I need the rest of the time before the splash date of mid May to clean, buff and polish.

Thanks everyone for your help.
Shel

 

[Bob J]

Shel, if that question is to me re trim....I used clear maple. I think I used stock about 3/8" thick & painted with 3 coats of clear polyurethane.

 

[Gregory S]

Bob J, that's the same thing I used in my galley area. Lousy place for carpet IMHO.

 

[Shel]

No one has any opinions on the color? We are really frustrated trying to pick between these colors.

Does anyone think that instead of using new plywood over the old stair to level it because of the fiberglass tab, I use some sort of leveling compound to smooth it out? Has anyone done something like that before?

Thanks Bob J, I'll be trimming my hatch with the same.

Thanks,
Shel

 

[Bob J]

Shel, in my case I took one of my cabinet doors to the store I was going to by flooring from. That way I could review all the possible color options. Took a couple samples home to show Admiral & jointly decided on a color.