material for berth?

[Hunky Dory]

I have a Bayliner that has a laminate finished (white) plywood sheeting under the front berth. This plywood and finish has delaminated and looks ugly. I was looking at a picture of another boat and they had pressure treated plywood with a glued on gray coloured vinyl flooring that looks like aluminum checker plate I have seen this product used for garage floors. Will this application work or will I have problems with condensation? I have a 4"thick memory foam mattress. Seeing as I am going to replace this surface what would work better?

[Matt Johnson]

Painted exterior grade plywood is fine in this application. One way to help eliminate condensation is to take a 1" hole saw and drill through the plywood in a checkerboard pattern every 3". This assumes you have some space under the berth that can allow a little airflow.

Matt

[JPA Cate]

A 6 mm thick closed cell foam underlayment for the mattress should solve the problem, as well.

Marine grade ply and paint will work, but I would not think fuzzy stuff would provide enough loft to keep the airflow going. The closed cell foam works differently, by stopping the temperature transfer. Your breath moisture, some will get into the mattress, but at least where we sail (no higher than 43 deg latitude) it has worked well for the period of ownership of this boat (so far, ~15 yrs.).

Ann