Interior Floor Replacement

[sandy daugherty]

The Teak and Holly decking in my catamaran is spongy in many places, and some of the veneers have peeled off where the floor was saturated with antifreeze. I have slipped and fallen a few times in wet conditions, so I am looking for a replacement for all of the flooring that is lighter in weight, just as durable and perhaps more slip resistant than what is there. Suggestions? Experiences? Opinions? The spacing between 'joists' is four feet, but the sections are less than two feet wide except on the bridge deck, the bulkheads are lighly stained with darker mahogony or teak trim.

HELP!

[ggray]

Not sure what you are looking for, but our cat has a commercial grade (maybe I should say industrial) vinyl flooring that is fairly slip resistant. Looks good, but obviously not traditional.
If you are interested, i can look up the manufacturer.

[SabreKai]

Given the dimensions you noted for the floor timber spacing and the floor widths, I'd be wondering how much of that spongy feeling is due to the overly large unsupported area. You didn't mention the thickness of the floors themselves.

I weigh in at just under 300 lbs, and my floors are 3/4 inch ply. The longest distance they need to span is about 2'6" with a width of 14 inches. They do not spring or bounce at all. I would suggest that you put in additional floors and split the 4 foot bays into 2 foot bays. Then you will have no spring what so ever on 3/4 ply. As for material, Teak/holly is very pricey. I've been looking at a different material which is Teak/maple. It looks different but is about half the price. I suggest you visit this web site and have a look.

Noah's Marine Supplies Online Store - Plywood & Panels=

18mm is about 3/4 inch, and the teak n maple is about half the cost of teak n holly. Its a Canadian site but I'm sure they can ship to you. If not you should be able to find that material locally somewhere.

[clausont]

I will be watching this thread closely to see what ideas are offered here. I have just completely replaced the cabin sole and all floor timbers in our Ingrid.
All of the timbers that I put back in are epoxy saturated as well as the plywood over the timbers. My next step is similar to yours, Sandy. I have been looking at Bamboo as a flooring but not quite sure about it. I have heard that it can work out pretty well but I would like to know more before I install it!

[ggray]

I addressed only the surface material in my earlier post.
In the main cabin (bridgedeck), the vinyl is glued right to the floor. In the hulls where there are removable floorboards, I made the floorboards out of Decolite, which is a fiberglass balsa sandwich, so quite light. It is pricey though. I see they now make it with an Airex core as well .

[Tampabayfireman]

We had looked at similar options with our boat, and having the same issues with the flooring peeling or splinters. We opted for the vinyl replacement of Lonseal. It comes in 6 ft widths, and was very impressed with several boats we looked at installed in. Have it here now to install, so hopefully over next few weeks can post some pics of it.

[Not Sure]

I recently made cabin sole panels from engineered bamboo flooring (bamboo on a cedar backing made for below-grade/ground installations), and it looks nice. Of course I saturated the cedar backing with repeated applications of boiled linseed oil before installing them. The engineered bamboo worked out to about $3 per sq ft, plus labor (which was 'free'). 'Teak and holly' in a similar thickness would be 3-4 times that amount (plus labor).

What is currently sold as 'teak and holly' is not 'holly' at all but simply a light colored wood (I forget which one specifically). They just _call_ it teak and holly because its traditional.

[gonesail]

the builder of my boat used 2 layers of 1/2" plywood .. the 1" thickness is strong and does not flex. solid teak planks would of course better IMHO.

[gosstyla]

In my cat I used this:
Nautolex(R) Marine OEM Upholstery

Certainly not traditional, but very light weight, good non-slip, and easy maintenance. However, doesn't provide any noise insulation.

[S/V Antares]

I was on a 36 ft boat that had overlayed the old discolored T/H with 18mm tongue and grove engineered bamboo. Water had gotten under the top laminate and was not thick enough to strip yet again. It was a fairly easy install and looked nice. The 18mm bamboo is also very stiff. I got some samples from Lumber Liquidator (Flooring shop in the US) and left it in the water next to the boat for a few months and was stunned to see little effect. The lighter colored floor against the dark teak lighted the interior up a bit as well. I am also thinking of using it, or a similar product.

[clausont]

Originally Posted by S/V Antares

left it in the water next to the boat for a few months and was stunned to see little effect. The lighter colored floor against the dark teak lighted the interior up a bit as well.

Great information, Antares! Thanks!

[Beersmith]

anyone have pictures of the bamboo floors?

[sailvayu]

I used a product Called Amtico. It is a high end vinyl flooring. Several major boat builders use this product as well. So far I am happy with it. It even has a bit of "grain" to it so it has some non skid effect. Bit tedious to put down as it comes in strips but the end result is is nice and after a year is holding up well. Here is a picture of me installing it

[Bradley]

The salon area of my boat was carpet. I hated it.

I ripped out the carpet and installed Awlgrip with a faux finish over the existing decking. It looks great, is non-skid and is eay to clean. It looks brand new after 5 or 6 years. If it ever starts to wear, I can just lay down another coat of the clear overcoat

I was fortunate to be next to the Awlgrip dealer for Trinidad who had paint in large drums so I was able to buy small amounts to make the faux finish. Also, had an artist on board at the time. That helped immnsely when it came to he faux finish.