Carpet Installation Advice?

I am getting ready to carpet the deck of my boat. Having never done this before, I'm looking for advice on how to do it right. I will be carpeting the entire length of the boat including the front and rear aluminum decks.


What I'm wondering is if I should:
1.Pull the wood deck out first and carpet it(wrapping the edges and stapling it down, et). Leaving the Carpet for the Aluminum sections over hang 4 feet front and reach OR
2. Should I do the entire thing from inside the boat, just cutting the carpet flush on the sides of the boat.

Also if I do option 1. Will staples on bottom of each wrapped sides be enough to hold it or should I use contact cement to glue it all down as well. My concern is trying to dry fit the deck in once is carpeted. It fit's with a slight gap now but now sure how much the carpet will add on the edges.

Help!

when we did my buddies boat we wrapped the carpet around all of the decking and all except for once piece of the floor. On the last floor piece we had to push the carpet under a seat to install it. Now, only one piece of his carpet is coming up, can you guess what piece it is? yep, the piece not wrapped under around the edges.

I would do number 1

here's some notes from my build
I used 3M adhesive glue spray to apply the carpet. This helped me better at applying.
I did try the outdoor carpet glue but it cost me on drying time and the worry of watching the carpet rolling back up.

The spray was awesome and I highly recommend it. Its fast and keeps you moven right along with no waiting periods. Please ware your respirator for this as well.

on my decks
I took off an extra 1/8 inch for carpet clearance off my deck wood, it worked out fine. I could have went smaller on the cut back and it would have still worked. Sprayed the 3m glue and stapled the edges.

Its been over a year now and the carpet is fine that 3M spray is tuff stuff

All good suggestions above. The decks on my rig are factory-painted aluminum, and I carpeted it all, including up the sides of the interior. Was unable to wrap the carpet under. I used Henry's 663 indoor/outdoor carpet glue from Lowe's, a notched trowel to spread it, and then used a wooden rolling pin to smooth-out all of the accessible flat areas as I went. Did it sections (front deck, middle section, rear deck, then interior sides. The carpet has been down since about July of '07 as I recall and still holding.

https://www.tinboats.net/forum/images/thumbnails.php?album=113

Guys, Thank you all for the advice. Funny you should mention the 3M spray I looked at it at Home Depot and was aprehensive and bought the DAP contact cement based on another guys recommendation. I think I'll go back and pick up a can or two of that for the wood sections so i can move a bit quicker.... I don't want to deal with the wait either. From what you guys are saying I think I'll wrap where I can but on the aluminum deck I'll just have to try to glue it as best I can since there's nothing to wrap to. Thanks for the advice. I'll post back pictures this weekend once I complete it.

Be sure and read the directions/information on whichever glue you choose, as some have a specific curing times (mfr's recommendation) as to how long before you can expose the new glue to a wet environment. Also, different temperature ranges will effect the curing time. Looking forward to the pics! 8)

Nussy said:

Guys, Thank you all for the advice. Funny you should mention the 3M spray I looked at it at Home Depot and was aprehensive and bought the DAP contact cement based on another guys recommendation. I think I'll go back and pick up a can or two of that for the wood sections so i can move a bit quicker.... I don't want to deal with the wait either. From what you guys are saying I think I'll wrap where I can but on the aluminum deck I'll just have to try to glue it as best I can since there's nothing to wrap to. Thanks for the advice. I'll post back pictures this weekend once I complete it.

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I sprayed the 3M straight too the alluminum too and its holding fine. WW is correct, I would wait a few seconds for the spray to be tacky and applied it. Still way way faster.

Thanks guys, Hey Fishinbuds, did you spray the adhesive on the carpet and the deck or just the deck?

I started laying the carpet today. I'm trying to keep the carpet one piece from bow to stern which is making it pretty hard to deal with. I stapled it along the outsides to see how it fit. I have to make some adjustments in areas, becuase it's to tight. Not quite sure how I'm going to approach that one yet. I noticed when put it in the boat it seames to be saggy.....even though I tried to keep tight while stapling on the floor. I can see already this is going to be a challenge. I see why I need to glue it now.

Nussy said:

Thanks guys, Hey Fishinbuds, did you spray the adhesive on the carpet and the deck or just the deck?

Click to expand...

Yes, I sprayed both. When I applied the carpet I started in the middle and worked my way out, just like putting a sticker on your window. Then when I wrapped around I sprayed the area needed and wrapped and stapled, I started by stapling one end then I skipped a few inches and stapled and few more inches stapled, I did this untill I reached the other end. Then I would go back and staple anything needed.

all my carpet is sprayed except when I first did my low deck, that there I did with glue, I used the spray to do touch ups then thats when I noticed the strenght it had and used it instead.

Man doing it all in one piece is gonna be hard, you could do it in sections, maybe three? one up front/middle/back.

I used a 4 foot level as a straight edge when I did the cutting.

Yeah I probably should do it in 3 pieces. The 2 metal decks and the wood deck. I just thought one piece would look better since they'll all be level. We'll see this weekend. Thanks again for the help

Doing it in sections makes it much easier. The original piece of carpet I bought was around 20' long, and it whooped me attempting to wrestle it into place during a dry-fit before gluing. That's when I went to the section-method.

Well, I did the main frame carpeted tonight.....All in one piece. Definitely not the easiest project. I went with the spray adhesive. Unfoturnately, it didn't work too well. I waited the recommended 5 minutes but it didn't get very tacky. I sprayed on another coat and then decided I'd hope for the best and staple it anyway. I finished that up and got it in the boat. One piece of carpet with 3 framing section, and 5 feet of carpet hanging of the ends. Trying to get that in the boat myself......Wish I had video because it was pretty comical :lol: . Anyway so far so good.

I'll do the front and rear deck tomorrow or over the weekend and start on the hatch doors. I can see already those will have to be cut down quite a bit to fit.

I'll post the picks once I get a little further.

Here's the first pic. Carpet still loose on front and rear deck but secured to framing.

you're doing a good job man! keep it up

Excellent, I couldnt bring myself to section my boat either, I did everything in one piece that could be...

Great looking job =D> . Keeping it one piece may be a pain now but I think you will like the lasting result in the end.

good job! Looks good.

Looks good! 8)

Here's the finished product


Thanks all for the advice.

You can see the full build at the link in my signature.