Egad, not another decking question!

The time has come to deck the front of my boat. I have a friend who can custom cut a piece of aluminum for the deck (for free) - questions:

1. Would an aluminum floor be lighter than plywood? I am assuming it would be.

2. What gauge/thickness of aluminum is preferable?

3. Can you glue carpet to aluminum?

BaitCaster said:

The time has come to deck the front of my boat. I have a friend who can custom cut a piece of aluminum for the deck (for free) - questions:

1. Would an aluminum floor be lighter than plywood? I am assuming it would be... it would depend on the thickness of the aluminum.

2. What gauge/thickness of aluminum is preferable?... Will your be framing underneath for support of do you want it to span a considerable length?

3. Can you glue carpet to aluminum?...yes

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I don't know how much money you want to spend, but you may want to consider vinyl instead of carpet... much easier to maintain.
Here's a place that has the best price I've found on the net for a good grade of marine vinyl... I just ordered 27 linear feet of the 6' wide stuff this morning.

https://www.defender.com/category.jsp?path=-1%7C10918%7C311409&id=311410

... about $6 per linear foot for the 6' wide stuff, the 54" wide is even cheaper if your boat isn't that wide.

Haven't you been around long enough to know everything?!? :wink: 1/8" (.125") thick is a good thickness for decking and is still lighter than ply, but check out bassboy's stuff. He's used thinner than that with good results by bending a flange in the side of it. I think he used .090". And yes to the carpet question...

SVOMike86 said:

Haven't you been around long enough to know everything?!? :wink: 1/8" (.125") thick is a good thickness for decking and is still lighter than ply, but check out bassboy's stuff. He's used thinner than that with good results by bending a flange in the side of it. I think he used .090". And yes to the carpet question...

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Ha ha! Nope - always learning something! Thanks for the info. Seems like 1/8" is the way to go.

BC, how far back are you planning on going, over the middle seat or leaving some space in between?

Ictalurus said:

BC, how far back are you planning on going, over the middle seat or leaving some space in between?

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I don't plan on going as high as the top of the middle seat. I am planning on decking from where the current floor of the boat meets the bottom of the bow seat to a point on the middle seat that is level (does that make sense?). So, on the picture below the deck would start at the bottom of the seat and roughly follow the chine back to the middle seat.





I'm not really interested in getting up higher on the boat, I just want a large flat surface and a pedestal seat to lean on.

BaitCaster said:

I don't plan on going as high as the top of the middle seat. I am planning on decking from where the current floor of the boat meets the bottom of the bow seat to a point on the middle seat that is level (does that make sense?). So, on the picture below the deck would start at the bottom of the seat and roughly follow the chine back to the middle seat.

View attachment 1



I'm not really interested in getting up higher on the boat, I just want a large flat surface and a pedestal seat to lean on.

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If you're going to frame and rivet it you can use .0625 (1/16"), if you're going to weld it you need 0.10 at least... but 1/8" won't hurt a thing except it'll weigh more and be more expensive.

What do you guys think about this "improved strength basic aluminum (alloy 3003)" from McMasterCarr:

https://www.mcmaster.com/#standard-aluminum-sheets/=dkqa30

.100" thick 36" x 48" sheet is ~$93.

Would this work for decking? What spacing should be used on the framing members?

jigngrub said:

If you're going to frame and rivet it you can use .0625 (1/16"), if you're going to weld it you need 0.10 at least... but 1/8" won't hurt a thing except it'll weigh more and be more expensive.

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I will be framing and riveting.

Here's another bad renedering showing where I plan to deck.

1/8 is the least i would go with.don't know the type of carpet you're gonna use , i've had good luck with some speckeld light brown astroturf from home depot. cleans easy & hooks don't hang in it . your results may vary

BC, I went to the local construction safety rental place and asked for old signs. They gave me a whole skid of aluminum signs. thats what I'm doing my decking with. It's just shy of 1/8" and I have allready tested it without adding any additional bracing between the ribs, it is plenty strong enough. Almost no flex. Also I tested it with no foam and I expect the foam would add a little more support. 1/8" will be plenty strong enough.

Yes, you can glue carpet to it. I'm still up in the air about the adhesive I'm going to use. Id like to go with contact cement but its so permanent, I feel like that may be a bad idea if I ever have to replace carpet. May be using some 777 spray adhesive or just regular carpet glue.

Check out Capri Carpet if you choose to order online. Best prices I found anywhere. I believe someone here said they were Bass Pro's carpet supplier but they sell for almost half of BPS price!!

The hulls of the better quality riveted boats are .0625 gauge, and the cheaper ones are .043. The hulls of the welded boats are .09-0.1.

The decking material is only half or less of the sturdiness of a deck, the framing below is what gives a deck it's strength. Frame your deck properly and you don't have to spend the exta money on expensive thick decking that adds needless weight.