I went from carpet to vinyl last fall in my Tracker:
https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=21629
Where's the finishing pictures? I woulda loved to look at them. From the post below, I think you had some great ideas and would love to see more pictures.... dang, thought I'd updated that, but you can see them here https://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=509163
As for cost, the best price I could find online was here:
https://www.defender.com/category.jsp?path=-1%7C10918%7C311409&id=311410
I am going to have to price delivered prices from a couple of places. Do these folks charge shipping as well? I found a place in South Georgia that has cheaper prices, but they will likely charge tax and shipping. They are too far away to go pick it up, as I'm in Northeast Georgia.... They charge shipping but no tax, I forget what the shipping was but it wasn'r bad and very quick service and excellent packaging.
Installation quirks, there's a few.
1. The difference in the thickness of carpet and vinyl will affect your opening and deck size, it'll make your openings bigger than they need to be and your deck pieces a little smaller if you use your old plywood decking for templates.
I'm not able to use my original wood, as it's long since rotted out, so I'm going back in with .125" aluminum flooring. I do think I'm going to have some gap issues with aluminum deck lids that were covered with carpet. I have five storage or deck lids that had aluminum "trim" and carpet covered wood inserts I'm going to replace the wood with plastic decking, so I should only have an area or two with an issue, probably on the back deck.
I got around this by using firring strips of wood to make my openings smaller and deck pieces larger.
My biggest concerns will be in the center floor, where I'm likely going to have to butt two sections of aluminum together. I'm debating splicing the two sections with a strip of aluminum and rivets in that section so I can go "wall to wall" with the vinyl flooring.
I installed aluminum angle on my hatch covers as trim to hide some of the gap.
Most of my hatches are the little storage units with wood lids that already had trim, but thank you for posting this, as I can use it in areas where I don't have the trim, such as on the back deck. I think I have just enough aluminum angle to do this.
I installed the angle on my hatch covers and with counter sunk closed end blind rivets on 4" centers. Closed end blind rivets are much stronger than the open end rivets.
I'm going to copy what you've done here in areas where I need to do so. Sounds like a simple, positive solution. Debating a coating/paint for the trim though, to reduce glare.
I used the Nautolex 88 adhesive for my larger pieces because it is a more forgiving adhesive because the bond isn't instant like contact cement. The 88 adhesive is water based and is a much slower cure and bond and requires the edges to be wrapped around to the back of the deck piece and stapled. there's no need to staple with contact cement.
This would be a problem for me, as I can't staple aluminum too good. Could rivet it though.
With experience and hindsight, I'd have used contact cement for everything if I knew then what I know now. If you choose to go with contact cement start with your smaller pieces first so you can get the "feel" for how you have to work with it.
What brand of contact cement would you recommend and how much do you think I would need for a 17 ft. boat? Some of this stuff is pretty pricey.... I used the Weldwood contact cement in the metal can and brushed it on with a chip brush. It's about $40 a gallon at Home Depot. Your aluminum will only need one coat, but the vinyl needs 2 coats because the backing absorbs most of the first coat. A gallon should go pretty far if it doesn't do your whole boat. Other people that have installed this vinyl on their projects have used the contact cement in the spray can with good results, but it's more expensive than the brush on.
Proper tools are a must for a good vinyl job. You will need a hand held carpet roller and a laminate roller to remove any air bubbles under the vinyl and to embed the vinyl into the adhesive on either adhesive you choose.
These tools can be purchased at Home Depot or Lowes.
Makes sense. I've installed carpet before and the installation tools were a big part of it. How much did those two tools run you ballpark? The big roller was $30 and small one was $12 I think.
I covered all of my deck pieces individually and then fastened each piece to the deck framing with rivets. I did this so I could remove all or some of my decking without ruining my vinyl, and all I'll have to do is rerivet the decking down when I put the boat back together. Anyone that owns an aluminum boat should realize that you
will probably have to get below deck sometime in the future for something (repairs or modifications).
I really like this idea and will probably do the same thing with my rivets. i think if I fold the vinyl over the flooring edges, then glue it below decks, it should hold better and present a more finished look. Would you recommend some rivets along the edge to help with holding? You don't need mechanical fasteners if you use the contact cement, just leave about 2" of vinyl to fold around to the back of your aluminum piece and glue it with the contact cement.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
1. Would you recommend the vinyl for the flooring as well as areas such as rod lockers where people may possibly sit or lean on? Yes, it is extremely durable.
2. What do you think about painting vertical surfaces to reduce the amount of vinyl flooring needed and only put the vinyl on horizontal surfaces?That will work too, but I did my verticals in vinyl too. You'll have some scrap leftover and the more places you can put it the cheaper the job costs.
3. In case it gets lost in the shuffler, what brand of contact cement would you recommend?