Carpet--adhere directly to the boat or wood?

I have some new carpet for my jonboat. I have a modified v-hull, 1448 Tracker.

Am I better off adhering the carpet directly to the aluminum, or glueing the carpet to plywood or some other material?

I was thinking that I wanted carpet on the upfront casting deck and the back, but not necessarily between the two.

I glued mine directly to the factory painted aluminum with Henry 663 glue from Lowe's. Been on there over a year now with no problems. .


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

WOW. Really nice job on the carpet.

What type of motors do you use? Have you built a battery box in the back?

Thanks. I run two TM's (1 front, 1 rear) which are mounted in the rear under a hinged hatch. Did the carpet job basically in 3 sections for the deck, then the inside hull, then the storage box. Took 4 days as I would let each section "set" overnight before going-on to another section. Used a 1/8" notched trowel to spread the glue, laid the carpet, then went over all the flat surfaces with a wooden rolling pin, working from the center when possible and rolling towards the edges.

I used the same carpet and glue as Waterwings did. It will adhere just fine to the aluminum, but if you ever want to remove it, you will find that you will have a LOT of work to get the aluminum looking acceptable again.

I did mine in about 30 sections, due to the fact that I had 7 hatches, all carpeted, and the lids, as well as more corners in my boat, in no real pattern, due to the decking shape. Total pain in the neck to do, unless you are doing large sections, and only have hatch lids in the middle (I put a hatch wherever I could, leaving me with 1 inch wide strips here, and 3 inches there, tapering up to 6 etc. Real pain to have a one inch strip on the end of a 4 x 6 foot section, without allowing a seam). I found that you can put a seam just fine on an inside corner, but you can't an outside corner. For your hatches, wrap all the way around to the bottom, not just the sides/top. If you can, leave it big, glue it in, let it sit for 45 minutes, stretch it and roll it with a rolling pin, then 2 days later, take a razor knife to the edge you need trimmed. Ends up a little better that way.

I used 3M adhesive glue spray to apply the carpet. I got it from Lowe's. The spray helped me better at applying(alot less messy).

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!

Straight to the boat, and its still holding tuff! Will always use it!

Thanks for the tips. I am going to try the adhesive spray idea.

I plan on carpeting the front deck, back seat and then a battery box.

I have planned to leave the middle section (ribbed bottom) noncarpeted and just put it some rubber matting to give some comfort and reduce noise when moving around.

jmb27 said:

Thanks for the tips. I am going to try the adhesive spray idea.

I plan on carpeting the front deck, back seat and then a battery box.

I have planned to leave the middle section (ribbed bottom) noncarpeted and just put it some rubber matting to give some comfort and reduce noise when moving around.

Click to expand...

another advice on that part, try not to use black matting. It gets very hot, actually the some of the nice'er Lowe's out door carpet has a pad on the back wich is very comfy.

Post your job pics of it 8)

FishingBuds said:

jmb27 said:

Thanks for the tips. I am going to try the adhesive spray idea.

I plan on carpeting the front deck, back seat and then a battery box.

I have planned to leave the middle section (ribbed bottom) noncarpeted and just put it some rubber matting to give some comfort and reduce noise when moving around.

Click to expand...

another advice on that part, try not to use black matting. It gets very hot, actually the some of the nice'er Lowe's out door carpet has a pad on the back wich is very comfy.

Post your job pics of it 8)

Click to expand...

I looked at the aquamats that BPS sells, but I think I could get something similar for much cheaper.

I have the carpet already, is a pad really needed?

I guess that I could post some pics of the before and after, but candidly, my skills will look pretty weak compared to some of the really nice mods I've seen on here.

just depends on you for a pad, but cushy is comfy if you spen alot on the water. I seen a boat build where a guy just put a perfect size square pad under the carpet where he would stand at to fish, and left the rest just carpet only :wink: pretty cool.