Carpet replacement: faux deckadence

UWSkier

Performed this mod over the past few weeks and had the first on-water test of it today. I'm very pleased with how it turned out.

https://www.americanfloormats.com/vinyl-mesh-pool-mats/ is where I sourced my mats. This is the gray color. It matches the gray from my '01 Malibu almost perfectly and probably would for the other brands grays also.

Few tips for doing a direct drive:

1. Order enough length in a single roll to do the whole boat. Don't order like I did qty 1 4' wide and qty 1 3' wide, since the material is not all that consistent between lots. Probably only something that will bother me, but I'm picky about my boat.
   
2. Do your work with the doghouse out. I thought it might be easier to fit everything with it in, but working around it was a pain.
   
3. Use your old carpet you ripped out as a rough guide, but cut all of your cuts a good 3/4" proud.
   
4. Get something better than a standard box cutter for long cuts.
   

I've since tidied up the seam next to the doghouse on the right. The seam behind the doghouse is never going away since that's the rear hatch access for checking the shaft, packing, etc. I covered over the cooler next to the observer seat. Never use that anyways.

The blue webbing straps on my gunnel nets to replace the nasty frayed gray ones were a mom mod. Thanks Mom! They look and work great!

UWSkier

Should also say, I was shocked how fast they dried out. They were drenched this morning. Water falls right through them. 45 min drive back from the lake and a few hours in the garage and they were bone dry. My carpet would have stayed wet for 2 days, even in AZ.

Cnewbert

@UWSkier please report back in a few months re: how hot the material gets under the direct AZ summer sun. It should be a good test. I really like the Deckadence type deck coverings, but some say these get very hot under foot so I’ve been reluctant to try any since we’re in FL.

UWSkier

@Cnewbert I had it parked in the driveway this weekend when it was 98F. It was definitely hot, but my carpet would get equally hot in those conditions. Cool thing about this stuff is you just scoop up a little lake water and dump it on to cool.

Broussard

I find that DECKadence gets much hotter than carpet.

robmollysilverlake

@UWSkier Looks great! I've never seen this type of flooring in real life, but like the idea of it.

When you installed it you said you removed the previous carpet, would you be able to put this directly over existing carpet too? How is attached to the floor, or is it more like a rug that you take out? Does the water drain into the bilge (or if like a rug do you remove the mat to shake the water out?)

I think I would definitely be interested in doing this when my carpet goes bad!

Broussard

@robmollysilverlake You could place DECKadence directly over carpet but then the carpet would likely stay wet even longer since it would be covered up.

UWSkier

@robmollysilverlake it just lays in place. It's surprisingly heavy. You can get it backed or unbacked. I got it unbacked. Water falls right through and either sits on the floor or runs into the bilge. I wouldn't place it over carpet as that defeats the purpose of the stuff. It's easy to remove, but I probably won't remove it very often. Maybe once a year to hose out the sand and dirt that falls to the floor under it but doesn't make its way into the bilge.

TomH

@UWSkier What kind of floor prep did you need to do after you pulled the carpet? Sand the glue off and paint or truck bed liner? This is on my short list of mods over the next year or two.

UWSkier

@TomH first, scrape the glue. Sounds worse than it is if you have one of these little guys.



Next, I filled in the low spots on the floor with some chop strand mat and resin (optional step)

Then I painted with this stuff. It dries slow and needed a day outside in the AZ sun to stop being tacky. I think I may have put it on a little too thick, but the sun fixed that.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07YSVKQJ2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Cnewbert

@UWSkier thanks for the feedback.

Andre

@UWSkier I can see different thickness on another site.How thick is the one you chose? Looks great,good job!
https://www.wakullamat.com/products?gclid=CjwKCAjwjbCDBhAwEiwAiudByxvoDcK9yO1afhkdmDqmVN9GoUYqLx9mppPe8Nah2iqRyqlc9sgjBBoCbeQQAvD_BwE

UWSkier

@Andre it's listed as 3/8" but is closer to 1/2".

chrislandy

How do you clean grit, leaves, sand etc out of it? I need to replace the carpet on mine soon (25yrs old and still original!)

skihacker

I have a prostar with the decadence mats, everything pretty much rinses though the mat and onto the floor below. My routine is to fold the mat back and just mop the floor once a month or so. I've been really happy with it.