re-carpeting bunk question

[davemac]

I need to replace the carpet and bunks on my trailer. I have (4) bunks, each about 8' long, that are 2x6 PT stock, lag bolted from the underside. I noticed on the West Marine Site, they recommend 18" width for 2x6 bunks....which seems excessive. I was estimating that 12" width would be adequate. Am I supposed to be doubling this stuff up, or is a single layer adequate?

TIA,

Dave

Edited April 19, 2010 by davemac

[Ndawg12]

I need to replace the carpet and bunks on my trailer. I have (4) bunks, each about 8' long, that are 2x6 PT stock, lag bolted from the underside. I noticed on the West Marine Site, they recommend 18" width for 2x6 bunks....which seems excessive. I was estimating that 12" width would be adequate. Am I supposed to be doubling this stuff up, or is a single layer adequate?

TIA,

Dave

Depends, do you want to be able to see the wood or not? 12" will give a 2" or so gap, that's what I did. 18" would completely cover the bottom with plenty of overlap. I just went to Lowes had them cut (5) 12' x 12" strips of their black marine carpet, my bunks are 8', 8', 3'...times 2.

[Skiline00]

I agree, 12" is plenty. I recovered mine a few years ago, the wood was still in good shape so I just installed the new carpet right over the old.

[C28]

Skiline so you left the old carpet on then put the new carpet over the old? I was thinking of doing this also but there is so much fine sand caught in the carpet, is it OK to just leave it?

[Ndawg12]

Skiline so you left the old carpet on then put the new carpet over the old? I was thinking of doing this also but there is so much fine sand caught in the carpet, is it OK to just leave it?

Shouldn't hurt anything, that's what I plan on doing in a couple years as well.

[board brained]

have a buddy who just did his and he carpeted directly over the old and works great

[davemac]

thanks guys. I'll go w/ the 12" wide stuff. After launching the boat, I'll have a better idea as to whether the bunks need replacing.

[Michigan boarder]

I re-painted and re-bunked my trailer last year. There were lag screws holding the bunks in, and a moderate tug on each bunk pulled them right off, the lags were all rusted away. I stripped 2 layers of carpet off. That was the biggest PITA of the whole job. If you plan on keeping the trailer longer than you think the carpet will last, and you may be doing this again, strip the old stuff. Then to re-attach the bunks, I turned them upside down and moved them about 1" further back, so I would be putting lags in solid wood again. I used galvanized lags. The carpet I used was left over from remodeling our office, a nice charcoal grey. I keep the trailer indoors year 'round so I am comfortable with the carpet and lags.

Lastly, check to make sure the holes in the cross-members are clean and water drains out easily. Obviously my set up is old, but mine were open on the top and rusted closed on the bottom. So they let water in but not out. Caused decay in a couple of spots, and I had to do some welding.

[Green_Giant]

I just redid my trailer the other night. I have 2x4 boards and the carpet on them previously was 12" and there was 1.5" overlap on the bottom. If you're going to go over the old carpet, my opinion is that 12 is not wide enough. I tried to go over the old and not only didn't I overlap, the staples were nearly impossible to get through both layers with a good bite into the wood. It's also going to take twice as long for the bunk carpet to dry out, possibly shortening the life of your boards. I ended up stripping the old carpet off and replacing in the same manner. Staples went in easy, was able to get a tighter stretch / fit with no ripples in the carpet and I have to think it will move around less when loading / unloading. I had the whole thing done in a few hours including shuttling the boat / car / trailer, etc.

Same as Ndawg, I did the black marine carpet from Lowes cut into strips the width I wanted, easly got 4 bunks with plenty to spare and cheaper than buying the pre-cut stuff for boats. Just buy a length 8" longer than the longest bunk.

[ormondgator]

Have any of you tried the marine grade polymer slides? The cost is slighly higher than high grade carpet but seems like these would last forever.

[davemac]

Have any of you tried the marine grade polymer slides? The cost is slighly higher than high grade carpet but seems like these would last forever.

there is a fairly recent thread here somewhere dealing w/ them.