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GatorStep / SeaDek on boat with glued-down carpet?


MadDogMike

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I have an '04 VLX with original carpet. I've seen lots of threads about GatorStep / SeaDek installations, but all I've seen were on boats that had snap-out carpet or no carpet at all. I've seem some threads on removing glue-down carpet, but in those cases they were replacing carpet with carpet. Has anyone installed GatorStep / SeaDek or similar on an older boat that had glued-down carpet? I'm wondering how it would look since the fiberglass under the carpet presumably doesn't have a smooth finish?

 

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I don't have any personal experience but I believe you will find a lot of useful info in this older thread. My one bit of advice from that thread would be to make sure that your timing is right regarding placing your order and ripping your carpet out. You don't want to lose a good chunk of your boating time due to not having any flooring in your boat 

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It took me a couple of days with acetone and a putty knife style scraper to get all the glue off. I coated the floor with Monstaliner and used the sheet material and cut and routed it out myself and saved a TON of money. I also skipped the step of sending off templates to have it custom cut. It still looks great and doesn't hold water like the old carpet did. You could also save some work by just going wall to wall with the sheet material and that way you don't have to get all of the glue off. Just knock down the high spots so It is level and roll with it. 

Project is totally worth it so I say go for it! 

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11 hours ago, robbennett said:

It took me a couple of days with acetone and a putty knife style scraper to get all the glue off. I coated the floor with Monstaliner and used the sheet material and cut and routed it out myself and saved a TON of money. I also skipped the step of sending off templates to have it custom cut. It still looks great and doesn't hold water like the old carpet did. You could also save some work by just going wall to wall with the sheet material and that way you don't have to get all of the glue off. Just knock down the high spots so It is level and roll with it. 

Project is totally worth it so I say go for it! 

Where did you buy the sheet material?

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On 10/28/2016 at 11:46 AM, bcoppess23 said:

Where did you buy the sheet material?

I just got it directly from seadek. It was $150 a roll but last year they had 20% off around thanksgiving 

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11 hours ago, robbennett said:

I just got it directly from seadek. It was $150 a roll but last year they had 20% off around thanksgiving 

And how many rolls did it take?

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This is what I plan on doing over the winter.
I intend on getting the roll and routing the edges where the fuel tank access cover is and the top of the center ballast access.

I have gotten samples from Seadek and Agenda. Depending on price I think I may go with the Agenda molded diamond or their brushed foam. 

Not worth the cost of the template and coating the bottom flooring for me vs doing it myself. 

Mine won't be till maybe Jan or Feb but I am going to wait till after my interior is done and may have them do it depending on the cost. 

 

Robbennet any pictures of your install?

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I can take some pics of it this weekend and post them for you. It took 2 rolls and I had some leftover. I didn't use any inside the storage compartments I just used the Monstaliner there. In the rear lockers on each side of the engine I just removed the carpet from the plastic and left the plastic raw. 

On 10/31/2016 at 11:52 AM, 05hammerhead said:

And how many rolls did it take?

 

On 10/31/2016 at 6:02 PM, cowwboy said:

This is what I plan on doing over the winter.
I intend on getting the roll and routing the edges where the fuel tank access cover is and the top of the center ballast access.

I have gotten samples from Seadek and Agenda. Depending on price I think I may go with the Agenda molded diamond or their brushed foam. 

Not worth the cost of the template and coating the bottom flooring for me vs doing it myself. 

Mine won't be till maybe Jan or Feb but I am going to wait till after my interior is done and may have them do it depending on the cost. 

 

Robbennet any pictures of your install?

 

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Here is what I did to the carpet wrapped access door. Seems to be working fine and you cant tell when its in.  For the panel over the gas tank I used some PVC 1x2 ripped in half to be 3/8" wide so I could use half on each side. I used a 2 part epoxy and screws to attach it to the aluminum. I had to rip the PVC again to match the thickness of the aluminum panel. I think it was around 1 1/4" thick. 

IMG_6363_zps6k5dckc2.jpg

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On 10/31/2016 at 11:34 AM, Falko said:

What kind of router bit did you use?

I didn't really use the best bit for the job it was one like in the link below and I had to adjust the router to only use the bottom part of the bit. Got the job done fine though just took extra effort. 

http://www.harborfreight.com/532-in-carbide-tip-roman-ogee-router-bit-68877.html

Also note that I didn't route the panel over the gas tank or the hatch to access the bilge. These areas sit low so routing them might cause a gap in the floor. Theres a few challenges to putting sea dek in this generation of boat with all the carpet wrapped parts. I also used scraps of seadek under around the edges of the underside of the gas tank panel. 

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17 hours ago, ahopkinsTXi said:

@robbennett so you wrapped the access panels with the sea deck?

I only wrapped that middle one between the gas tank and center ballast tank. That was the only way to make it fit tightly again short of making a new panel. The panel over the gas tank only has sea dek on top and some scraps on bottom to fill the space where carpet was before. The sides I used PVC 

 

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@robbennett  thanks for the pics! Is all of that permanently installed in those pics?  Why did you choose to do many small pieces versus larger ones with only splits for panels that are removable? I'm considering something like this as a winter project and am just curious your thought process. Thanks

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On 11/9/2016 at 6:45 AM, Falko said:

So a standard router type bit shapes the sea dek pretty well? I figured it would scorch it, good to know. Thanks.

I just cut it with a descent set of shears. Works great.

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On 11/10/2016 at 9:06 PM, That Guy said:

@robbennett  thanks for the pics! Is all of that permanently installed in those pics?  Why did you choose to do many small pieces versus larger ones with only splits for panels that are removable? I'm considering something like this as a winter project and am just curious your thought process. Thanks

I could have probably done larger sheets but the smaller ones are easier to manage and it kept waste down. Plus I didn't want to cover up all of the bright yellow bedliner underneath. It is all permanently installed with about a season (200hrs) of use on it. I went with the snow camo so It doesn't show blemishes as easily. Best upgrade I have done to the boat yet. I should have taken pictures inside the compartments too because I removed all the carpet from the insides of the seat bases and the floors on each side of the engine are also raw plastic now. 

On 11/10/2016 at 10:24 PM, Choiceind said:

Ouch. Off the topic, are those gel coat fractures on the bow.

Yeah it was like that when I got it. I'll get around to fixing it one day but it's purely cosmetic. I'm guessing the PO rammed it into a dock one good time or something. 

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I also think I need to add that the floor and all panels that are wrapped in carpet are very crudely cut. You will have to straighten out some edges if you don't plan on covering them in the material. The fact that some of the sections are uneven makes smaller panels more manageable than doing fewer larger sheets. 

Also very IMPORTANT! If anyone uses a bedliner type material or any type of paint with a hardener on the floor you must use a respirator! The hardeners have isocyanates like car paint which will give you asthma. I was fairly surprised when I bought the Monstaliner they didn't really make it much of a priority. 

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12 hours ago, robbennett said:

I also think I need to add that the floor and all panels that are wrapped in carpet are very crudely cut. You will have to straighten out some edges if you don't plan on covering them in the material. The fact that some of the sections are uneven makes smaller panels more manageable than doing fewer larger sheets. 

Also very IMPORTANT! If anyone uses a bedliner type material or any type of paint with a hardener on the floor you must use a respirator! The hardeners have isocyanates like car paint which will give you asthma. I was fairly surprised when I bought the Monstaliner they didn't really make it much of a priority. 

Do you think the monstaliner (or similar) would adhere to the seat bases well if you were to completely strip the seat bases of all carpet and coat them like the floor?

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On November 14, 2016 at 9:31 AM, Ndawg12 said:

Do you think the monstaliner (or similar) would adhere to the seat bases well if you were to completely strip the seat bases of all carpet and coat them like the floor?

It might be possible if you really roughed it up and cleaned it thoroughly then used a really good adhesion promoter. The plastic that the bases are made of really looks pretty clean once you clean everything off. I have a couple of pics I'll upload when I get to a computer if you want to see

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  • 4 months later...

I have a 2003 VLX and I am in the process of removing the carpet and adding new decking. I have also replaced the transom pads and steps using homemade templates. I am VERY happy with the results and probably saved about $1500 vs ordering from SeaDek

if you have questions, send me a PM. Otherwise I will be posing a thread in the next few weeks. Just waiting for some better weather before I stick it down. These products really need 50+ degrees before you stick them down.

I sanded and used epoxy on the floor. Worked great and no VOC's

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Here's some pics of the carpet removal and cleaning process. Requested by @earleym

I will say the plastic parts if you want to leave them raw coat them with wd-40 and pressure wash off. The parts you will paint keep wd40 off. Use a solvent to loosen it up and scrape it off. I used acetone and the green crc brake parts cleaner but something slower evaporating would have likely made my life a lot easier. Like mek solvent or laquer thinner. I made sure to wear a mask because I didn't want to breathe any of this stuff for extended periods of time. Harbor freight, summit racing and amazon have good ones for around $20. 

IMG_4149_zpsg69cajgk.jpg 

 

Edited by robbennett
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Edit: to add back some of the photos Photobucket ruined.

24551431458_fcc644e0dc_h.jpgIMG_7724 by Rob Bennett, on Flickr

24551431078_b514c172fc_b.jpgIMG_6361_zpsmertmbks by Rob Bennett, on Flickr

24551430818_7dc36c7fba_h.jpgIMG_7722 by Rob Bennett, on Flickr

26646004519_8f60d64bfb_b.jpgIMG_6362_zpskva6lsac by Rob Bennett, on Flickr

38422251451_581c56f0e5_b.jpgIMG_6363_zps6k5dckc2 by Rob Bennett, on Flickr

24551431198_6300729e11_z.jpgIMG_6357_zpsd3o2aby1 by Rob Bennett, on Flickr

24551431208_5353324323_b.jpgIMG_6359_zps8ptvxwlm by Rob Bennett, on Flickr

26646004729_4ac48775fb_b.jpgIMG_6356_zpsssekcwa3 by Rob Bennett, on Flickr

Edited by robbennett
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