It’s been said that cruising on a pontoon boat is like having your living room on the water. It’s like having a floating couch, but with all the conveniences of contemporary life and the incomparable experience of being outside. Having carpet beneath your feet contributes significantly to that relaxing experience. It will be cooler than vinyl flooring and will provide a superb non-slip grip while catching a fish.
But here’s the thing: that luxurious carpet may quickly become filthy and odorous. Oil stains, mold, mildew, black or orange markings, and lifting and ridges are all possibilities.
This article will give you details about the cost to replace a carpet on a pontoon boat so you can make up your mind what kind of carpet or floor you will use and how much it will cost.
How Much Does It Cost To Replace The Carpet
There appears to be a heated dispute concerning which sort of flooring is better for pontoon boats. Instead of maritime carpet, vinyl flooring is becoming increasingly common in pontoons. To be sure, making the conversion will cost a little more than simply replacing the carpet, but you shouldn’t have to replace the vinyl flooring.
A pontoon boat’s carpets cost roughly $3,000 to repair. The supplies cost around $500, while the shop’s labor costs around $2,500. (give or take a couple hundred). There is also the option of finishing the job oneself, which appears to be becoming increasingly popular.
If you decide to embark on this project and replace the carpets with vinyl flooring, the materials will cost around $300 and the job will cost around $1,200 or more to finish.
How To Replace Carpet
What you will need:
- DIY budget boat carpet
- Carpet knife
- Carpet scraper
- Floor sander tool
- Adhesive glue remover
- Coarse sand paper
- Boat carpet glue
- Heat gun – optional
Follow the instructions outlined below. You might want to print this out and keep it on the deck of your pontoon while you’re working.
Step 1: Clear the deck and work space
Don’t rush to replace your pontoon boat carpet because this is when blunders might be made. Clear a space around your boat and on the pontoon deck for working.
If at all feasible, take your pontoon boat to a more open area. Clear a few feet of space around the boat and trailer at the absolute least.
Step 2: Isolate any electrics
While removing and pulling up the old carpet to be replaced, there is always the chance of getting an electric shock. Because you never know if there are cables flowing beneath the carpet, unplug the battery leads before proceeding.
You’ll need to work with some power wires later if you remove the console, so removing the batteries first is a smart idea.
Step 3: Remove equipment and gear
Remove all equipment and stuff off the deck before attempting to remove the pontoon carpet, which may seem apparent.
Some pontoon boats, for example, will require the seats to be removed since they may be fastened to the carpet. If you try to work around all of this, the job will become much more difficult, and you may end up with a really unsightly outcome.
Because your carpet repair process may take many days, put all loose equipment under a tarp or under a canopy.
Get some freezer bags or something similar for the bolts and nuts. On a piece of paper, write the name of the piece of equipment and place all of the bolts, nuts, and screws associated with it in that bag. You won’t mix them up with the fasteners or any other equipment this way.
After you’ve removed all of the seats and loose equipment from the boat, you may need to remove the rails, lights, and Bimini if they’ll get in the way of pulling up and replacing the carpet.
If you must remove your Bimini, make sure the anchor light is turned off first.
Step 4: Remove the carpet
This step in the carpet replacement process takes some time. It’s finicky, labor-intensive, and fraught with difficulties. Make sure you’re prepared to put in some effort!
Step 5: Remove the old glue and prepare the deck surface
Some adhesive will always remain on the deck. It’s quite difficult to remove, but it is possible with the appropriate tools. There are two things you need to cover in this step. First, sand the glue marks off with a floor sander tool and then use an adhesive remover. That’s all you need to do.
Step 6: Fitting and installing the new replacement carpet
All of our hard work clearing the deck and removing the carpet and adhesive is now paying off as we prepare to install the new carpet.
Step 7: Re-assemble the gear and equipment
Make careful to provide enough time for the marine carpet adhesive to dry (cure). To be safe, I would add an extra 2 hours to what the glue maker recommends.
After it has dried, you may begin reinstalling any equipment that was removed.
The effort we spent organizing the fasteners into different bags earlier will now pay off. You won’t have to waste time looking for the right bolt or screw.
Advantages of Carpeted Flooring
Softer Feel
People like entertaining and wish that their deck had the softer, at-home feel of a living room. Who could say no to that? If this is your only motivation for choosing carpeting, consider the practical side of things. After all, it’s a boat. It will be always damp, unlike your living room floor.
Traction
Carpeting does, in fact, provide traction. Even with damp feet, you won’t slip on carpet. Apart from carpeting, smooth, slippery vinyl, similar to pressed linoleum used on kitchen floors, was originally the only other choice for boat flooring. This isn’t the case anymore, thankfully. Under the vinyl portion, I’ll go into further depth.
Acoustical Properties
Some people tend to like the acoustical features that carpet appears to offer. It’s a gentler stride that muffles the noises of feet stamping the deck, which is especially useful while you’re waiting for a catch.
Conclusion
A boat’s carpet will cost between $1,500 and $2,900 to replace. The materials themselves are often under $500. Supplies may cost a little extra depending on the size of the boat and the amount of carpet required.