34PC Flooring Replacement


G

gustaf

Member
Hi All,
I'm fully committed now that I have ripped out all of the carpet in our '04 34PC and plan to install NautikFlor LVT plank flooring. The one thing that I was curious for those that may have done this before is what you did with the table pedestal bases. Mine are thru bolted and most of the nuts are not accessible. Did you cut thru the sides of the lockers in the floor to get access to them? That seems to be the only option from what I can tell.
Thanks!
 
It was about 5 years ago and a 31PC since sold, but if I recall the bolts they could not get back out of the nut inserts were cut and replaced with new toggle bolts. Good choice with NautikFlor. I went with their Cherry & Holly and was very pleased. Good luck with your project.

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I ended up getting all of the bases up without too much issue and not having to cut into anything. There were a few bolts that came apart pretty easily because the foam that fill the cavity below actually held the nut. For the others, once I got them loose and could tell that they were spinning, I ended up wedging a shim or flathead btwn the floor and the pedestal which stopped the nut from spinning and allow we to loosen some more. Thankfully the screws were just long enough to get through the nyloc nut and not a couple inches longer like some screws I have seen that Formula used. Making progress!!
Next step is to get up most of the carpet adhesive, lay down some 1/4 ACX, and then start laying the floor.
@Will40 - I went with the Cherry & Holly as well. Can't wait to enjoy it when its done.
 
I had my installer do the install and trim work. He did a fantastic job and he charged proportionally for it too! :oops:
 
@Simpleman - you can get the trim from PlasTeak. They sell the NautikFlor flooring as well.

A bit more progress this weekend. Got a bunch of the subfloor laid down. Have a couple of small pieces to lay in, remake the hatches and then can start laying the floor. Here's a pic of some of the subfloor.
 
Hi Gustaf. Thnx for the info. Didn’t see any pics of subfloor with your post. By the way formula40pc and SIMPLEMAN are the same person. With the new forum I couldn’t get on the forum so I had to register under a new name. It has since been fixed by Admin1.
 
Now that’s a picture. Looks good. I see you overlaid the original. I’m guessing that was easier then removal of glue?
 
The floor under the carpet had quite a few bumps and things from the fiberglass matting that they laid down when the boat was built that would cause issues if I were to just lay the flooring over it. I had read about one guy on another forum who spent a bunch of time smoothing things out and building areas up with tiger hair/fiberglass filler but didn't love that idea so I went with the overlay which is what most people have done.
That said, I did spend the time to get that old glue up (acetone is your friend here) because I did glue and screw down the overlay. The overlay itself is 1/4" exterior grade plywood and now provides a nice consistent surface to lay the NautikFlor on. From the research I had done and being that this is on the interior of the boat there was no need to get marine grade plywood but definitely needed to get exterior grade. The different between interior grade plywood and exterior grade plywood is the glue that they use between the ply's is waterproof and is the same as the glue that they use in marine grade plywood. Marine grade goes further in that the plys that are used are a different wood species, higher quality, and free of voids or knot holes.
Hope this helps anyone else who might be considering this type of project.
 
Gustaf - anymore updates on this project? Completed images? What was the most difficult part? Did the old carpet come up easy?
I am looking to do the same on my 2005 34PC.
 
Sgilfus - I will post some pictures soon. I'm about 98% done. Just need to complete one hatch and reinstall the table bases.
The old carpet was not difficult to take up. It's a bit of work but not as bad as what I had thought based on what I read from other folks who have done this. I would say that the biggest pain in the butt portion was cleaning the floor after the carpet came up. Acetone is your friend here. I wanted to make sure that I had a good bond of the adhesive between the base and plywood I put in. I did use stainless screws to help hold it down as well.
I would say that the most difficult part was remaking the hatches and getting them so that the gap is not too big. Other than that, the whole thing just takes time and you need to be patient. I would also recommend that you have some decent construction capabilities. If you're not comfortable taking on projects around your house like remodeling a bathroom or similar, this may be an exercise in frustration for you.
In terms of material, you will need to buy 4 boxes of the flooring. Though I bought 4, I thought I would be able to get it done with 3 but needed to use 1 piece from the 4th box. If I decide to redo the stairs, I'll use the remaining material I have.
I also used an adhesive to glue the flooring to the plywood. I ended up using Loctite PowerGrab from a tube but used a v-notched trowel to make sure I had good coverage and therefore overall adhesion (don't just dispense from the tube and put the floor down or you will have lots of voids). It worked well and adheres nicely - I tried pulling a test piece apart. You do not want to lay this down as a "floating floor" style like you could in your home.
 
It looks like it is coming out great! I was thinking of cheating and simply putting Lifeproof - Waterproof LVP flooring from Home Depot down. Either on top of the carpet or ripping it up and putting it directly down after that. Looking for the easy way out. Thoughts?
 
Here's a pic of it getting close to done that I found in my phone
So the stuff that I am using, NautikFlor, is an LVP product like LifeProof so using that is not cheating. NautikFlor is just a lot more expensive because its that only one that mimic's a teak and holly look. For me, I also wanted something that looked like it may have come from the factory and matched the cabinets as close as possible. I would try and get some samples of "cherry" flooring LVP - I know Floor & Decor had some that were pretty good but my wife and I decided to spend the extra and go for the NautikFlor "cherry and holly" color.
As far as putting it over the carpet - HELL NO!! It will look like crap and you'll be kicking yourself that you just wasted the time and money to do that. You'll end up taking it out and throwing it away and starting all over again. Just think about the hatch areas. How would you trim them out to look even OK never mind good?
I thought about just laying it directly onto the boat subfloor after the carpet was ripped but decided against it because the floor is fairly bumpy. From the factory they knew they were going to be putting carpet down so they didn't care to much about how they laid down the fiberglass cloth and any overlaps that cause high-spots. I could have gotten out the grinder and ground some spots away and get some tiger-hair filler to build others up and gotten the floor good but that seemed like a lot of work so I went with gluing down the 1/4" plywood overlay - its actually the easy way out :)
I would really suggest doing it the right way. If you try to go the easy way out, you'll hate it and actually reduce the value of your boat. I think doing it the right way will actually add some value to your boat and modernizes it as it brings it up to what manufacturers are now doing.
Your other option could be to just replace the carpet with a new carpet. What are your goals?
 

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You pretty much answered ALL the questions and thoughts. Thank You!
'05 34PC here, so identical to yours - makes sense once the carpet is up; it can be done correctly.

The goal is hard flooring, our carpet is the same faded/bleached color as you had, and we are trying to get away from it.
Will likely replace carpet on sides with something new carpet and then yes replace carpet on floor with some sort of LVP.

Thanks for all the insight! Awesome project.
 
Here's a picture of the floor 98% done. Just need to put in the table bases...and get the boat in the water :)
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