Pondering a re-carpet job

[bigone5500]

I have been pondering doing a re-carpet on my '87 bass tracker tournament tx-17. The carpet is in bad shape and really needs to be done. I'm not one that's afraid of tackling a job such as this but I want to be sure I know what I'm up against so-as not to fall into a snake pit. I have no idea what's below the carpet on the front and rear decks. I assume it's aluminum sheet as is on the lower floor. I have knocked on it and it sounds metal-ish but it could be wood on a sturdy backing, I don't know. I would like to know a few things if anyone has a second.

 

1. What is the substrate of the carpet?
2. How do I determine what 'oz.' carpet to purchase?
3. How do I determine the amount needed?
4. What is the best 'affordable' adhesive to use?
5. Stainless screws or stainless rivets?

 

At this point, I'm in the pondering stages of this and if I do indeed choose to tackle <--- pun intended... this job, then it will be when the temps are around 60F lows. 

 

Thanks for any replies and I look forward to them!

[BoatSquirrel]

Just recently redid mine.  Nixdorf’s post was very helpful.  I used 3M high strength adhesive and stainless screws from your favorite orange or blue home center.

[Logan S]

I was about to write up full post, but remembered I made a similar post about a year ago so I went and found it...Pics still there and everything.  This is my old boat, a 20' Stratos.  

 

Get a bunch of clamps, weights, furring strips, and you'll be ready to go.  On a smaller boat like your's it probably won't be near as bad as my old boat...Which was nearly all compartments.  

 

As for what weight carpet, if you can't find the original spec you'll have to guess.  Just be aware that if you go too thick (higher oz) the compartments will be very tight.  As for how much to buy...I bought a carpet roll the width of my beam and then added 3 feet to the overall length, so I bought a 23' x 8' roll, and it was a perfect amount with a little left over.  I bought 2 gallons of DAP Weldwood Contact cement at about $30/gallon and I had 1/2 gallon left...I bet you could get away with 1 gallon.  I really liked this stuff and would recommend, just make sure you set it up right!  For the trim...The existing trim was riveted in so I drilled it out.  I replaced with adhesive backed trim and then put some small screws in at intervals to help keep it locked down.  Bassboatseats.com is where I bought all the materials except glue.  

[Osprey39]

8 hours ago, bigone5500 said:

I have been pondering doing a re-carpet on my '87 bass tracker tournament tx-17. The carpet is in bad shape and really needs to be done. I'm not one that's afraid of tackling a job such as this but I want to be sure I know what I'm up against so-as not to fall into a snake pit. I have no idea what's below the carpet on the front and rear decks. I assume it's aluminum sheet as is on the lower floor. I have knocked on it and it sounds metal-ish but it could be wood on a sturdy backing, I don't know. I would like to know a few things if anyone has a second.

 

1. What is the substrate of the carpet?
2. How do I determine what 'oz.' carpet to purchase?
3. How do I determine the amount needed?
4. What is the best 'affordable' adhesive to use?
5. Stainless screws or stainless rivets?

 

At this point, I'm in the pondering stages of this and if I do indeed choose to tackle <--- pun intended... this job, then it will be when the temps are around 60F lows. 

 

Thanks for any replies and I look forward to them!

I used to have a Tracker PT-190 and I re-carpeted the front deck on it.  The front deck on that boat had a piece of 3/4" plywood on it which I replaced when I was doing the re-carpet job.  I'm not sure if your boat would have that or not but if it does, it makes it really easy as you can just remove that piece and put the carpet on outside of the boat.  To answer your other questions:

 

1. If you mean what's underneath it, I'm not sure.  I want to say what I bought had a rubber backing but I don't remember.

2. Depends on how long you want it to last.  Heavier carpet will hold up longer.

3. Measure everything in the boat and estimate.  Allow for some waste which is unavoidable.

4. Any kind of spray adhesive.  It doesn't cost too much (it will probably be the least of your expenses for the project.)

5. I'd just replace with whatever was there to begin with.

[Crow Horse]

I'm going to state the obvious. When using contact cement, do it outside. The fumes will kill a moose. There are water based contact cements which aren't too bad but don't know if they are waterproof. And no sparks or smoking while using it. It'll go boom.....

[lo n slo]

fwiw

 

[MickD]

My Lund has carpet on the upper surfaces but a hard vinyl or something like that on the floor.  I really like it for easy clean up.

[bigone5500]

Thanks for the replies. I think as a preliminary measure, I'll cut a slit in the existing carpet and peel it back to see what is underneath. I know the hatches have some wood there but the decking seems to be aluminum sheet. I'm pretty sure the lower floor is aluminum. I really am excited to plan this out as I want to re-route the wiring into conduits. I will use 1/2" pvc for the conduit and/or up to 3/4" in places. The main part I want to use conduit is on the driver side which has a lot of foam in there making it almost impossible to pull a wire. It took me an hour to run a new set of 10ga wires from the battery to the console the other day (had to install a fuse block). As for the carpet thickness, I will have to guesstimate that the original was about 1/8 to 3/16 thick so probably about 16oz.

[Ratherbfishing]

Here is what worked for me (reasonably well):  If you can manage, try to pull the old carpet in one piece (per area).  That way, assuming it hasn't stretched a lot, you can use it as a template for cutting the new carpet to size.

[Goldstar225]

I recarpeted my '87 TX17 five years ago. You have wood in the front deck and mid-section.  The rear deck is aluminum.  My wood lasted 27 years and most of it was in good shape but since I was going that far I chose to replace all of the wood.  I couldn't find marine grade ply locally so I used cabinet grade.  Cabinet grade has no interior or exterior voids to hold water.  I sealed the wood (top, bottom and edges) with epoxy resin that I got from West Marine.  I used stainless screws to anchor the wood. It took a 27' run of carpet to do the 17' boat.  I used contact cement to secure the carpet.  When I sold the boat a year ago everything was still in great shape.

 

I may have gone overboard but I wanted all of the old glue cleaned from the aluminum to ensure the carpet had a good surface.  After trying various means, a cup core wire brush in an angle grinder did the best and fastest job of removing the old glue.

 

[bigone5500]

23 hours ago, Goldstar225 said:

I recarpeted my '87 TX17 five years ago. You have wood in the front deck and mid-section.  The rear deck is aluminum.  My wood lasted 27 years and most of it was in good shape but since I was going that far I chose to replace all of the wood.  I couldn't find marine grade ply locally so I used cabinet grade.  Cabinet grade has no interior or exterior voids to hold water.  I sealed the wood (top, bottom and edges) with epoxy resin that I got from West Marine.  I used stainless screws to anchor the wood. It took a 27' run of carpet to do the 17' boat.  I used contact cement to secure the carpet.  When I sold the boat a year ago everything was still in great shape.

 

I may have gone overboard but I wanted all of the old glue cleaned from the aluminum to ensure the carpet had a good surface.  After trying various means, a cup core wire brush in an angle grinder did the best and fastest job of removing the old glue.

Thanks for this post. May I ask what oz. carpet you used? Also, what thickness of wood will I need?

[bigone5500]

I did a thorough investigation on the wood in my boat. I found that the front and rear decks contain no wood. There used to be a piece under the front deck and probably the rear but that was just for the pedestal seats. There is now some kind of poly type material. This will make the re-carpet job a bit cheaper. I still haven't made my mind up on if I will do this job but it will not be any time soon. I'll probably fish out of it until early fall when the temps are mild and it's not either icy cold or blazing hot.

[bigone5500]

Update: I recently had to repair a bend in my trolling motor bracket and in doing this, I discovered that the triangular area where it mounts has wood underneath. I have no idea how they got it there but it looks good. I have taken video of the underside of the front deck from the bow rearward and saw no wood. This is good news to me as I really didn't want to deal with trying to cut wood parts out. I still have not heard back from a website that I inquired about the thickness of the carpet they sell. I will seek information from another company. I do not want to purchase carpet only to find out I got the wrong weight. At this point, it is still up in the air as to whether or not I will do this but more than likely, I will. I'm thinking that it will probably take place during a time when I will not be fishing very much and want to give myself about a month to finish.