spray on bedliner

[Steven]

instead of carpet? anyone ever tried it? too heavy maybe? thinking about doing it to my boat because i can get it done locally.

[PhastBoat]

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/te...276&hasJS=true

[Rhummer]

Great stuff for trucks, however on a boat? When it gets wet it will be slippery as snot on a glass door knob!

[Scream And Fly]

Steven,

Like Rhummer said, it's good, but only really for trucks. That stuff weighs a lot too. Also, if you decide you want to install carpet later on, you'll have a nightmare on your hands when you try to remove it.

I would go with carpet.

Greg

[Steven]

it got new carpet in 2001 and its in great shape. i just like the "splatter effect" look i've seen in other boats. i think they may use gelcoat for that. i definately wont use the spray-on bedliner though

[Boz]

I was contemplating the same thing but maybe not.

[Raceman]

I've got a tenant in one of my commercial buildings who sprays bedliners. He does several boats a month, sometimes several a week. I haven't asked him how much material he uses, but I'd have a hard time believing that a couple of gallons would weigh substantially more than the same area in marine carpet or astro turf. He can make it as slick or rough as somebody wants it by varying the texture, but says being slick in the rain isn't a problem. He does tons of Jon boats, but has been doing more and more fiberglass ones lately. He can also match to any color by adding paint to the material he sprays. He said he's never had a comback from peeling away from either fiberglass or aluminum.

[gts1]

I have seen it done and it is way lighter than carpet would be by a long shot. It has good grip in the boat and is easier to clean .line x here in winnipeg gets bottom hulls sent to them from new manufactures and sprays them with great results. Cool colors too and they give a clean fresh look.

[Techno]

I've done some searching on rubber mats. Some are colored and some are speckled. Problem is most are pretty thick like in playgrounds.
Seems an option though. If black is Ok then some ideas on mcmastercar.com
Nice thing is just pull it out!

[Jeff_G]

A number of my customers have sprayed on liners in their boats. Most say they would never do it again.
If you want that splatter look you do it with a spray gun, contact cement and laquor paint. takes about 5 minutes, cheap and easy and last a long time.

[Raceman]

Jeff, just outta curiosity, what is it they don't like about it? I talked to a guy outside the building several months ago that was doin' his 3rd one and said he loved it. He first did a Jon boat, then a fiberglass fish/ski lookin' runabout, and the last one, he ripped the carpet off the floor on his pontoon and was doin' the floor in it. I'm in and out of his shop daily, because it's also next door to my office, and seems like his customers all like it a lot.

One thing I learned from bein' around it with my tenant is that there are variations in the product used. His keeps the original luster while a competitor here shoots the name brand and his turn flat after about a month. Some of em aren't as compatible with paint/color match additives as others either. I don't know exactly what this guy uses, but the product comes from Canada and he's got "Reflex" emblems all around his shop.

[MODVP22]

Why not just do what the boat companies do today...spray gelcoat on the inside and while wet spray another color webbed over top. It looks good, and lighter weight than carpet. It's not really difficult, done it a few times.

[sho305]

A guy here has gone nuts with the stuff, he is roofing houses with it now. Just sprays right over the old shingles even and says it will last 20yr or something. I've been on some wet and it was not slick in trucks. Some can be hard to get real clean with texture. Used to run a boat with a glassed floor, and I do miss being able to just hose everything out once in a while. I even used to just dump pails of lake water in it and let the bilge pump it out. That carpet, if you get sand in there it is near impossible to get out. Last one I put some new carpet in must have had 20lbs of sand in it after I cleaned it good because I knew it would fly when I pulled it out. Still made a mess. I wish you could snap carpet in, but it wrinkles.

[gts1]

sho305 Good point! I forgot about all the sand that stays in the carpet even after you clean .When I re did my floor in an old boat that i had at least 10lbs of sand was in the carpet as i was taking it out. That roofing thing is interesting though.

[Steven]

im in and out of the boat with the kids and the carpet is always wet and dirty. i was just wanting to do something that would look good and be easy to clean. i can get it gelcoated for around $250, but i have to clean all the old glue off and have it ready to spray. thats 1 color only, each additional color is about $50 more. does that sound about right?