Carpeting Your Bass Boat

[jr45]

Has anyone here every put new carpet in their bass boat? My old Champion needs some new carpet, but I really don't have the extra money to pay to have someone do it. How difficult is the carpet to replace or is there any place that gives good instructions?

[GNSfishing]

Has anyone here every put new carpet in their bass boat? My old Champion needs some new carpet, but I really don't have the extra money to pay to have someone do it. How difficult is the carpet to replace or is there any place that gives good instructions?

I did my 1983 350 V Ranger and it is not real hard to do but be careful on how you cut the pieces of carpet. I had to cut the floor piece twice because of cutting first one on the wrong side of the carpet I had a mirror image. I made card board templates of the front & rear deck and the floor for cutting the carpet and depending on any raised surfaces such as pedestal sockets you might cut it slightly larger and trim the excess with a razor knife after gluing it down. Use a good glue and apply it properly to all areas (corners) wipe excess glue before it sets. Use a roller to seat the carpet into the glue. You will learn as you go so have plenty of glue and remove the old carpet completely. I also wiped the surface with acetone to be sure having it clean for the glue to adhere to the areas being carpeted. Don't know of any instructions online they maybe some... If you do decide to do it yourself I wish you good luck.

[gramps50]

I'd check over at iBoats http://www.iboats.com/ there are articles there, forums and more. Might be able to get some instructions there. I know the tin boaters carpet their boats when adding decks etc.

My jon boat has indoor/outdoor carpet from Lowes, stay away from it, not wearing good and it loves to grab hooks and suck them down into the fiber. Hopefully in the spring it will be coming out.

[straw hat]

I have replaced the carpet on my pontoon boat twice and I have to admit that it is a pain. The last time I decided to use a specialorder marine coating from Sherwin Williams. Once the old carpet is removed (glue and all) it simply paints on. It has been in my boat 4 years now and it is vertually industructible. The only bad thing is that it not soft like carpet so it transmits sound. If interested send me a pm and I will send you details.

[Golf Pro]

Go to Bassboatcentral.com. Check the forums there. They have tons on recarpeting.

[Bill Babler]

I have done two bass boats and I will tell you, removng the old carpet is probably tougher than installing the new. Usually takes two gallons of acetone, and you need for sure to get all the old glue and carpet off. Make sure you can eat off it before you put in the new carpet. This is not an over night job on a 20 ft. boat. You need to remove all the hardware the seats and everything you can get out. Take your time and put in good quality Marine grade carpet. It will make the boat look like new. To tell you the truth, a professional can do this in 1/4 of the time you would take to do it and the difference in the job would be night and day. I have been very fortunate to have Rick Lisek help me and his work is by far the best in the Springfield Branson area.

Just saying dont bite off more than you can chew, this is a big job.

Never put indoor outdoor carpet on a Bass Boat, looks like HeKK. Only good quality Marine Grade Carpet. Doing a Pontoon is a walk in the part compared to a bass boat with all the small pieces and irregular cuts and cutouts. I know it was mentioned about a pontoon being a pain. A bass boat is more than that. Every corner or lid needs a special angular cut to make it tight. It is kind of like wrapping a Christmas present. If you could wrap a present like Macys go ahead if you wrap it like My 10 year old niece, I would think about it.

Good Luck

[exiledguide]

My only suggestion would be make sure you have plenty of time and Beer available.

[Bill Babler]

Forgot to mention taking off all the box lids, there is just no way to do it with them on the boat. If you have them all off you can get a very tight fit. This is a big job to do it right. If you don't get it glued properly and have bubbles in the carpet, when it rains those areas will fill with water under the carpet and make little wet pockets that hold water.

Good Luck

[jdmidwest]

My buddy needs to do his also. I was wondering if there was a solvent to take the old carpet up.

[Bird Watcher]

I just finished doing mine this fall. I used Goof off and laquer thinner, then scrubbed with industrial scotch brite pads and cleaned up with towels. I can't say there's not something better though. The glue removal was definitely the worst part. I saved the pieces of carpet I removed and used them as templates. Laying the new carpet was fairly simple.