Sea Deck/Gator Step style flooring on a budget
 

I have started a thread on how to install a Gator style floor for under $500 over at wake garage with a bunch of pics. Too much work to repost here so check it out.
http://www.wakegarage.com/forums/top...t/#comment-200

Here is a pic of it. There are a bunch more on that thread.

Damn I cant see it ..not a member over there

Sign up. Lol

You have to sighn up to see your project FAIL

Ok I'll post it here too. I was hoping o only update one thread as I go and it's a lot easier over there without resizing pics. I didn't realize you had to register.

So when we got my new to me 2011 MB Sport B52 a year and a half ago, it only had 95 hours on it and was in great shape, but the carpet was matted and had some stains on it. The wife loved the boat but not the carpet.

So this project has been a long time in the planning stage. I love the Gator Step/Sea Dek style flooring that is coming in most of the new boats. Most of you know I am all about spending less money and getting the same results as many of the options on new much more expensive boats. That is what I planned here. I started out looking at Agenda Surf's two tone sheet traction but when I placed my order they were out of stock. I found another source from much farther away and decided to take a risk. I was so impressed when it came in. It was at least 2mm thicker than the Agenda samples even though both were listed at 6mm. So I ordered enough to cover the inside floor, the swim step, pads around topside of the boat and enough to do under my seats and lockers from the helm back. All that for just over $500! The only area I'm not doing is under the bow seats. There isn't enough carpet to worry about up there and I didn't want to have to move my batteries and stereo system. The only thing I store up there are fenders and CGA life vests to keep the PoPo happy. My plan is to do the carpet area in the tub, the swim step and the top pads this season. I am going to do the area under the seats and lockers next offseason, since that is not gelcoat underneath and I don't want to take away from lake time! Again I couldn't get over how nice this stuff is for the price.

So I started this today removing all of the carpet from the inside of the tub. I have a 2011 MB Sport B52, that means my carpet was still the glue in type so it left a ton of glue after I removed the carpet.

For those that have pulled up boat carpet you always find surprises that you have to deal with. My two trouble areas are going to be around the in floor ice chest and the transition/drop off under the helm. These will require some extra work to make a surface that the flooring can stick to properly.

You just saved everyone 1500-2000 bucks. Great project

I spent a few hours scraping the glue out and using mineral spirits to help remove the glue in the corners. I was pleasantly surprised it didn't take more time and effort to remove the glue.

After I got it all cleaned up I dropped one of the mats down to get an idea if this is worth all of this work. All I can say is oh yeah!

Next on the schedule is to use fiberglass filler and some resin on top of the trouble areas and then start my template process. I plan to use a router around the outside edges of the mats to give a finished look. I have to say Midnights Sea Dek and Grant's Plas Deck years ago have had me wanting to do this. I just couldn't see spending that much money. I hope to look pretty close for a lot less $$. Stay tuned for the next episode. Lol

That's cool. It looks like you just take raw material and lay it in. So you don't need a template? That's pretty cool. I guess you can look at it this way the time to prep the floor is the same wether you template it or not. That takes the most time. If you spend the time to template it comes out in 1 piece and is some what custom and the install is real quick. Your way you buy the material and fit it in as you go. That's cool. Can I make a suggestion? Make a template. Then lay your material out so all the black lines match up. Place the template over the material and cut it out. I would router the edges, it will give it the custom look you talked about. Good luck so far it looks great.

Thanks Grant. That is the plan. It will be a combo of the teak lines and the diamonds. Just gotta get the ice chest area leveled out and clean up the mess before I can move on to the fun part.

What do you think you will have into it when it's all done. I know gator step has lots of boats that already exist in the data base so you can just order complete floors

So I have enough material to do the main area, swim step, under seats & lockers and misc pads on top of boat. Only area that won't be done is under bow seats. Total cost with shipping was $510. I will have more in the filler and prep materials but I would have had to spend that for a Gator floor too. My time is free to me.

Nice find, great work. The big unanswered question is, where did you find this product?

Yeah...where you got the stuff from would be great. Do they have other colors?

Got a little further leveling around the ice chest. That's going to take some work and Easter weekend with the family took precedence. I'll get back to it next week.

This work would have had to happen with a Gator Step floor also. These years of boats they weren't worried about people looking under carpet, so there is some cosmetic work that need to happen to make them level and able to be stuck to.

Something to note: You have a huge advantage as you have Gel coat under your factory carpet. Most people who do this are going to find raw fiberglass.

True that. Older boats that are trying to replace carpet will find raw fiberglass. That would take a lot more work and you would need to use something like a Monstaliner roll in to give the sheet something with a smoother finish to stick to. I will be addressing that when I do under my seats and lockers. That area is raw fiberglass in my boat. By the time I finish I will have to deal with both. Right now I'm working with some rough areas that were covered by carpet. Mine was kind of the in between years where they went to gel coat, but still didn't have a truely finished floor. When they started doing snap in carpet is when they started finishing out. Each boat mfg is different as to what is under the carpeting in different model years. The same thing would have to be addressed if you went with the higher dollar precut floors. They all need a somewhat smooth finish to adhere to.

Not sure if the same is true with the Diamond pattern but with the lines your floor must be very smooth and flat or it will show in the lines. I have a Aera under The observers seat that has a dip or rise in the floor (can't remember) but after I glued down the floor I could see it clear as day because of the lines in the floor, it's as if the lines help point out uneven areas in the floor. So just a heads up it may not apply when your dealing with lots of angles and small spaces. Your eyes may not be able to spot it but on long runs such as the Aera that your Fiberglassing I recommend getting that thing flat and smooth as you can. It's a Aera your always gonna be looking at.

Thanks for the heads up! I'm planning on the straight lines running 18" wide down the middle, the length of the boat with diamonds on the side. I've been over thinking it since I pulled the carpet up. If the lines show too much imperfection in height there I might make the lid of the ice chest out of the diamonds. It would throw off visual reference points and still look nice. I will cut it out in lines first and decide then. I wasn't planning on that area being so rough before I pulled the carpet.

Where did you order the flooring material from and is it 3m backed or does it have to be glued down?

As to the source, I'll post that later after I have actually put it in. I don't like to recommend what I haven't tried. So far I am very impressed,but the proof is in the pudding. I will say you have to order 5 sheets minimum which runs around $350 shipped so for small jobs you might try Agendasurf.com. They have some nice sheet traction that can be purchased individually. No secrets just want to see it in first.

Didn't have much time to work on it but I did get to trim a couple of pieces to make the main floor piece. Just need to cut out the template and then carve the floor out of these pieces. Was able to use the original carpet for the templates. I will trace it on Masonite and then trim the Masonite to fit the boat. Then use the Masonite to guide me cutting the flooring. Then put the flooring on top of the Masonite to use the Masonite to guide the router bit wheel around the outside edges

I wish I had a CNC router right now! I don't have a lot of time to work on this project this week but I did get a chance to test out some router bits and speeds on this stuff. First off I'm using a Makita variable speed trim router on this project. I found the smoothest passes came with the speed just above 3. I ended up going with a 1/4" x 1/2" rounding cove bit.

I lined up a couple of sacrificial pieces of both patterns and played with different settings. The material I have has pretty big grooved lines. Mine won't be as wide, but I was pretty happy how these came out.

I decided to go for it with the grooves that I needed to add to the middle of my main floor between the lines and the diamonds. This is one of the hardest cuts for this project. The pieces butt up together so thy need to be as strait as possible. The first pic shows before. None of these pieces are stuck down so there are some small gaps that should tuck together when installed.

I think your idea of a Masonite template/router base is a great idea. Hold on to it in a few years you can use it to cut a new floor in just mins if need be. After you prep the floor, installing a new one would be a breeze. So your going with a diamond pattern on the sides and the straight line pattern up the center ?

Yeah the lines will go all the way to the nose. On the swim step the lines will be 35" wide, then 29" on the step/seat above the transom, taper to 19" in main cabin and then down to 14" in the walk through. Diamonds to the sides from there. I'll also make small gunnel pieces around the top. Piece by piece I'll get there. I'm still sanding on that ice chest area. Once that is leveled I can really start cruising on this. I won't be able to touch it this weekend, but I'm taking a couple of days next week to knock it out with the rest of my preseason projects! Still planning on doing the under seats next fall but we'll see where I'm at time wise after these areas.

Ok: here is another tip. Take a piece of string and run it from the tip of the boat all the way to the end of the boat at the transome in the center. Drop a plum bob from the center string down to the floor so you can find "dead center" of the boat. Draw a line down the center of the floor so the you can get your lines on the floor to match up with "dead center" of the boat.

I think it would be cool (never seen it done) if you were to use the straight line material on the entire floor and then used the diamond on the margins. Of corse this would UP the difficulty level by lots but if it was easy everyone would be doing it "Right" :)

I like the center line idea. Thanks.

I think I'm going to stick with my plan for the layout. I have over thought it fifty times already. On the top of gunnel pads, I'm going to follow the cabin theme. If it is in the middle of the boat it will be lines. If it is on the sides it will be diamonds and my new, overhead under tower, surfboard racks that I am working on will be diamonds as well. A couple of weeks from now I will be on the water and loving life!

Man give up the good where did you order the flooring from? It is turning out great and I really want to do this project.

If your doing the swim deck make sure the lines on the floor match up with the Lines on the swim deck. You may want to wait till the floor is done b4 you do the swim deck. Often the dead center of the boat is not Ideal because the drivers side of the boat is offer larger or protrudes further into the center of the boat the the passenger side. You will find that the drivers Dash is bigger (takes up more space then the passenger side) so Sometime you need to fudge the center lineto make it opticaly perfect.

I figure start with the centerline and adjust as necessary once I have the main template made. The step will be the full width 35" piece so I will adjust off of that. I'll get back to it next week.

So guessing you still dont wanna give up where you got material from?
I would like to redo my swim deck and add to my gunwales

Oh do tell

[emoji4]

D: I don't think he is holding back on the supplier I thought he was just making sure the material was legit b4 he passed on the link. I appreciate that. Reminds me of the Goof Balls that Plasti-Diped their tower or Wrapped their boat, fresh off being done posted lots of pics and we all admired how great it looked. But I can bet you anything that Plasti dip tower looked like $hit 1 week after it was done. Same goes for the people that wrapped their boat. Looked like hell after 1 season. But never came back to report the bad results. Disclaimer. Wraps do well on the sides of boats, but full wraps where the gunnels take a beating . Good luck!

I understand...and agree that its nice he is doing a real life review of it.
Seems like great pricing compared to the other brands

Ok, so I am finally back on this project. I have had a lot of little life delays and had a lot of fun leveling out that ice chest area. Today I am trying to get all of the main cabin templates finished and maybe cut the main floor. By the end of the weekend I plan to have the cabin done. I'm not near my computer to resize too many pics. If you want to see more of the write up and pics go to the below link to wake garage. I don't have to resize there. I don't have time this weekend to post everything at multiple sites this. I will try to get more posted on Monday.
http://www.wakegarage.com/forums/top...t/#comment-200

When can I drop mine off ??? lol thats going to look fantastic

Hey I know your trying somthing different but my 2c do one or the other. The mix and looks like it was a accident. My vote it's go with the Diamond pattern threw out. The template looks great. Good job.

That's why there are so many options on boats and cars. Everybody can get what they want.

I like the two textures. That is why I am spending the extra time to make it work. Appreciate your 2c just sticking with mine.

Thanks for being open to constructive criticism. For me studying and admiring how Marine floors are done. Some floors are done in such a way that it's Truly a work of art. They way they lay out the margins and they way they lay the planks and create unique patterns are super cool. It pays off in the long run. Google "King Plank" for some pictures of how they can bring the curved bow pieces all back together. With these new CNC routerd soft deck floors the sky is the limit. I was very impressed with Kris's Xstar with Gator Step. Came out supe custom looking with not a lot of hard work.

I agree on some of the new Gatorstep and Sea Dek floors. Some of the new 3 tones are just incredible. I definitely am not putting down those companies' products. I absolutely love them. I am just a guy who tries to have all of the toys on a tight budget. I try to invest in my boat what I can get out of it, so when I sell it I will get my money back. Would a Gator step floor get me $1500 more for my boat than what I am installing? Maybe, but probably not. Since my boat is right before some of the MFG started going with snap in carpet and finished floors, it was going to be a pain around that ice chest and I was going to have to draw templates anyways. So the actual work to make the wood templates and router the edges was the only real difference. I am an odd person that enjoys improving the boat almost as much as driving it. This is not the project for everyone, that is for sure. You get out what you put in, so if you skip steps it will show. I guarantee I can point out every imperfection afterwards, we all can, but I know it will be just the way I wanted it.

Well I know it is filthy, but the cabin is in. I still have some work to do on the lid for the ice chest to be the same level as the floor, but that is pretty easy. It feels like memory foam on the feet for sure. Loving it so far. Now I just need to do a major clean up and get this thing on a lake!! Funny how the tape marks show up in the pics, but you can barely see them in person. They will go away quickly.

beautiful !!!!

White interior with tan flooring has to be my favorite! Nice work!

It looks great!!

I think the two patterns look great!

So do we get the info on the supplier now?

Ok so a couple reasons I didn't want to post the supplier. I didn't want anybody getting biased for or against the product. I also wanted to see how it installed and form an opinion during the install. I can say that at this point I am very impressed with the quality of the product. It is a full 1/4" thick all the way around. It is super comfortable on the feet and the 3m adhesive backing is no joke. I love the diamonds but I do believe the lines will hold up a lot longer. The only reason being that with all the points on the diamonds there are a lot more chances to pull them up or tear them. Same quality just more small points to fail. That being said I am very happy with the install. It doesn't have to be as hard as I made it, but I wanted the routered edges and two textures. That's on me. I have a friend who has snap in carpet who used it as a template and had it done in a weekend. My biggest hold up was around the ice chest and under the helm. That is my boat and I would have had to deal with those areas if I had gone with the big guys too.

I cannot say how it will hold up over time, but I would be surprised if it doesn't do well. The supplier is http://www.marinedeckfactory.com.

They are in China. They were great to work with. Answered every question I had and the product was at my door 2 weeks after I ordered it via UPS. My friend also got his product in 2 weeks. They have many color options. Hope this helps some of you guys. I'm only half way finished. I still have the swim step and gunwale pads this season and under my seats and lockers next fall.

I found the same product all over Alibaba but not an actual site name. Thanks for that. I'll probably go that route as well.

Question for you: When routing the edges did you have to do anything else to keep the material down. Being a softer mat I would think it would try and lift or push down while routing and give you an uneven edge?

So how does Seadek and others actually do the CNCing? I'd imagine getting the material to lay down flat so, that the router stays the same depth, has got to be the greatest challenge.

Dave, I used my lead wake bags to hold the material in place on top of the template. I used a small trim router and guided it around the piece using the template to guide the router bit wheel. I had to reposition it a few times to go around the round pieces. As for the depth the plate around the router bit sets the depth. I just slowly guided the router. If you go too fast the bit wants to bite a rough edge. Patience is the key.

I am willing to be that their CNC table has a vacuum deck. Alot of CNC wood routers have a vacuum table that holds the parts in place while they are being cut. Think of an air hockey table, but instead of pushing air out, it creates a vacuum.

I started the swim step today. I had a couple of hours to work on it. I got the pad off in one piece with some help from a neighbor who had a windshield removal tool. Having the pad in one piece saved a ton of time when making the wood template. It did however leave all of the glue behind. The deck glue was way harder to remove than the carpet glue. Using paint thinner and a scraper I finally got it all off. It's ready for me to cut the decking tomorrow.

Alright, I'm really starting to dig this project. All of the big pieces are done for this phase. Just a few more smaller pieces and it's time for the lake!!

Nice job man. Wish I had the time to do under my seats and in rear lockers. I have Deckadence in cockpit...which I love and Gatorstep on swim platform. But they still put carpet under all my seats and in rear lockers and for the life of me I cant figure out why they still do that on new boats. For the cost of boats now, you would think zero carpet. Hopefully this winter I can make time to get it replaced. Thanks for the link and for posting this up for everyone, nice to see someone do it first so it does not seem so daunting. Sure it was time consuming and a few learning curves.

I'll be doing my lockers and under the seats this winter too. See you then. LOL

I emailed the company earlier today, asking if they have the striped pad in the light grey color, since that is the color my swimstep has now. Figure if they do, I will go ahead and order everything now since I want to put some pieces on my gunnels anyway since everyone steps on the gunnel anyway when getting into boat from the dock. They already sent me a pricelist, thanks for the website info....great pricing and fast response too.

Just about done with the small stuff.

Wow great transformation! Will be bookmarking this place when I'm ready to do this! Thanks

Dude I am totally impressed !!!! What a beautiful upgrade !!!

Finally got the ice chest done. I could pistol whip the MB employee who put that in! I'm worn out...

This looks awesome!

If you dont mind, whats the overall price for an order of this and how much comes with it?

Awesome job

So phase one of this project is essentially complete. Phase two will be under the seats and lockers but that will be in the fall of 2017 as it is tIme to go to the lake. This was a time consuming project, but very much worth every minute spent. A person could easily simplify this install no still have a nice floor. My goal was to have as finished out interior as I could get without paying the big boys a grip of cash. The biggest challenges would have still been there with the high dollar floors. My ice chest area was uneven and I had a large gap under the helm. Boats with glue down carpet are always going to have mysteries when you pull the carpet.

My disclaimer is this, I have been installing stereos in boats and upgrading boats for years. I have a lot of tools at my disposal along with a lot of boat interior experience. The rolls don't put themselves in. However with some patience and a good plan going in, it isn't that difficult to do. I definitely think in increased the value of my boat at least 3-5 times what the project cost. I hope this helps some of you guys take the risk and go for it!

I used 2 rolls of lines and 3 rolls of diamonds for phase 1. The rolls for diamonds are smaller and there is more waste during installation with the diamonds. To match another piece you could be off 3" one direction or five inches the other direction. That adds up quick with multiple pieces. The lines should hold up longer with fewer points to get damaged. With 5 rolls the materials cost for phase 1 is $350 for flooring and another $75 in template supplies.

Foot note: The big advantage of making the Masonite templates is it would be easy to make new sections later. I learned this today. One piece that I made, that I was iffy about once installed, was the sub cover. I thought a little contrast would be good and I was low on diamonds so I covered it in lines. After I looked at the complete install I was lukewarm on that piece. Last night a MB owner PMd me and asked why I didn't do that in diamonds. The fact that someone else noticed was enough to push me over the fence. I pieced together enough diamonds to recover it. Since I already had the template it only took about 30 minutes. Moral of the story is stick with the plan.

Great job !!!

Holy cupholders
LOL came out great

Thank you for taking the time to share this. Your attention to detail really paid off and it looks great I am in he shopping options phase of replacing the old worn carpet in my boat and am strongly inside ring this.

17 cup holders on a 21' boat. It's the proper ratio. Lol

Dude I'm thoroughly impressed !!! I wish my floor wasnt so uneven Id love to have this done to my boat . Maybe like 8 less cup holders though hahaha

The cup holders are factory. MB must have a lot of friends! Lol. At first I thought it was rediculous. Good thing is becides drinks they are usually all filled up with phones, suntan lotion, hair ties, sunglasses you name it. Keeps all of that little crap off my seats and floor. Kind of like having a parts organizer on the boat!

This is true!^ cooler for drinks only it seems lol.

If I were to build a new MB I would ask (politely) to not have them put in those stupid black storage trays next to the cup holders & have them do more cup holders. Those things are rattle traps anyways.