Are you in the process of replacing the carpet on your used pontoon boat? If so, here are some helpful tips to get the job done yourself. A client asked me recently, he was thinking about replacing his pontoon carpet with indoor/outdoor carpet tiles and whether or not they could be used on boats.
I informed him that I would not recommend the use of carpet tiles, as over time, the sun and water would lift in the corners. I always recommend using a solid piece of indoor/outdoor rug or marine grade rugs.
Remove all of the pontoon furniture, including the steering console and floor trim, until you come to the plywood. You can now remove any part of the carpet that has stuck to the plywood, as well as any old adhesive that may have remained. You may need to sand down a bit to get to a fresh clean surface. Now is a good time to inspect any plywood that may need repair or replacement.
The next step is to lay out the new carpet on the dock and allow some time for the carpet to flatten out. Once the new carpet is ready to install, go back half the carpet and glue the new carpet and boat floor together. I recommend using marine grade contact cement spray. It allows you a couple of minutes to maneuver the mat into place and remove any bulges in the mat. I prefer to glue above 50 degrees and make sure to use a good new razor or carpet razor.
Now proceed to do the same steps with the remaining section of the pontoon boat floor and carpet. You may want to have someone else help you with the installation, as a second set of hands is not a bad thing. Now is a good time to go for lunch as you need to allow the mat to settle in a bit before the next step.
The next step is to cut the protruding sections of the carpet and install the floor moldings. Now you can reinstall your pontoon boat’s furniture and steering console. Installing pontoon boat mats is not really a great do-it-yourself project, especially if you ask for help.
