bye bye, butt ugly carpet

February, 2009  Many boat owners ask you to take your shoes off before you come aboard lest your dirty shoes soil their nice clean carpet. In our case, we suggested you put your shoes ON lest your nice clean tootsies come in contact with our skanky blue carpet. 

Of all the improvements we had planned for the boat, the one we looked forward to the most was the day when we'd get rid of the original carpet. Here's a close up photo to show you why--and this was taken after I'd spent several hours cleaning it with a commercial carpet shampooer:

Eeeewwwwwwwww. *shiver*

Since the only original fabric we decided we would keep was the headliner (which was actually a nice neutral color and in almost pristine condition), obviously the new carpet had to coordinate with it. One weekend in January we took a swatch of the headliner fabric and headed to the carpet mills in north Georgia. We were on a carpet choosing mission.

Unlike buying carpet for a house where the cost per yard is a big factor in the budget, the yards of carpet needed for a boat is fairly small so we gave ourselves a very generous budget for price-per-yard.  We eventually settled on a top of the line Karastan carpet that matched the headliner perfectly along with the best and thickest pad they offered (we like it cushy underfoot). The factory shipped the rolls of carpet and pad to our house and they arrived within a week.

A friend on the dock recommended a carpet installer who specializes in boats and he turned out to be a fantastic choice. The crew of two worked from 8 AM until just past midnight with hardly a rest break all day, and when they finished we couldn't find a single thing that wasn't flawless. 

Amazingly, for all that hard work and perfection he charged us only $800 which included picking up the new rolls from the house, removing the old carpet and pad, and installing the new flooring (we were so thrilled with his work that we added an extra $100 tip to the check).

The hardest part for the installers?  The companionway, of all things. Even thought the salon floor had hundreds--thousands!--of staples that had to be pulled out, the carpet in the companionway (hallway) was glued in place.  It took them hours of hard work in a cramped area to scrape off the glue and the old, mostly disintegrated pad.

we make a plan come to Mama we see her bottom fur free new carpet new cables and shiny balls new upholstery man world creative dining (table) teak. lots of teak. progress report: one year  Back to top