Carpet to SeaDek conversion in OG 210

[crowmobe540]

I'm in the process of buying my 3rd 210. I have seen pictures here and there of peoples older 210s with SeaDek in place of carpet. I think it looks awesome. I'd like to do this to the boat I purchase but have some questions. I did a search and couldn't really find anything on this. If you have an old 210 and have done the conversion, please post a picture and give your take.

My understanding is that under the carpet is raw fiberglass. Is this true? Does this mean that I will need to add gel coat for a smooth look under the SeaDek?
What was the approximate overall cost of the conversion? Did you do it yourself or have a shop do it?

Thanks for the help.

[NautiqueJeff]

Assuming this is for the 2002 SAN in your profile, yes, the floor will be raw red fiberglass under the carpet. Several people have made the conversion on the 210. Check out the link in my signature for my 1998 Ski Nautique restoration. That will show the process for that boat, which will be very similar. You'll see what the floor looks like under the carpet. I used black gelcoat over mine so that the gaps in the SeaDek were black. It came out great, I think.

Here's what's under your carpet:




Here's what mine looked like after we sprayed the gelcoat:



Here's how mine turned out:

[crowmobe540]

Jeff, I appreciate the info. Your boat look awesome. Read the thread and you did an amazing job on that one.

[Dgee]

This is on the list for my 210, the idea of never having wet carpet again just sounds fantastic. I'm pretty sure you can get in touch with the guys at N3 who helped with getting the other boats templates done. I'm not sure if you can order a kit directly from Seadek or not.

You might have to make a template or two of your own if Seadek doesn't have a full kit for the 02.

[Rockymtnsurfer]

Funny that some of these threads are going through right now. Just stripped my carpet on my 210 and sanded down for the gel coat prep. RAW pink fiberglass under carpet....the question I m having for everyone is: How smooth do I need to prep this....being that i am going to cover it with sea dek. The fiberglass is not a smooth floor. Thoughts. Thank you everybody for your time.
D

[functionoverfashion]

This is a similar project, but not SeaDek - it still could give you some insight.

https://www.planetnautique.com/vb5/f...rt-restoration

And here's a more detailed write-up on a similar boat, using SeaDek:

http://www.correctcraftfan.com/forum...ll-on-1999-san

Man, I would love to do this to my boat, but it's just not happening any time soon.

[NautiqueJeff]

How smooth do I need to prep this....being that i am going to cover it with sea dek. The fiberglass is not a smooth floor.

Mine is not perfectly smooth either, but you really have to be looking for it to see it. You can do a little bit of leveling with the gelcoat itself. Otherwise, you could add a few pieces of fiberglass mat and resin before you spray the gelcoat. Mine wasn't bad enough to need that, but since these boats are all built by hand, I am sure some others may be worse than mine.

[Rockymtnsurfer]

Awesome.....thank you gentleman! Cool project...can't wait to see the outcome.......I think Jeff....ours are similar condition......not too bad, but not a sheet of ice. Being that most of this is under seating etc.......I think I will just go for the gel coat on top. Thanks again...will post pics when done. D

[wakejunky]

I did my floor last year, it cost me around 2K with me doing all the work. The brunt of the cost is the material itself which, I got lucky and timed it with Gator Step to have it done when they were having a winter discount, that cost me around $1000. I made the template myself and did have some issues so, it's not perfect but, it's nothing that I can't live with and only I know where the mistakes are. If you work with GatorStep they are very helpful and I spent at least 30 minutes on the phone with them directly doing final details prior to the final cut. I also rebuilt my fuel tank pane with Coosa board which was $300 for the sheet alone, you'll find the original panel will have flexed and it's not square. I used the Coosa board to square up the panel openings because the panel openings are really wide and rounded over and the gap needs to be closed up and more square. I used resin to float the floor to get it flatter and then gelcoated (I went the expensive route to have all the edges of the panels and openings gelcoated). These are the exposed areas that the material would not cover, I used white to match the deck but, black would work too. But black may show dirt more. I went the gelcoat route because I wanted it to look like it was factory, I've seen others use epoxy. I bought a 5 gal bucket of resin that was close to $200 and then other materials which were a couple hundred (brushes/fiberglass mat/rollers etc). I chose not to "seadek/gatorstep" my lockers and under observers seat to the bow to save some cost. I used generic striped foam material that I got through a manufacture in China through Alibaba, that cost me another $300 for 5 sheets. I didn't want any carpet on the floor nor did I want to spent money on the higher cost seadek/gatorstep material for areas that nobody will see so, I just butted up the generic stuff to the Gatorstep. It under the bow area and nobody can see it under lifevests anchors and such. I did not do the side walls and they remain carpeted which I think still looks good considering the side seats expose the side carpeting and the drivers side has exposed sidewall carpeting. I kept the carpet trim and glued it back down and tucked in the Gatorstep material into the slot, I did have to take that into consideration when I made my template for the flooring. I also left the seat bases carpet and again I think it still looks good.
I would have to say that the hardest part for me was the gelcoat, I was using the brushed method to lay it down, I would then sand/wet sand/polish to get it shiny. But, because I was brushing, I couldn't get the thickness I needed and I would sand through the gelcoat into the underlying resin so, I would have to go back and relay more gelcoat in order to get enough thickness. I was definitely a learning process. The real way to do it would have been to spray it but, didn't want to spend more money on a spray gun and then have to spend more time with prep work taping and such.
After one season on the new flooring, I can't be happier, it is so much nicer to be able to just hose off the floor and not have the wet boat smell on longer trips. I went with a grey which does show some staining but, it's easy enough to clean.

[crowmobe540]

I did my floor last year, it cost me around 2K with me doing all the work. The brunt of the cost is the material itself which, I got lucky and timed it with Gator Step to have it done when they were having a winter discount, that cost me around $1000. I made the template myself and did have some issues so, it's not perfect but, it's nothing that I can't live with and only I know where the mistakes are. If you work with GatorStep they are very helpful and I spent at least 30 minutes on the phone with them directly doing final details prior to the final cut. I also rebuilt my fuel tank pane with Coosa board which was $300 for the sheet alone, you'll find the original panel will have flexed and it's not square. I used the Coosa board to square up the panel openings because the panel openings are really wide and rounded over and the gap needs to be closed up and more square. I used resin to float the floor to get it flatter and then gelcoated (I went the expensive route to have all the edges of the panels and openings gelcoated). These are the exposed areas that the material would not cover, I used white to match the deck but, black would work too. But black may show dirt more. I went the gelcoat route because I wanted it to look like it was factory, I've seen others use epoxy. I bought a 5 gal bucket of resin that was close to $200 and then other materials which were a couple hundred (brushes/fiberglass mat/rollers etc). I chose not to "seadek/gatorstep" my lockers and under observers seat to the bow to save some cost. I used generic striped foam material that I got through a manufacture in China through Alibaba, that cost me another $300 for 5 sheets. I didn't want any carpet on the floor nor did I want to spent money on the higher cost seadek/gatorstep material for areas that nobody will see so, I just butted up the generic stuff to the Gatorstep. It under the bow area and nobody can see it under lifevests anchors and such. I did not do the side walls and they remain carpeted which I think still looks good considering the side seats expose the side carpeting and the drivers side has exposed sidewall carpeting. I kept the carpet trim and glued it back down and tucked in the Gatorstep material into the slot, I did have to take that into consideration when I made my template for the flooring. I also left the seat bases carpet and again I think it still looks good.
I would have to say that the hardest part for me was the gelcoat, I was using the brushed method to lay it down, I would then sand/wet sand/polish to get it shiny. But, because I was brushing, I couldn't get the thickness I needed and I would sand through the gelcoat into the underlying resin so, I would have to go back and relay more gelcoat in order to get enough thickness. I was definitely a learning process. The real way to do it would have been to spray it but, didn't want to spend more money on a spray gun and then have to spend more time with prep work taping and such.
After one season on the new flooring, I can't be happier, it is so much nicer to be able to just hose off the floor and not have the wet boat smell on longer trips. I went with a grey which does show some staining but, it's easy enough to clean.

Thanks for the info. Do you happen to have any pictures that you can post?

[wakejunky]

Here are some pics.

[Rockymtnsurfer]

Wow...looks great......I have a question: Was the look of the compartment gaps that bad to where you felt you need to square off the edges? I am 1 day away from gel coat.....but i didn't square off my edges....I left them rounded. Thoughts? Thanks D

[Rockymtnsurfer]

Also....how much sanding did you have to do after the gelcoat.......I figured since the flooring was going on top....I would have to sand? Thoughts

[wakejunky]

On the squareness of the edges around the panels: I felt it would look better to have that gap closer together. The carpet thickness made the gap tight so, without the carpet it was a pretty good gap. I did spend A LOT of my time making the edge square because things are not perfect on these floors in the first place. And making sure the panels were all level with the floor. My panel was square because I made if on my table saw but, the boat's edges were far from square or level. If you cut your panel first and put it in there you'll see how un-square the edges are. I can tell you one season in, and I'm finding that the gaps will collect lots of stuff.
The gelcoat sanding wasn't too bad, it was 220, 600/800 wet to 1200 wet and then polishing with polisher. It doesn't have to be mirror smooth because it's only a small section that is exposed. Black would probably require a more mirror finish.

[crowmobe540]

Looks awesome man. Thanks for the pictures.

I'm probably going to leave the carpet on the side walls like you did. how did you deal with the part where the SeaDek meets the carpet? I know there is a strip there that is a divider but did you have to remove that to do your gel coating or did you just gel coat up to it?