Internal narrowboat flooring

[Puffling]

1 hour ago, Tony Brooks said:

As a cheaper and equally hard wearing what about gel backed polypropylene carpet. The so-called gel back looks like synthetic rubber so is loose lay, and it can be lifted out for scrubbing and hosing down. The Gel back also makes it far easier than ordinary carpet to cut and fit.

 

The only problem is that it is a bit hard so no good if you like a plush bedroom carpet.

 

I went with gel back except for the kitchen, bathroom, and steps where I used the stuff LadyG talked about. A sort of Vinyl with some type of grit in the mix giving a wipe clean non-slip surface. Mine was far from expensive, so I suspect LadyG bought a brand name.

Thanks, Tony, that's something I wasn't aware of. It looks to be an easier job laying this carpet in the boat than a long roll of lino, given what @Slow and Steadymentions as the care needed to unroll lino in a large space.

 

The other attraction of lino I forgot to mention has to be its renewable credentials. It's basically cork, jute and linseed oil.

[Tony Brooks]

53 minutes ago, Puffling said:

Thanks, Tony, that's something I wasn't aware of. It looks to be an easier job laying this carpet in the boat than a long roll of lino, given what @Slow and Steadymentions as the care needed to unroll lino in a large space.

 

The other attraction of lino I forgot to mention has to be its renewable credentials. It's basically cork, jute and linseed oil.

 

Pop into a carpet place that supplies the trade - not carpets are us type outfits - and ask to see some polypropylene gel back. They will probably also have the vinyl with the non-slip finish and little coloured flecks in it as well.

[Bee]

Have just made som fenders out of carpet tiles (90p from E bay, pre loved) can get 4 equal width strips per tile. a stack of 6 strips seems OK cut them on a tablte saw, no bitumen in the ones I bought, 3/4" inch hole either end, splice a rope in one end and tie together with cord the other. I'll see how they get on this summer, fed up with every other fender I have made or bought, these should be rotproof, tough as old boots and are about £1.50 each.

[ditchcrawler]

5 hours ago, haggis said:

Can be slippy when wet ans rugs can slide along it

Remember running and sliding in my socks as a kid

[Sea Dog]

3 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

Remember running and sliding in my socks as a kid

Ah, good old fashioned linoleum socks - not very comfortable, but tremendously hard wearing... 

[L Commins]

On 16/05/2022 at 19:43, JRT said:

We've just had our boat done by Alpine Carpets of Daventry (Alpine Carpet Warehouse | Carpets | Vinyl | Rugs | Wood | Laminates | Luxury vinyl tiles | Contract flooring in Daventry) They were brilliant and I can't fault them. Nice people, excellent service and fitting.

JRT. What did you get fitted? Engineered Wood, laminate or vinyl ? Was it a replacement  flooring or a new build?

[Opener]

On 17/05/2022 at 11:04, cuthound said:

The most practical flooring I have seen for narrowboats were the Flotex carpet tiles, both of 

Aah! Flotex. Had it fitted in an office I worked in years and years ago. I used to get an electric shock via my fingertips every time I opened a steel cupboard or filing cabinet. I learned to 'ground' myself by touching the furniture with a suited elbow before using a hand. Something to do with the combination of my shoes and the carpet.

I'm still ' averse' to touching steel furniture - that's how aversion therapy works, innit?

[cuthound]

2 minutes ago, Opener said:

Aah! Flotex. Had it fitted in an office I worked in years and years ago. I used to get an electric shock via my fingertips every time I opened a steel cupboard or filing cabinet. I learned to 'ground' myself by touching the furniture with a suited elbow before using a hand. Something to do with the combination of my shoes and the carpet.

I'm still ' averse' to touching steel furniture - that's how aversion therapy works, innit?

 

I had a similar experience in an office that was carpeted. The facilities staff used to come around every few days with a water spray and dampen the carpet to allow the static charge to leak away.

[L Commins]

Thanks for the reply. I definitely don't want carpet of any sort. Dont like it in a house never mind a boat.

[JRT]

On 28/05/2022 at 16:15, L Commins said:

JRT. What did you get fitted? Engineered Wood, laminate or vinyl ? Was it a replacement  flooring or a new build?

Replacement carpet and vinyl. I couldn't fault the service nor the fitting.

[MrsM]

We had Flotex in a previous house. Great that it was washable but we found that it acted as a special type of dog-hair-attracting velcro and it was a devil to get it up.