New flooring needed

[LadyG]

I have decided to replace the flooring.

I previously laid a heavy vinyl on top of the previous wood flooring which was some sort of softwood pseudo parquet. I suspect that will be glued to the original floor.

So, I anticipate removing the vinyl and putting something on top which must be easy clean. Even a nice vinyl.

Boat fitter thinks this will be pretty expensive, when I suggested engineered oak or some such.

Having laid laminate in my own house, I would think it's fairly easy, assuming power tools.

I have looked at rugs, not easy as I need matching runners.  

Would a fitted carpet work, I liveaboard, so mud and coal ingress will be a problem.

 

 

 

[Guest]

Karndean.

 

But it needs to be laid on a well prepared very smooth and flat surface.

 

Very hard wearing, stain resistant and ideal on a boat. We had it on ours and now have it at home too.

[MrsM]

Solid or engineered wood needs regular upkeep - sealing etc and is not especially tolerant of high levels of moisture.  Top quality vinyl, karndean etc is much easier in terms of mopping up muddy footprints. 

Edited November 29, 2023 by MrsM
Gram o'er

[Ianws]

Carpet tiles can be basic or high quality. Basic are cheap. Easy to fit and you can keep spares to replace areas that get trashed more quickly. 

[MrsM]

How is your new galley coming along? Any photos to share? X

[LadyG]

1 hour ago, MrsM said:

How is your new galley coming along? Any photos to share? X

Well, fitter has pre ordered the worktops and sink, he wants me to pay him the money first, but in to a private account, this is not the way I like to do business, I'll be honest. I've already paid him money, which I assumed was to cover these expenses. 

I'm going to ask him to start using  proper business paperwork.

 

 

1 hour ago, Ianws said:

Carpet tiles can be basic or high quality. Basic are cheap. Easy to fit and you can keep spares to replace areas that get trashed more quickly. 

Yes, I think I'd need to have something that can be swept with a brush I don't want a full size vacuum if I can avoid it, it all adds to the cost. I'd need to pay for the tiles to be cut and laid, but I dont see it would take long, will try the local flooring shop.

If I went for Kardean, I'd need to buy a rug , which again is another £250. Also a bit risky as the sub flooring is a bit of an unknown, I suspect it flexes on a boat but not in a house.

1 hour ago, M_JG said:

Karndean.

 

But it needs to be laid on a well prepared very smooth and flat surface.

 

Very hard wearing, stain resistant and ideal on a boat. We had it on ours and now have it at home too.

Looking at the YouTube it seems a thin skim layer is needed to bond the adhesive to the floor, I hope I can lift the existing vinyl and then skim, not sure if it was stuck on...

Edited November 29, 2023 by LadyG

[Hudds Lad]

Old shareboat had cheapo carpet tiles laid on top of the original chipboard floor, easy to chuck down in a day, pack of spare tiles under the dinette. The pair in front of the fire were changed about once a year, none were glued down but never seemed a problem even with hoovering. No need to pay anyone to cut them, DIY with a stanley knife.

 

Our boat has engineered oak flooring and it's bloody cold in winter, we have lots of rugs/mats now.

 

You don't need a full-size vac, it's only a boat. Cordless ones can be had quite reasonably these days, charge battery when cruising. We got a Shark last year, folds up for storage, can be used as an upright or just as a handheld, goes about 40mins on one charge if you don't use the suction boost, was about £150 on a deal from the Amazon. No need to pay silly Dyson prices.

[Peugeot 106]

Flotex flooring is the bees knees for floors. It’s wet scrubbable incredibly hard wearing and warm to the feet. It looks and feels like carpet but wears and cleans like vinyl.  It’s also VERY expensive and the designs can be a bit naff. We got a grey stripe (which looks good) roll end off eBay and its brilliant. You can get rolls or tiles . Suggest you google it and see if you can find any roll ends. It may mean ringing round a few specialist suppliers

[Tonka]

9 hours ago, M_JG said:

Karndean.

 

But it needs to be laid on a well prepared very smooth and flat surface.

 

Very hard wearing, stain resistant and ideal on a boat. We had it on ours and now have it at home too.

We have Karndean Loose Lay.

No glue is used so easy to put down and then lift up if needed 

Edited November 29, 2023 by Tonka
Spelling

[haggis]

We have Karndean flooring and it is so easy to keep clean. We also have rugs from Hug at Home which are washable , not too expensive and if you pick the right colours they don't show the dirt. We have a couple of, I think Candy Stripe in the lounge and find them good for muddy human and dog feet. Not being too heavy you can shake them out doors in you feel so inclined 🙂 . Instead of a runner along side the bed, we have 3 mats laid end to end. We had a runner before but I find the mats easier to look after. 

[jonathanA]

I laid some wickes 12mm laminate, it can cope with some small imperfections on the subfloor because you need to lay it on top of some sort of underlay (some thin some thicker/more insulating).  having laid laminate before i completely under estimated how different it is on a boat ... no straight walls to start from, so spent ages working out a centre line and working from centre out contrary to 'accepted practice' .  (pic when nearly finished) 

 

its been down for nearly a year and i'm quite happy with it. Easy to keep clean (sweeping brush/mop) even with me and my muddy boots and muddy dog paws... 

[Stroudwater1]

Generally I believe you ought to have hatches to inspect under the floor in several places. 

Ours had some nice laminate oak with rugs put down by the previous owner which is great. However it worries me a bit that I can’t check underneath anywhere other than the rear bilge. 
 

[BoatinglifeupNorth]

8 hours ago, LadyG said:

Well, fitter has pre ordered the worktops and sink, he wants me to pay him the money first, but in to a private account, this is not the way I like to do business, I'll be honest. I've already paid him money, which I assumed was to cover these expenses. 

I'm going to ask him to start using  proper business paperwork.

 Maybe you’ve got another unsatisfactory tradesmen to add to your list. Is it the guy on the boat in front of you? Looks like you’ll both be at the side of the canal for a few month with all the work you’ve got planned or will you be moving to some visitor mooring nearby?

[Lady M]

Sole traders often use a personal bank account.  

[Peugeot 106]

9 hours ago, LadyG said:

Well, fitter has pre ordered the worktops and sink, he wants me to pay him the money first, but in to a private account, this is not the way I like to do business, I'll be honest. I've already paid him money, which I assumed was to cover these expenses. 

I'm going to ask him to start using  proper business paperwork.

 

 

Yes, I think I'd need to have something that can be swept with a brush I don't want a full size vacuum if I can avoid it, it all adds to the cost. I'd need to pay for the tiles to be cut and laid, but I dont see it would take long, will try the local flooring shop.

If I went for Kardean, I'd need to buy a rug , which again is another £250. Also a bit risky as the sub flooring is a bit of an unknown, I suspect it flexes on a boat but not in a house.

Looking at the YouTube it seems a thin skim layer is needed to bond the adhesive to the floor, I hope I can lift the existing vinyl and then skim, not sure if it was stuck on...

I made my own cabinet out of ply and glued and screwed it all together so that it fitted my boat. It only took a day or so to build it after i’d drawn it out though I had access to a decent table saw. Though fitting the doors took longer.Drawing it out was the big job. Doors came second hand off ebay and the drawers run on decent sliders. The doors needed altering slightly. Hinges are decent quality. The top is solid oak again off eBay and I had the recess cut out by a shop with a cnc router as the tolerances are small.

 

If you try and alter an existing one it probably won’t be exactly what you want. Also decent ply is a lot nicer than chipboard. I’d do the sketching out myjself and if you can’t do it yourself get someone else to put it together. It’s only a fancy wooden box with doors when all is said and done

[haggis]

9 hours ago, LadyG said:

Well, fitter has pre ordered the worktops and sink, he wants me to pay him the money first, but in to a private account, this is not the way I like to do business, I'll be honest. I've already paid him money, which I assumed was to cover these expenses. 

I'm going to ask him to start using  proper business paperwork.

 

Is the guy in business or is he doing your kitchen as a sort of favour for another boater? If it is the latter, I don't think you can expect him to pay for the stuff you need. Asking for "proper business paper work" may see the end of the job being done by this guy 🙂 .  

[LadyG]

2 hours ago, Peugeot 106 said:

Flotex flooring is the bees knees for floors. It’s wet scrubbable incredibly hard wearing and warm to the feet. It looks and feels like carpet but wears and cleans like vinyl.  It’s also VERY expensive and the designs can be a bit naff. We got a grey stripe (which looks good) roll end off eBay and its brilliant. You can get rolls or tiles . Suggest you google it and see if you can find any roll ends. It may mean ringing round a few specialist suppliers

Yep, ty I have an offcut of Flotex on my steps, it is great, but not sure about colour. Even dark blue shows up perfectly formed black paw prints which cat seems to specialise in at the moment .

1 hour ago, Lady M said:

Sole traders often use a personal bank account.  

I know, and it's because a business account costs a lot for no gain. I used to have one that's how I discovered they were ripping me off. 

I still issued invoices and receipts to my customers out of a receipt book. Else something like QuickBooks is simple to use , most small businesses like this really don't have many transactions, but keeping a paper trail is good practice.

1 hour ago, Peugeot 106 said:

I made my own cabinet out of ply and glued and screwed it all together so that it fitted my boat. It only took a day or so to build it after i’d drawn it out though I had access to a decent table saw. Though fitting the doors took longer.Drawing it out was the big job. Doors came second hand off ebay and the drawers run on decent sliders. The doors needed altering slightly. Hinges are decent quality. The top is solid oak again off eBay and I had the recess cut out by a shop with a cnc router as the tolerances are small.

 

If you try and alter an existing one it probably won’t be exactly what you want. Also decent ply is a lot nicer than chipboard. I’d do the sketching out myself and if you can’t do it yourself get someone else to put it together. It’s only a fancy wooden box with doors when all is said and done

Yes, only a box with doors, that's what I've already got, built by an owner with that mindset. I'm having a proper job done, mostly  drawers, all easy clean. A three metre worktop will do both sides, apparently. 

 

Edited November 29, 2023 by LadyG

[blackrose]

12 hours ago, LadyG said:

I have decided to replace the flooring.

I previously laid a heavy vinyl on top of the previous wood flooring which was some sort of softwood pseudo parquet

 

How long ago did you lay the vinyl and what's wrong with it?

 

I put down some cheap commercial grade carpet tiles more than 15 years ago and they're still fine but the only way to keep carpet clean in a boat is to take your shoes off. It works for me as I lived in Japan for years so it's second nature and I don't have pets, but English people don't like it and occasionally you find out that some people's feet stink - presumably because they sit around wearing shoes all the time and probably lack basic hygiene.

 

I don't particularly like the tiles but they are warm underfoot in winter - a benefit you won't get with any hard flooring. If I change it will probably be wood grain pattern Flotex. Up close it looks nothing like wood of course, but I'm sure once the whole floor is done it would look good.

Edited November 29, 2023 by blackrose

[LadyG]

3 hours ago, haggis said:

We have Karndean flooring and it is so easy to keep clean. We also have rugs from Hug at Home which are washable , not too expensive and if you pick the right colours they don't show the dirt. We have a couple of, I think Candy Stripe in the lounge and find them good for muddy human and dog feet. Not being too heavy you can shake them out doors in you feel so inclined 🙂 . Instead of a runner along side the bed, we have 3 mats laid end to end. We had a runner before but I find the mats easier to look after. 

Hug at home, strange, 

[magnetman]

I put reclaimed teak finger parquet down. Small pieces. Lots of it on eBay where people take it out of their houses. 

It usually still has some adhesive on it but I found by using Lecol latex floor adhesive its been fine. This is onto a plywood substrate. 

 

Not everyone's cup of tea but I wouldn't choose anything else.

 

The fingers are about 3/8" thick / 9mm ish. 

 

 

[LadyG]

1 hour ago, haggis said:

Is the guy in business or is he doing your kitchen as a sort of favour for another boater? If it is the latter, I don't think you can expect him to pay for the stuff you need. Asking for "proper business paper work" may see the end of the job being done by this guy 🙂 .  

He's in business, this business. Very nice work, which I have seen on his boat . It's going to be  £2K in materials, and a week's work, mostly off-site 

At first I suggested I would buy the items, but he said it was not necessary as he had an account with Howdens, and I believe he has already those items flat packed at his workshop. 

I  have asked him to invoice me by email, for the next lot of items, but have not had a response , I just do not like paying out bank transfer with no paper trail. It's just not how I do business.  I've already paid some money, but had to write a covering email explaining this was a pre payment for work. So I've paid out moneys, but have no paper trail, other than my own. There is no reason for this casual approach.

 

20 minutes ago, magnetman said:

I put reclaimed teak finger parquet down. Small pieces. Lots of it on eBay where people take it out of their houses. 

It usually still has some adhesive on it but I found by using Lecol latex floor adhesive its been fine. This is onto a plywood substrate. 

 

Not everyone's cup of tea but I wouldn't choose anything else.

 

The fingers are about 3/8" thick / 9mm ish. 

 

 

Yes, unfortunately there is already a layer of some cheapo softwood laid by a previous owner, I fear it must be glued on to the floor of boat, and I have laid my thick vinyl on top ,  so easiest may be just put another layer on top of that. I struggle to get down on my knees these days  so I really don't want to do it myself if the boat fitter is on site it's best to get him to do it imho.

It might be best to do this before the kitchen cabinets, and new table leg,  or it might not ( there is a new table chrome leg required for the new table). 

 

 

Edited November 29, 2023 by LadyG

[Peugeot 106]

10 minutes ago, LadyG said:He's in business, this business. Very nice work, which I have seen on his boat .

At first I suggested I would buy the items, but he said it was not necessary as he had an account with Howdens, and I believe he has already those items flat packed at his workshop. 

I  have asked him to invoice me by email, for the next lot of items, but have not had a response , I just do not like paying out bank transfer with no paper trail. It's just not how I do business.

If he’s already got the stuff presumably he will be fitting it shortly and you can pay him when it’s done or at least when it’s on your boat and you know what you’ve got. With the best will in the world these guys can order the wrong stuff, get ill, divorced, go bust or just take on a far more lucrative job. If he has an account he will have plenty of time to settle his Howdens account after he has finished the job and you’ve paid him in full. I suggest you ask him to get his finger out and get on with the job although I can see that if you have decided to refloor after you have given him the go ahead for the units this might complicate things 

I’m not suggesting that the guy is crooked but a lot of them play pretty loose which can make it awkward to the customer especially when you don’t want to lose a decent fitter. But beware paying for stuff when you haven’t seen it, or ordered it and you don’t know when it will be completed as he will hold all the cards if things go a bit iffy 

Good luck it is awkward but I think you/he to get on with it. 

[LadyG]

Yes @Peugeot 106 agreed, I'm sure he's a genuine guy, I can't imagine he is risking losing a nice week's work.

No matter what the reason, I cannot pay out any more money to him at this time. I am happy to pay for the new worktops etc to be delivered to his workshop, but I will not just pay direct in to his bank account, as I have had no receipt or account to date.

He has a partner, so if between them they can't raise an invoice or a receipt, I hate to think how this will end, my stress levels are increasing day by day.

Sometimes, and this is one time, I think a husband would not be messed around like this!!!!

[pearley]

14 hours ago, LadyG said:

 

Looking at the YouTube it seems a thin skim layer is needed to bond the adhesive to the floor, I hope I can lift the existing vinyl and then skim, not sure if it was stuck on...

You don't have to have a screed although it's recommended but a screed finds its own level and a boat tends to sit nose high. Ours was laid on LVT underlay which is about 5mm thick to cope with irregularities. 

 

6 hours ago, haggis said:

We have Karndean flooring and it is so easy to keep clean. We also have rugs from Hug at Home which are washable , not too expensive and if you pick the right colours they don't show the dirt. 

We bought a Hug carpet but despite several washings I found that bits kept coming off and sticking to my feet unless I wore slippers. It was replaced by the suppliers but

replacement was the same so got a refund. 

[haggis]

20 minutes ago, pearley said:

You don't have to have a screed although it's recommended but a screed finds its own level and a boat tends to sit nose high. Ours was laid on LVT underlay which is about 5mm thick to cope with irregularities. 

 

We bought a Hug carpet but despite several washings I found that bits kept coming off and sticking to my feet unless I wore slippers. It was replaced by the suppliers but

replacement was the same so got a refund. 

We must have been lucky! We have two bits about 4X6 laid side by side and with the pattern it looks like one big carpet and ours hasn't moulted at all. Haven't washed it but it hoovers up well.