Hard flooring or carpets

[DeanS]

Hello everyone:)

 

I was planning on putting down hard flooring from B&Q on my boat. Slept on it one night(without having the solid fuel fire going) and it was really cold for my feet in the morning. Saw some boats have carpets (lounge and passage). (surely they get dirty). A compromise would be the hard floors, with some nice rugs. Easy to clean the floors, and easy to clean the rugs. Anyone have any suggestions. I only have the budget to do it right first time.

 

Cheers

Dean

[rallyfan]

Hello everyone:)

 

I was planning on putting down hard flooring from B&Q on my boat. Slept on it one night(without having the solid fuel fire going) and it was really cold for my feet in the morning. Saw some boats have carpets (lounge and passage). (surely they get dirty). A compromise would be the hard floors, with some nice rugs. Easy to clean the floors, and easy to clean the rugs. Anyone have any suggestions. I only have the budget to do it right first time.

 

Cheers

Dean

 

Bit radical I know, but slippers?

[DeanS]

Bit radical I know, but slippers?

 

The cat can't where slippers. Did I mention the cat? Thats wife, 3 kids, father in law, AND cat.

[Keeping Up]

We've always had Flotex on the floor.

 

It is warm and soft(ish) to the feet, incredibly hard wearing, and very easy to clean. We have two dogs who always have muddy paws, and we certainly don't bother to take our boots off when we walk through the boat, but the mud (and everything else) just wipes off it. About twice a year I use a VAX on it to get rid of the ingrained dirt. After 19 years on this boat we still have the original Flotex throughout, and it is not yet worn out.

 

It's also very easy to fit, all you need is a sharp knife.

[charles123]

I know what you mean, I had wooden floors on a previous boat and in the saloon will have carpet tiles next time. A good place to start with is to see whats on offer is Ebay, if you buy spares you can change them round and to clean them take them off the boat, scrum them and hose them off come up as new

 

Charles

[Chagall]

Carpet....hard floors show up rolls of dust and dog hairs daily, and rugs just skid about. Get a good vacuum cleaner and dark carpets.

[steve hayes]

Weve got a bit of all types.

Carpet in the saloon at the front, gets dirty and needs the vacumm to get rid of the dog hairs

Flotex in the galley and the bathroon, easy to wipe clean and collects dog hair in clumps

Carpet tiles in the cabin and stern utility room, gets dirty but when too bad for the vac, I whip them up and wash them in the shower and pops them back down when dry.

Who I do anything different?

Shoot the dogs they bring most of the mess in SWMBO shays she'll shoot me

[DeanS]

Carpet....hard floors show up rolls of dust and dog hairs daily, and rugs just skid about. Get a good vacuum cleaner and dark carpets.

 

 

I'm thinking of going the carpeting route....not as though a canal boat is so large the carpet cant be just ripped up and replaced if it gets that bad...unlike a house where it's more difficult........I'll use the Flotex in the galley/toilet..

 

[Lady Muck]

ive got parquet floor and very cheap rugs, the rugs are from Ikea - the cotton rag type and I machine wash then tumble dry them. They dont slip - just buy the anti slip rubber mesh ( from Ikea as well) and cut them to size.Ive made sure all my soft furnishings on thne boat can be washed and dried easily, its the only way I can stop it becoming filthy.

[NiceNarrowboat]

I have stone tiles in the bedroom area, which is on the back of our boat and the place which gets the muddiest and most use. I knew from experience I didn't want carpet (too much work) or wooden floors - get too worn and scratched by little stones in shoes. I chose stone tiles because they are magic at hiding the dirt. Just put a rug down in winter, but if we're using the central heating it warms the stone up lovelily we've learnt too!

[mayalld]

ive got parquet floor and very cheap rugs, the rugs are from Ikea - the cotton rag type and I machine wash then tumble dry them.

 

Agree with that.

 

The rugs from Ikea are pennies, and it really is the best of both worlds.

[Christine]

Flotex seems to be the choice of all the hire boats we have used. Easy to vacuum/scrub and always in that dull fawn colour which matches the muck. I guess they know a thing or two. Oh, and vinyl laid so that it is wrapped up against the walls in the bathroom.

A tip from a friend was always buy carpets the same colour as the muck in your hoover bag. (So that is Spaniel black & white = grey with a sprinkling of baked bean in my house).

[Ray T]

Dunelm Mill sell rubber backed carpet runners (various colours) that can be put in the washing machine to clean them.

 

The runners are approx 3 feet long.

 

We have several on our boat.

Edited October 3, 2010 by Ray T

[Guest]

At home and aboard we have hard floors.

 

As dog owners we find this suits us best, the hair sweeps up in seconds.

 

For the warm feet moment crank up the stove and throw a rug down....

 

works for us....

[Jim]

Carpet tiles from B&Q - then if you do forget the slippers its easy to replace the dirty bits.

Hello everyone:)

 

I was planning on putting down hard flooring from B&Q on my boat. Slept on it one night(without having the solid fuel fire going) and it was really cold for my feet in the morning. Saw some boats have carpets (lounge and passage). (surely they get dirty). A compromise would be the hard floors, with some nice rugs. Easy to clean the floors, and easy to clean the rugs. Anyone have any suggestions. I only have the budget to do it right first time.

 

Cheers

Dean

[mrsmelly]

Hello everyone:)

 

I was planning on putting down hard flooring from B&Q on my boat. Slept on it one night(without having the solid fuel fire going) and it was really cold for my feet in the morning. Saw some boats have carpets (lounge and passage). (surely they get dirty). A compromise would be the hard floors, with some nice rugs. Easy to clean the floors, and easy to clean the rugs. Anyone have any suggestions. I only have the budget to do it right first time.

 

Cheers

Dean

Bite the bullet and get the best carpet you can afford. We have thick underlay and wool wilton carpets which cost a fortune ( Thanks Tony and Jenny ) Much warmer than solid floors and yes they get dirty with the dog and mud but being top quality clean easily and look the biz

[Guest]

Bite the bullet and get the best carpet you can afford. We have thick underlay and wool wilton carpets which cost a fortune ( Thanks Tony and Jenny ) Much warmer than solid floors and yes they get dirty with the dog and mud but being top quality clean easily and look the biz

 

and the smell??

[Christine]

I have just brushed the hound with a brush like this and (with this thread in mind) tried this on some rugs and carpet - brilliant - I got up huge balls of fluff of all types of flooring.

 

http://www.plentyforpets.com/product_detail.php?product=4047&category=0_164_1035_161

 

I bought mine for £1.50 at a dog show - needs very gentle brushing on the dog though as it is rather fierce.

Edited October 3, 2010 by Christine

[Woollymishka]

Hi everyone

We have carpet tiles in the back cabin (easy to replace if hubby comes down from engine room with muddy boots etc) Karndean flooring in bathroom/galley (lovely stuff though a wee bit pricey) and carpet in saloon.

We have been really happy with all three - but have no dog at moment though we did have a GSD and she was OK with it all but the fur when she moulted was something else and then it wouldn't have mattered what was on the floor!

[deletedaccount]

carpet tiles in the bedroom, hard floor throughout the rest of the boat. I get the rug out for the saloon when it gets cold.

 

best of all worlds imo.

[Naughty Cal]

NC has really nice cream 85% wool carpets as standard. We found them very difficult to keep clean so we have had some overmats made that fit over the original carpets. These are again cream but a synthetic carpet that is easy to keep clean. When they get tired or worn out we will just replace them. They cost around £50 for the set with whipped edges.

 

In the cockpit we have a set of hardwearing cockpit carpets that we fit during the winter but renmove in the summer to show the white cockpit floor. The carpets make the cockpit feel warmer and help keep the mud contained in one place.

 

At home we have a mixture of cream carpets in the bedrooms and hallways and wood flooring in the kitchen and living/dining room. Thuis works well at home but NC is a little bit too small to have a mixture of flooring in the cabin.

[Athy]

Another vote for carpet tiles; we have had these in the lounge, corridor and bedroom of all our boats. The galley and bathroom are fitted with vinyl tiles, plus a mat in the bathroom.

[churchward]

Personally I would go for a hard/vinyl floor. It is have you said easier to keep clean it can be swept rather than needing vacuum (which uses power). We have pets too so better for hairs and the like.

[boots]

We have hard flooring throughout - Vinyl in the bathroom with Wood elsewhere. - Not a specific choice, just that is what the boat came with, and for us this works fine - we also have pets and it is easy to clean (brush, mop, vac) and so far not really had a problem with the cold. However, we are leisure cruisers (and newbies at that - only had her 9 months) - just using her for long weekends etc. Also the wooden flooring seems to be reasonably thick (1/2") so to-date has not really felt cold underfoot.

 

Can imagine that comfort would become a greater consideration if we were liveaboards..

[Dekazer]

We inherited a mixture of wood and vinyl with the boat. The first section we've just replaced is the bedroom and we've now got newer solid wood. In winter the cold is mitigated with a rug, but in summer, when the boat can be really roasting, we roll up the rugs and enjoy the cool of the floor. This is my preferred solution, but then I am a slightly grubby bugger and find sweeping hard floors much easier than hoovering and washing carpets