Carpet replacement, with fiberglass underneath

[chrisj13]

My carpet was total crap....thin, worn out and had the start of small holes. (This is on a 2003'ish Bayliner Cuddy Cabin). I ripped it all out and was a little shocked to see bare plywood underneath, without fiberglass covering it.
The plywood decking is in good shape, no rot or soft spots. (WHEW!) I have no concerns with the wood, but there is surface checking that run parallel to the grain. My plan is to fiberglass over the wood since I have the boat all tore apart, concentrating on those areas where people get in/out of the boat and stand to drip dry. Carpet will go on top of the newly laid fiberglass.

Any hints or tricks? I'm using 6oz cloth, with epoxy resin. It's a small deck, only about 12' long by 7' wide. The carpet will be re-glued to the fiberglass. First time ever doing something like this, and I hope to minimize the mistakes!!

 

[jigngrub]

This is the way I did my deck that is very similar to yours.
1. Sand off all old carpet glue (if you haven't already)
2. Lay down 1 coat of epoxy and let set and cure then sand lightly.
3. Use a powdered filler like SM Fairing compound to thicken the next batch of epoxy to fill in all cracks and checks and spread it over the entire deck, let set and cure and sand smooth with 120 grit.
4. Lay down a wet bed of epoxy for your cloth and then wet your cloth out let set and cure and sand
5. You may want to lay down another coat of epoxy or start doing the carpet depending on what your deck looks like and if you're satisfied with it or not.

For your carpet I suggest a solvent based adhesive instead of the latex based junk. Good solvent based carpet adhesives are Dap Weldwood contact cement or Dap All Weather Outdoor carpet adhesive.

I strongly suggest using a good carpet roller to roll the carpet out and to embed the backing firmly into the adhesive. I use this one:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Roberts-Extendable-Floor-Roller-10-955/100012074

To spread your epoxy resin and fairing compound quickly I suggest using this wallpaper tool:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Workforce-5-Way-Tool-07531/202573860
After spreading the resin around with the tool I suggest back brushing with a chip brush or some other cheap disposable brush.

I did pretty much what you're going to do to my boat, I didn't use glass cloth but in your case it might be better to. You can have a look at my work in this thread:
http://forums.iboats.com/forum/boat...-repair/521750-97-tracker-pro-deep-v-facelift

 

[chrisj13]

Thanks for the reply, you gave some really great information and did a beautiful job on your boat restoration! Loved the thread! I'm getting started tomorrow sanding the deck (finally) and will let you know how it goes. I have my US Composites epoxy here all ready to go, but I'm gonna take my time and do it right! I'll post pictures as I go, standby for more updates!

 

[chrisj13]

No Title

Carpet out, floor sanded smooth, and first layer of US Composites epoxy rolled on! A couple of coats to go, then the fabric!