Boat and RV Carpet: A Comprehensive Guide

Regular boat carpet has been around for a long time. It is made of polyester yarn or polypropylene with an UV stabilizer to withstand the rigorous elements that boat carpet has to handle. It is still used today on new boats as well as refurbished boats. The cost is typically the reason that it is still highly sought after. The oncoming of woven vinyl has slowed down the sales of boat carpet due to the benefits from vinyl over carpet. Below are some things to consider before purchasing either material for a boat or RV. 

The woven vinyl will not stain and is easier to clean than boat carpet. Woven vinyl also dries quicker than carpet.The buyer of the carpet has to determine the best course of action based on the evidence at hand.  If this is an investment boat or a boat for flipping, it's best to go with marine carpet. This will help keep costs down.The upgrade when redoing the boat is to choose woven vinyl. The woven vinyl option could result in a quicker resale and a higher resale value.

Benefits of carpet - First, it is less expensive. It is half the price of woven vinyl flooring. Second, it offers a different level of comfort under your feet. Just like at home, carpet is what most are used to. Normally in the boating world, most people will choose a dark gray carpet to help hide stains. It makes them less visible, if you choose a dark color. We offer 14 different solid colors. If you wanted to make a statement, we at Captain's Choice Marine Vinyl have you covered. With two choices of red, blues and a green option to make your boat stand out. If you want to keep your boat with the original look, we have you covered as well. So, there are times that carpet is a better selection for you. We also have carpet with patterns as well. So if you want to get a little funky, we have you covered as well. 

Cons of carpet - The biggest con of carpet are the stains, it is the worst. Flooring on your boat is typically the most expensive part of redoing the cosmetic issues. When redoing the floor, you must pull everything out and take off the old to start preparation. When preparing for your new carpet, you must sand the wood before applying the glue and adding the new choice back on. So can you imagine all that hard work and then having it stained shortly after? Another con is carpet fades. Carpet’s that are left out in the sun will start fading in about a year or two, depending on how harsh the sun is in your part of the world. It will be more noticeable if part of your boat is shaded and the other part is left in the sun. Our woven vinyl flooring here at Captains Choice will not fade for many years. The pvc coating will protect the yarn for a long time. Most people do not have to change their flooring for 10 years or so with our woven vinyl. Heat is a con as well, while everything gets hot, carpet gets really hot. Woven vinyl will also, but with our high density felt padding underneath, it helps some. And if you are in the south like we are, you need all the help you can get on a hot summer day. 

So, here at Captain's Choice, we have you covered from your woven vinyl, carpet and adhesive for your transformations. We try our best to ship the next day, unlike our competitors. And we strive to have the best prices for all your boat and rv flooring needs. If you need help finding shops to help, we would be more than happy to help you find one of our customers that does it for a living to make your boat dreams come true. Laying your new boat floor, whether it is our woven vinyl or carpet is a big job, and can be intimidating if you have never done it before. Just shoot us an email or give us a call! We would love to lend a helping hand with making your decision or if you need samples to match your upholstery before placing an order. Be sure to check out all of our colors in carpet, as well as woven vinyl. You will need around 2 to 3 gallons of glue to do a 25’ boat. Each gallon will roughly do 100 square feet.