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View Full Version : Removed rear locker carpet and replaced with "rubber mat"



996scott
04-19-2014, 03:38 PM
I've wanted to remove the carpet in the rear lockers because they were always wet after a day on the lake with wet life vests, ski gear, ballasts, etc. When I got home I would remove everything and get the shop vac out and dry the carpets so they wouldn't get smelly. I am OCD that way;) I was going to use Hydroturf but that stuff is pretty expensive. I kept looking online and came across this rubber mat that they had a Lowes Home Improvement store. It is a 4 X 8 ft sheet for $60. For that price I figured I would give it a try. Very easy DIY; unscrew everything in the lockers and remove, just grab the corner of the carpet and it pulled up in one piece, cleaned off remaining carpet glue with a scraper and wipe down the floor and you're ready to go.

996scott
04-19-2014, 03:49 PM
Then I laid out the carpet on the mat and cut it out with a sharp razor bade. I placed it in the locker and trimmed a few spots so it fit nice and snug up against the carpet on the walls and to the edge of the floor next to the motor. I then marked on the mat were all the holes were for all the screws for the ballast lines, hoses, and the hinges for the fold down black "doors" to the engine (don't know the official name of that). I used some "outdoor" carpet glue from Home Depot and spread it thin on the floor and then laid down the mat. After letting things set up over night I went back and screwed everything back in place and it's all done. Very easy DIY.

996scott
04-19-2014, 03:59 PM
We went up to the lake the other day and after getting home and removing everything out of the locker all I did was take a towel and quickly wipe under the ballast bag and done:) I'll see how it holds up over the summer. Fyi, The 4 X 8 sheet is big enough to do both lockers IF you don't want to have it wide enough to go all the way to the edge of the floor inside the engine compartment like the carpet does. If you leave it about 2 inches short ( which would only be visible if you dropped down the black partition to the engine compartment) then you can do both sides with one sheet. If you want it exactly like the carpet covers, then you are going to need two sheets and you will have a lot of left over which is what I did. I may use the extra to put some on the floor of the ski locker instead of the "woven" black thing.

Cigars n scotch
04-19-2014, 06:08 PM
This looks interesting and I'd like to know how it holds up this summer for you. I have carpet in my lockers too and it drives me crazy. Generally my ballast bags don't drain all the way and it holds all that moisture in. Creates a yucky mildew potential mess.

Nice DIY thanks for sharing

kaneboats
04-21-2014, 09:24 AM
Looks good. I did the same thing this year. Used the garage floor stuff from Sears though. Should dry out much faster. I didn't glue mine down though b/c I want to be able to take it out to clean it when I feel like it.

jmvotto
04-21-2014, 02:54 PM
Looks good. I did the same thing this year. Used the garage floor stuff from Sears though. Should dry out much faster. I didn't glue mine down though b/c I want to be able to take it out to clean it when I feel like it.

Nice work, people still shop at Sears?:p

kaneboats
04-21-2014, 03:15 PM
It was an online offer with pickup in store. Too cheap to pass up.

bergermaister
04-21-2014, 05:12 PM
I'm searching Lowes.com and coming with scratch so far. By chance do you know the Lowes item number? Maybe from the receipt.

996scott
04-21-2014, 05:21 PM
this is it: http://www.lowes.com/pd_345720-73825-251-0900_0__?productId=3645154&Ntt=apache+mat&pl=1&currentURL=%3FNtt%3Dapache%2Bmat&facetInfo=

viking
04-22-2014, 01:58 PM
FWIW you can get "B" stock sheets of Hydroturf for $40. If you want the 3M adhesive backing it will run you extra of course but very economical when putting in a locker where nobody will see it. I bought a sheet of B stock with adhesive backing to replace the steps on my trailer a couple years back and I haven't noticed any blemishes so far on the sections I've cut out. I use the stuff for everywhere!

bergermaister
04-22-2014, 02:31 PM
Thanks Viking - I'm going to check into that. They don't carry the Lowes stuff locally for me I discovered and I also have an affinity for Hydroturf.

Boonejeepin
04-22-2014, 09:33 PM
FWIW you can get "B" stock sheets of Hydroturf for $40. If you want the 3M adhesive backing it will run you extra of course but very economical when putting in a locker where nobody will see it. I bought a sheet of B stock with adhesive backing to replace the steps on my trailer a couple years back and I haven't noticed any blemishes so far on the sections I've cut out. I use the stuff for everywhere!

I used B stock hydroturf on my platform and I have not found any blemishes. Great stuff.

Beejwest
04-24-2014, 01:58 AM
Did this mod today. Lowes had the rolls of mat in stock. Bought two, only needed one roll. I easily was able to get enough mat out of one roll to go clear to the edge of where the stock carpet was. Used the stock piece I cut out as a pattern. I cut the first piece using the edges of the rubber mat as two of the border edges of the stock carpet. On the second piece I had to lay the stock carpet at just the right angle to get enough, but it was enought by about 1/2". Scraped as much old glue up as possible, didn't use goo gone or anything. I didn't want to glue the new mat down just in case I had a leak from the new port side 1,000 lb sack. Turns out, there is enough tack from the left over factory glue to keep the new mat in place, but it isn't permanently stuck there. If it gets wet I can lift it up and dry everything out. I just screwed the existing brackets right back in place through the rubber mat. Both sides took about an hour total. Super easy, and the previous pictures are spot on. Here's my the wake after the new sack on the new rubber mat :razz:19782

Water was 55 ° today so I wasn't really willing to let go of the rope!

volfo
04-24-2014, 10:56 AM
I think this is a good idea and I might do the same in my boat, but I don't want to rip up the carpet. I feel like if you get a good piece of mat that fits well, you should be able to size it right and just sit it over the carpet. Yes, some moisture will get between the mat and the carpet eventually and it will mold if you leave it there, but if you take hte rubber mat out every couple of weeks and let it air out and maybe clean the carpet a bit, should be good right? What am I missing?

Also, what exactly kind of mat am I looking for at the big box store?

volfo
04-24-2014, 10:59 AM
nevermind, I needed to read this thread more closely! Sorry!

996scott
04-24-2014, 11:36 AM
This is just my thought, but I don't think I would put the mat over the carpet just for the reason you said about the water getting trapped under the mat and in the carpet. I would think that the carpet would get pretty nasty after a week or two of being wet. I don't know what Beejwest found, but my carpet came up very easy and in one piece. I think I could easily just glue it back down in the future if I wanted to and it would look great.

Beejwest
04-24-2014, 03:38 PM
Carpet was really easy to pull up. Only left glue patches in a couple of spots, which I scraped with a paint scraper. Most of it came right up. There were a couple areas maybe the size of a dollar bill that were more difficult. As I mentioned, those areas are now just slightly tacky. They actually help hold the mat in place.