Snap Out Carpets

[Hyper]

What are your thoughts on snap out carpets and I'm wondering why it's not offered on the moomba and supra. I think you can get snap for covers for moomba and Supra and wonder why its not offered on other boats like CC, Tige etc.
I have the snap out carpet in my Glastron and really like it, you don't realize how much dirt gets tracked into your boat until you have them out. How do you clean your carpets and what about drying out your boat at end of season, what do you do. The snap on covers have been nice for over night storage and travel as well.

[KurtL]

Hyper,

I as well would love to have snap out/in carpets. After our first season as boat owners there has been nothing as frustrating in the general cleaning/maintance as trying to keep the carpet nice.

[04OUTBACK]

I agree it would be nice. I was out in friends 08 MC and he ordered his with no Snaps and does not plan to put the carpet in..

I have taken my home carpet cleaner out in the boat to clean.. I have sprayed the carpet with carpet cleaner, rinsed with a hose and then wet vac'd.. also, I think a great idea is go rent a carpet cleaner to clean..

I have learned to deal with a little dirtyness. it is a boat.. I want it to look nice, but I have mellowed with age..scratches, etc still bother me, but I can deal with dirty carpet.. I'll clean it later!

[Sled491]

I'd give my left #@% for snap out carpets. But some people don't believe they are for tournament boats. These people obviosly don't 3 young kids!

[kaneboats]

I'm with you. I'd love to throw it in a commercial washing machine. Seriously, it would be nice to hang it up and have at it with the power washer.

[Sled491]

Say Skiers Choice, you listening! I see a trend starting here.

[McMoomba]

Hear, hear!!!!

Snap out carpet would be great.

[Hyper]

I know first hand that stepping on a snap can hurt, to be honest my carpets have never gone back in.
What are your thoughts on the snap on travel tarps. I have them on my 18 footer and they are a real convenience. I think Moomba and Supra offer this but I'm not sure. I know CC, MC, BU and Tige don't.; why is that? because it takes away from the lines of the boat. I've seen guys try to cover their boats with the one peice tarps for overnight moorage and that is a pain. Ive also seen these expensive boats hauled without covers because of the concern for rub wear.

[bradenb12]

DEWALT 18V cordless ShopVac...best purchase I ever made!

[Hyper]

Wish the weather got hot enough for any lenght of time that stepping on hot snaps was an issue.

I was considering the use of a shop vac for pulling the water out, what about cleaning of the carpets, what do you do?
What about end of season even with the shop vac the carpets are still damp. I've just never thought that stowing my boat for 7 to 8 months wet/damp was a good idea. Ideally I like to get a couple days of sunny weather and pull all my cushions and let them dry out as well.

[GeauxTigers]

I hate the carpets on my boat. They should definitely be snap on. Has anyone looked at the fiberglass underneath the carpet to see if a snap on carpet could be adapted? I would imagine it's just plain old unpolished and unfinished fiberglass.

[KurtL]

Ed,

Any worries about electronics/wiring when power washing the carpets?

I have to admit I'm a bit envious of you guys in the SE and SW with these great extended seasons!!!

[kaneboats]

The trick is to only get what what normally gets wet.

[Rugburn]

I have snap in carpet in my 02 LSV and its great. I hose the daylights out of it on the driveway and then use my Bissel Green Machine to suck all the water / dirt out of it. Good as new when its done.

The only drawback Ive had is the two snaps that are on either side of where you walk thru to the bow. On a long haul this summer, the wind took its toll on those two snaps and tore the carpet around one.

If I take the carpet out and haul, it doesnt give resistance to hold in the rear seat as well as if its installed. Take the rear seat out and you have wind going in the engine compartment. I dont cover while I trailer because I dont want those pesky strap marks on the gel coat. A real domino effect here.

[deerfield]

Jim - I saw on a recent BB posting someone talked about using foam noodles when trailering with the cover on. Buy the noodles from a pool supply or sporting goods store. Come in a six foot length, various colors, are hollow, and have an outside diameter of about four to six inches. Cost a couple of dollars. Cut to length and run the cover strap through the inside of the noodle. The noodle prevents any strap marks on the gel coat. - Stuart

[SkiKY]

Every couple of months before putting the boat away I wet down the carpet with a hose then scrub the carpets with a scrub brush using some carpet machine cleaner diluted in a bucket. Remove the V-drive cover and leave the boat cranked up at an angle then just hose all the suds into the bildge. After an hour in the sun most of the carpet is near dry, fortunatly I can store uncovered in my garage to finish the drying. The cleaning solution I use has the teflon added so it continues to repel stains. I've never had any permanent stains and because of the teflon cleaner fresh spills bead up on the carpet and can mostly be blotted out if caught quickly.

[jimmygjr]

I think that the carpet in the storage areas are nice looking but not practical. I would love to see all the storage areas sprayed down with some type of material maybe like a truck bed lining. Color matched of course but a rubberized coating in the rear storage, under the seats, and so on, then a snap down in just the main compartment. This less places to trap and hold water when you cover them and the less moisture, humidity, etc.... The carpet for the main cabin would be one nice piece, snaps in the corners; I don’t think would be an issue for stepping on them. I am sure that we all know the smell of wet carpet.

[Hyper]

I'm looking at buying a new boat in the spring and I was hoping this question would have generated more discussion; thanks to all that have added to this discussion. I mean with all the owners on this forum, come on guys what is it you like or dislike.:???: I've seen guys at the lake with mildew, smelly carpets and even moss, I'm thinking as owners of expensive investments we really deserve to have that option. Its on my hit list when buying anyways.

[cab13367]

I, too, thought that I wanted snap in carpets. But after living with my boat for almost two seasons now, I've had a change of heart. I don't need them and in fact, am glad I don't have them. I just vacuum the carpet when it gets dirty and I run a fan in the boat as needed (while it sits in the garage uncovered) to dry them out. My brother has snap in carpets in his Crownline and we are always taking them out to dry them and several of the snaps have broken. They are also bulky and awkward to handle and you need a lot of room to hang and dry them out. And the floor get's kinda dingy looking around the perimeter of the carpet if you don't take them out and clean the floor regularly.

As anal as I am, if I had snap in carpets, I would have to take them out and hang them to dry and wipe the floor down after each time out. The way I look at it, it's one less thing to do after I get home from the lake/river.

Everyone's situation is different and depending on how you store your boat, the snap in carpets may or may not make sense. For me, it doesn't.

Al

[Sled491]

Dude, if you get in boats with dirty floors and mildew, I'm not sure that snap out carpets are going to solve the problem. Again I'm liken snap out carpets but if you don't look after your investment not much gonna save it.

[sailing217]

Hmmm. I own a different brand and bought it specifically because of snap-out carpet.

Everyone has their priorities and one of mine with kids is the carpet. Too many past boats with mildew smelling carpet. I've been on a few 4-5 yr old malibus with mildew smelling carpet on their previously $60k boat.

Only drawback I've heard is 'hot snaps'. Well if you place them in the right places, then 4-6 snaps are pretty easy to get around. FYI, our carpet is rubber-backed. Sticks almost to the smooth fiberglass floor, thus not a big need for a bunch of snaps.

I vacuum probably once a month, shake-out once a week, and hose down every other month and lay it hanging half off on the swim deck when on the trailer to dry out.

I think the key our my boat is the rubber backed carpet and not too thick. I was on a Yamaha with berber-like carpet and the owner complained that his snap out carpet smelled like mildew and had snaps loosing up. He was thinking of going without carpet. So I do think it's how it's utilized that's also part of the equation.

[sandm]

I would love snapout carpet. I want to replace our carpet in our '06, but it looks like a pretty daunting task.. especially since I don't know how half the boat goes together..

[sailing217]

Our boat has a second fiberglass mold for the deck, seats, interior that is bonded to the hull. No 'L' brackets holding seats to the floors is good. Probably a PITA to modify a manufacturing line.

They still put carpet in the storage areas to lessen abrasions so even my boat has carpet.

My buddy with his Bu looked into it and found it's not really possible for his level of expertise. He did remove the carpet from his v-drive lockers and that helped with wet boards and such back there, but he had to put a rubber pad so his bags wouldn't get chewed up.

Oh well. =

[sandm]

It would be a tough task. I doubt you could ever get all the carpet out

I once worked building Regal boats. I presume that the Skiers Choice factory lines operate pretty similar

As soon as the fiberglass hull came out of the mold, it was pushed up the line and the entire shell was sprayed with glue and the carpet went down.

Everything was then installed into the boat on top of the carpet.



yea, looks that way to me. it would be a lot of work to try and pull everything out.
maybe just cut around the seating areas and re-glue something down, since the areas under the seats are usually fine..
ours has 2 panels in the middle of the floor. not sure how they come out, but again, a nice winter project along with re-plumbing ballasts....