# Boat floor ideas?



## Barroll (Mar 10, 2011)

I am getting ready to paint a boat an I want to do something on the floor that will keep it from getting slick when wet.  Is there any sort of grip material or anything i can use for this?  I have used buy at the store bed liner and i dont really like it cause it peels off to easy.  And no, I am not going to use hydroturf.
Thanks


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## Larry Young Jr (Mar 10, 2011)

I would spray or roll bedliner on it. it is very durable stuff and it is eazy to clean. I look for someone to spray it to get in all the cracks. But if you cant find someone to spray it. you can go to lowes or homedepo  and get in a can it cost about the same. My understanding it is eazy to do. It will last for ever and if you want it a little rougher throw some sand in it bebore you roll and brush it on. Also they make it in different colors. Good luck and show us some pics.
besafe 
Larry


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## Barroll (Mar 10, 2011)

Larry Young Jr said:


> I would spray or roll bedliner on it. it is very durable stuff and it is eazy to clean. I look for someone to spray it to get in all the cracks. But if you cant find someone to spray it. you can go to lowes or homedepo  and get in a can it cost about the same. My understanding it is eazy to do. It will last for ever and if you want it a little rougher throw some sand in it bebore you roll and brush it on. Also they make it in different colors. Good luck and show us some pics.
> besafe
> Larry



I have a smaller boat that my brother put that store bought bed liner in and it just hasnt held up very good.  I dont know if he prepared the aluminium right or what but it is all peeling off after a couple years of use.  I will look into it though and see what if i can get it to stick better.


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## Barroll (Mar 10, 2011)

has anyone heard of shark grip from sherwin williams? good, bad?


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## HALOJmpr (Mar 10, 2011)

If you go to west marine or another marine supply you can find a lot of textured paints for your deck.  They will add a lot less weight than the bedliner too.  I haven't used Shark grip but if it's a marine application it would work too.  Best part about the textured paints is you could make a camo pattern with the different colors too.


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## jerry russell (Mar 10, 2011)

I run a Lowe boat and they use a coating that is extremely durable. I am not sure what it is but you could call them? Two years of hellish use and no peeling. Great non-slip surface and it held a camo paint job very well. They might call it Gator Skin???


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## jerry russell (Mar 10, 2011)

Found a little more info on the Lowe Boats material from the Lowe web site...

Gator-Skinâ„¢ Coating. Like the skid-resistant bedliner in a pickup, super-tuff Gator-Skinâ„¢ is weather and impact resistant. Its unique sprayed-in Polyurea® coating seals the interior and acts like as an insulator to dampen vibration for a quieter ride while moderating extreme hot and cold temperatures to the touch. In addition, it resists water penetration and corrosion while making clean-up a breeze. If your requirements lean to the hard-core equipment side, then Gator-Skin is your heavy-duty answer. 
Available in all Roughneck colors and camo finishes.


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## duckhunter2010 (Mar 10, 2011)

maybe kiwigrip. never used it but heard it was pretty good stuff. and just curious, why no to hydroturf?


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## Loewman (Mar 10, 2011)

Just Hydro Turf it and be done!!


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## rustybucket (Mar 10, 2011)

Preparation is key, as your brother is finding out.  You will spend more time getting the aluminum ready to paint than you will actually doing the painting.


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## folded77 (Mar 10, 2011)

herculiner is a do it yourself bed liner that works great,will cost about $100  to do it yourself


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## FOD (Mar 10, 2011)

I did my boat floor last year,holdin' up good.1 gallon rustoleum,1 bag play sand,1 empty garlic salt shaker.Put the paint on thick and get to sprinklin'.Had several guys ask me to do theirs.Dad told me he used to use grits.Once you walked on it a couple of times,all the grits came up and you were left with little sharp edged "pockets"that worked better than if the grits were still there.And i guess if you ever got hungry and you had some hot water!!!


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## rockwalker (Mar 10, 2011)

there is a guy in Jackson right off the square on 16 that does the spray in stuff. He will prep and use his machine to spray it and that stuff is awesome. Its a  bedliner type material but it has several uses as floor coverings and other uses and I even know of a guy that had his truck sprayed in it.


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## Jake62 (Mar 10, 2011)

I use undercoating its cheap and easy it last a good while but when it does come up its easy to put back on


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## Barroll (Mar 10, 2011)

duckhunter2010 said:


> maybe kiwigrip. never used it but heard it was pretty good stuff. and just curious, why no to hydroturf?



Honestly because i just spent 6k on a boat and i dont have the money to spend another $800 on hydroturf.  A lot of people have just told me to do sand...does this last or does it wear off after use?  I dont want to ghetto rig anything, but i also dont want to spend a bunch of money


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## FOD (Mar 11, 2011)

I done mine over a year ago,all i do is saltwater hunting and fishing,and i clean it with bleach and a scrub brush,and if any of it has come off,I haven't noticed.not to say that none has,just saying it's minimal.And if some does come off,i think it's gonna be pretty easy to redo.


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## LANCE MILLER (Mar 11, 2011)

*sharkgrip*

Im an industrial painter, we use sharkgrip alot, get you some epoxy, they make any color you want  mix it up with sharkgrip in it and your done,  it will hold up great  , but like they other guys said prep is key, your gonna have to clean and sand your floor good for it to hold up!


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## Barroll (Mar 11, 2011)

LANCE MILLER said:


> Im an industrial painter, we use sharkgrip alot, get you some epoxy, they make any color you want  mix it up with sharkgrip in it and your done,  it will hold up great  , but like they other guys said prep is key, your gonna have to clean and sand your floor good for it to hold up!



Does it make a textured surface or is it more of a rubbery feel.


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## Loewman (Mar 11, 2011)

Barroll said:


> Honestly because i just spent 6k on a boat and i dont have the money to spend another $800 on hydroturf.  A lot of people have just told me to do sand...does this last or does it wear off after use?  I dont want to ghetto rig anything, but i also dont want to spend a bunch of money



so your going to put cheap flooring in an nice expensive 6k boat? Thats like buying a nice mustang and putting spinner hub caps from autozone on it. I promise you that sand or bedliner stuff will not last and its a headache to get up.  Hydro turf is the best period. PM me if you want to look at it up close. Its been on my boat for couple years now and still looks like new.  I was in the same position as you are and just bit the bullet and put on the hydro turf. No regrets now


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## Barroll (Mar 11, 2011)

Loewman said:


> so your going to put cheap flooring in an nice expensive 6k boat? Thats like buying a nice mustang and putting spinner hub caps from autozone on it. I promise you that sand or bedliner stuff will not last and its a headache to get up.  Hydro turf is the best period. PM me if you want to look at it up close. Its been on my boat for couple years now and still looks like new.  I was in the same position as you are and just bit the bullet and put on the hydro turf. No regrets now



Like i stated before, i am not looking for the cheap way out of it.  I am going to do something that works, I am just trying to figure out what will work best for me.  but i guess you are the expert.  You should have bit the bullet and bought a real gatortrax.


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## Loewman (Mar 11, 2011)

Barroll said:


> Like i stated before, i am not looking for the cheap way out of it.  I am going to do something that works, I am just trying to figure out what will work best for me.  but i guess you are the expert.  You should have bit the bullet and bought a real gatortrax.



relax fella just givin you some advice.  I would rathar save 6k and build a mudboat.. its not a big deal?. Lets not have a peein contest.


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## Gaducker (Mar 11, 2011)

Why dont you have a bedliner shop spray it and use one that has a lifetime warranty and if it chips or comes up you just tow it to em and let them fix it???

I know one thing for a fact, I have hydroturf in my 4 man hide and it dose not get hot on the feet like the spray on liner in the back of my truck.


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## Barroll (Mar 11, 2011)

Gaducker said:


> Why dont you have a bedliner shop spray it and use one that has a lifetime warranty and if it chips or comes up you just tow it to em and let them fix it???
> 
> I know one thing for a fact, I have hydroturf in my 4 man hide and it dose not get hot on the feet like the spray on liner in the back of my truck.



That is a good idea.  I am going to expriment with adding sand in the paint on some spare aluminum and see how it turns out.. If that doesnt work like i want it to I will look into the bedliner


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## Jaker (Mar 12, 2011)

I used roll on bedliner in my boat, would have to go look at the name of the stuff but after all my research it was the best of the diy stuff. ordered it from the manufacturer and it cost i wanna say $145 to do my 20ft boat that has an open floor plan. It was also enough that I did two coats. a year and a half later and it hasn't chipped at all. preperation is the key. took about 5 or 6 hours of bustin it to prep it and about an hour to apply it.


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## ebb tide (Mar 12, 2011)

cabelas has some grip paint for boats that I put on mine about 4-5 years ago. Haven't had any problems with it yet.


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## CraigM (Mar 12, 2011)

Jaker said:


> I used roll on bedliner in my boat, would have to go look at the name of the stuff but after all my research it was the best of the diy stuff. ordered it from the manufacturer and it cost i wanna say $145 to do my 20ft boat that has an open floor plan. It was also enough that I did two coats. a year and a half later and it hasn't chipped at all. preperation is the key. took about 5 or 6 hours of bustin it to prep it and about an hour to apply it.



and three weeks to get off of your hands... I believe it was Rhino Liner wasn't it?

Barroll, you can get hydroturf waaaay cheaper than what gator trax sells it for, but it won't be fancy camo patterns.  I'm ordering four sheets next week


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## Gaducker (Mar 12, 2011)

Barroll said:


> That is a good idea.  I am going to expriment with adding sand in the paint on some spare aluminum and see how it turns out.. If that doesnt work like i want it to I will look into the bedliner



I have used oilbased rustoleum from HD and I poured in in a seperate container then mixed the sand in with the paint. I put a cup in a 1/2 gal of paint .  That was some grip rite there and lasted along time. it will be hot on the bare feet.


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## Barroll (Mar 12, 2011)

CraigM said:


> and three weeks to get off of your hands... I believe it was Rhino Liner wasn't it?
> 
> Barroll, you can get hydroturf waaaay cheaper than what gator trax sells it for, but it won't be fancy camo patterns.  I'm ordering four sheets next week



Can you post the link for where you are getting it from?  I can only find it for like $59 a sheet.


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## Barroll (Mar 12, 2011)

Actually I just saw on the gatortrax website they wanted like 80 something.  Thats retarded


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## CraigM (Mar 12, 2011)

Barroll said:


> Actually I just saw on the gatortrax website they wanted like 80 something.  Thats retarded



I agree... It was gonna cost $600 or so for my 1652 from them.... screw that


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## little rascal (Mar 12, 2011)

*oh for*

goodness sake, go buy the heavy rubber floor work mats with the holes in it. I have had mine in a prodrive since 2004. No slip, good grip, drain water, can lift'em up and take'em out and spray out the floors to rid sticks limbs, shotgun hulls, dead shad and debris. Alternate between fishing and hunting, and they are way cheaper and way less than bedliner and sand and hydro turf is a joke!


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## Barroll (Mar 12, 2011)

How well does hydroturf hold up? I feel like it would tear up easy.  If i could do it for 300 or less i would consider it but i figured it would originally be around 750.  If so it is defiantly not going to happen.


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