Project swim raft rebuild: looking for marine grade stuff......

[Car Guy]

The swim raft at our family's cabin is getting a much needed restoration. The carpet was starting to look like swiss cheese and the plywood was a couple years from becoming unsafe to stand on. Everything was built new about 10-11 years ago. I am happy with how long the carpet and deck lasted but would like to do better if possible this time around, 15 or more years would be awesome. Please post up if you have any knowledge of marine grade carpet and/or plywood. I will make a few calls tomorrow but know nothing about marine grade carpet and just learned of marine grade plywood. I have a good amount of wood knowledge but never heard of marine grade plywood. The now gone decking was pressure treated and I thought that was the best we could do at the time. My guess is marine grade carpet is fairly standard stuff....


http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f3/KarGuy/0325021248.jpg

[CarrotTop]

At menards we can special order in some marine grade plywood. Got 2 diff sizes 1/2 and 3/4( i can find out more info when i go in tomorrow for ya if i remember). In terms of carpet are neighbors up north had some AstroTurf on theirs lasted for years.

[UnderPSI]

I would just do the whole thing out of the new deck boards that are made out of that recycled plastic that everyone is using for decks now a days. I know Home Depot has it in stock. I'm sure other places do as well. The screws sink into the boards and they "heal" over the top so you don't have to worry about screws sticking through. Supposed to last more than fifty years with out maintenance. That's the way I would go. No wood, no carpet. Nothing to break down.

[awsomeears]

^ Brad that's a good idea ^

Carpet is nice just to relax on, even if carpet lays over it you know the Composite will last a LONG ASS time....

[Haulin' Oates]

Is the trex type decking (composite stuff) slippery when wet? That would be my only concern. I see small quantities of the stuff on craigslist from time to time in the materials section. Worth keeping an eye out. I would just use what you did last go-round (if you want carpet), by the time you hit 10-11 years again that carpet is going to be faded and ugly anyway.

[CATNHAT]

I would stay away from Trex. Check out this stuff and you can also blind screw these to the frame.

http://www.tamko.com/Decks-Docks-Railing/ProductLine/DockBoards/

[UnderPSI]

Not slippery, it has just enough texture to not be slippery but still feels good when you are walking barefoot on it.

[BR3W CITY]

DLT upholstery sells marine grade vinyl and flooring/carpeting. They are down off Howard.
Marine grade plywood should be available at a place that sells RV stuff as well, since its often used in "exposed to the elements" situations.

[Car Guy]

Carpet over the decking (regardless of what kind) is a must. As much as this raft is for swimming more times than not you will see somebody laying on it catching some sun. For this reason I thought of placing a cushion between the decking and carpet but that would be the definition of over-engineering.....:goof

I called a few local lumber yards about decking and got some very good information. To my surprise .75" thick marine plywood is about $75 a sheet. That is much less than expected but I also thought the surface would have a treatment or sealant of some sort, it does not. Therefore we would need to treat all surfaces with paint or weatherproofing. Synthetic plywood (aka plastic plywood) costs $175 per sheet, wow! I was told by all three lumber yards synthetic plywood is not made to stand on (more for walls) and constant sunlight/heat might significantly alter its integrity. I don't know how true that is but regardless $350 for ONLY the decking is MUCH more than I planned for. The more I think about the old setup composite boards might be the ticket if not too pricey. Here is why. I was surprised how much dirt was trapped under the old carpet, which was marine grade. The dirt was almost powder like but I suspect it had a significant effect on the carpet's longevity. My thought is the dirt between the plywood surface and bottom of the carpet acted like an abrasive. With composite boards there would be small gaps between for the dirt and water to filter through. I will get accurate pricing for composite decking and see where that puts us.....

Thanks all for the info thus far, keep it coming if you got more!

[Car Guy]

I ran the numbers for composite decking at the 'big box' hardware stores. The cost would be approximately $350 and as much as the synthetic plywood I quickly ruled out cause of price. I was hoping to spend about that much on everything; decking, carpet, glue, new screws/hardware, additional wood bracing for securing the ladder/center section (see pic), stainless steel banding material to re-secure the barrels, etc. The marine grade plywood appears to be the winner for decking material, somewhat unfortunately. After giving the decking design more thought I really like the small gaps the composite decking would offer. Not only would any dirt wash through with ease the carpet would dry faster and stay drier. Although I don’t know for certain if that would be a good or bad thing but my guess is a good thing.....

I’m still looking for carpeting info. Not so much where to find it, more so regarding different brands and if spending more on ‘better quality’ is worth the extra expense. I expect the new marine grade plywood to go 15+ years and would like to find carpet to last at least that long. I believe my uncle bought the original carpet from Menards.

[Car Guy]

I was talking to my bro yesterday and he mentioned finding used composite decking. The entire surface and sides will be covered in carpet and anything will work as long as it is solid. Please post up if anybody has a possible lead or knows where to find used but useable composite decking. The raft size is 8 x 8' and 2 x 6" boards would be ideal, however I'll take anything that will work.

[awsomeears]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Thru-Flow-Composite-Decking-Floor-Panels-Docks-Deck-/120758676456?pt=Tile_Flooring&hash=item1c1dc72be8

????

[GTSLOW]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Thru-Flow-Composite-Decking-Floor-Panels-Docks-Deck-/120758676456?pt=Tile_Flooring&hash=item1c1dc72be8

????

That would be pretty bad ass!

[Car Guy]

That would be awesome but not happening for $720.

[Car Guy]

As expected Menard's and Home Depot have the cheapest shit on earth. After asking about marine grade carpet at both places I was directed to cheap standard outdoor carpet. Lowe's can get good quality 'real' marine carpet (samples in store) and I still need to visit Carpet Land to see what they have. Lowe's also has very nice standard outdoor carpet and commercial outdoor carpet.

[Haulin' Oates]

Hey Car Guy, I am now building one from scratch. What did you end up using for materials? I am not sure what I want to deck the top with. Did you end up springing for plywood and carpet over it? I think our needs are exactly what you wanted to use yours for. I am going to make it 8x10 I think. Any tips?

[Car Guy]

Thanks for the thread bump; I've been meaning to update this.


I went with 3/4" marine plywood and based going with 3/4" in comparison to standard treated plywood. The 3/4" marine plywood might have been overkill. I was seriously blown away at how awesome marine plywood is. The strength and density is almost that of a solid hard wood like maple. Therefore, 5/8" or possibly 1/2" would be more than enough assuming there is adequate frame support. Marine plywood comes as bare as bare gets and MUST be sealed. You have no choice unless you want to watch $150 of plywood start to rot in a few years. I sealed every surface of the plywood with a polyurethane resin specifically made for marine applications. I was very impressed with how good the resin is. This resin is VERY similar to the hard clear material you see on bar tops and tables at restaurants. For carpet I made a regrettable decision to go with Lowe's best outdoor commercial carpet. The carpet is decent but should not be used on a raft or anything else not completely flat. I found the best marine carpet where I also found the resin and contact cement for the carpet, at Kendor Marine on Ryan Rd. They have the high quality professional grade stuff you cannot find and any hardware store. I was already well over budget and chose not to spend the extra $50 for the super nice marine carpet at Kendor. Everything went together great and I also modified how the ladder attaches. I need to take some pictures and will post them up.

Here is a quick rundown of the costs involved for ONLY the restoration. My budget was $300 . . . . .

Marine plywood – 2 sheets @ $75 = $150
Polyester resin sealer for plywood = $50
Contact cement = $50
Carpet – 12x12 for carpet = $100
Misc. hardware, supplies, and material = $75

TOTAL = $425

[Haulin' Oates]

That polyester resin is very nice stuff. The good news is that your raft should last forever! Thank you for the update, looking at your costs I am thinking I may actually just deck the top of it like a pier. I am shying away from using carpet because our local ducks love to hang out and shit on stuff. It's easier to powerwash duck rockets off of wood than carpet..

I picked up my barrels a couple days ago, thanks for the information and tips. How big is your raft? I was looking at doing an 8x10 to make life easier for dimensional lumber, but really would prefer 10x10. I may have gone way overkill but I got 8 30gal barrels..

Evan

[The Shaolin]

I got 8 30gal barrels..


Are you planning on landing small aircraft on this thing? Hahaha.

[Haulin' Oates]

Are you planning on landing small aircraft on this thing? Hahaha.

Lmao, no shit. I got too many "just in case" so i am sure I will have some stupid barrels hanging around in my way for the next 4-5 years.

[Car Guy]

How big is your raft? I was looking at doing an 8x10 to make life easier for dimensional lumber, but really would prefer 10x10. I may have gone way overkill but I got 8 30gal barrels..

Evan


Our raft is 8x8'. I would not do 8x10' but would consider 10x10' if NOT using plywood. 4x8' plywood sheets make for an easy build for 8x8' but if you plan to use separate boards then 10x10' will not be much more work. If you look at the picture in the first post of this thread you see our raft has 4-55 gallon barrels at the corners. If I could change something there would be 4-33 gallon barrels. With the original design using ½” standard plywood the deck was FAR too high off the water. Basic waves off a 16’ ski boat would rock the thing to where you felt like falling off. Keep in mind the frame is made of aluminum and is very light. Now with the heavier marine plywood it sits lower and is more ‘grounded’ but still higher than I would prefer. Our old all wood raft (2x8’s for the frame!) was heavy in the spring but twice as heavy in fall after sitting in the water all summer. There was 6-33s under that one and the water to deck distance was perfect. There are formulas for buoyancy online you can work with. I glanced at them but did not get too involved because I was only re-doing the top half.

[Haulin' Oates]

Great, thanks man! That's the exact reason I got 33 gallon barrels. This one will be made of wood. I need to take some more measurements to figure out how big I want (read expensive).

[Car Guy]

I do not know your exact situation but I will tell you this. Taking our old raft out of the water in fall required 8 strong adults and they only moved a few feet at a time. When sitting in the water for months the wood soaked up a LOT of water weight. The current raft only needs 4 strong adults and we walk the entire distance with one pick.

[Haulin' Oates]

I know they get heavier than hell, we have a wood pier which I bitch about removing every year. I designed this one so it can be partially disassembled before removal from the water. I would love to do an aluminum one but it's not in the budget right now. Thanks for the warning though, I appreciate all the input.

[Car Guy]

I found this picture on my phone today. This was before the carpet went on. The wood looked absolutely amazing with the polyurethane resin all cured. I wanted to leave it like this . . . . . :devil

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f3/KarGuy/0624021832.jpg

[wrath]

I have noticed that the hidden fastener plastic decking has become extremely popular for floating docks and barges.

I have used dark gray marine carpet (rubber on the back side) for such things. I found that it also was great for enclosed porches. It is also good for pet ramps. Menards used to carry it before the recession, it was $4/foot and 2' wide on a roll. Most decent mom and pop carpet stores still have it for ~$7/foot same width. The stuff the big box stores sell is junk made in China.