Under Foot Insulation / Carpeting

[The Grumpy Triker]

Hi all,

Following a bereavement and a change in circumstance am now keen to resolve the new lounge layout starting with the floor.

The current flooring whilst great in summer is blooming cold underfoot and I suspect (like most of the finishing) the bouncy element comes from a big gap in the flooring as this runs in a consistent line along the boat.

I want to put carpeting in the lounge area but does anyone recommend or warn against any specific type of underlay? I may have to re-lay some boarding underneath to close some gaps but don't want to lay some underlay and find it attracts moisture to damage the carpet from underside.

Will be a cheap thick and replaceable cost on the carpet but equally a soggy floor from will be worse than a cold one....having said that my heTing is still not working properly as yet so the condensation is worse is my head than it will be.

Hope all are well.

[David Schweizer]

We had a vynil floor in the lounge of Helvetia. We considered replacing it but the problem with carpets on boats is keeping them clean, so we opted to retain the vynil and buy some substantial carpet rugs, which can be easily replaced if they get too grubby. It also means that you can change the colour theme every few years. We got some really good rugs for quite a reasonable cost from Ikea.

Edited November 26, 2017 by David Schweizer

[The Grumpy Triker]

1 minute ago, David Schweizer said:

We had a vynil floor in the lounge of Helvetia, but the problem with carpets on boats is keeping them clean, so rather than replace it, we opted to retain the vynil and buy some for some substantial carpet rugs, which can be easily replaced if they get too grubby. It also means yiou can change the colour theme everyb few years. We got some really good carpets fopr quite a reasomnaBLE COST FROM iKEA.

Is a good thought - cheers David....the current vinyl flooring is a tad cold, even for me. My problem with rugs is that I'm a clumsy old sod and could guarantee I'd go Arse over....

my aimwas to buy a carpet that I didn't mind replacing every year or two....is only me on the boat and if I buy a nice dark speckled colour then things shouldn't show after a good clean....or so I hope 

Just now, The Grumpy Triker said:

Is a good thought - cheers David....the current vinyl flooring is a tad cold, even for me. My problem with rugs is that I'm a clumsy old sod and could guarantee I'd go Arse over....

my aimwas to buy a carpet that I didn't mind replacing every year or two....is only me on the boat and if I buy a nice dark speckled colour then things shouldn't show after a good clean....or so I hope 

Forgot to say that I use the rear of the boat to go in and out so the bow will only suffer curry, lager, milk, cereal, ......etc. spills 

[Arthur Marshall]

I've got carpet tiles throughout, and cold feet in winter.  There's about a three inch gap under the floorboards where the pacing stone ballast used to sit and I did wonder about just filling this space with expanding foam both as a support to the slightly bouncy boards and as insulation.  Is this air gap really necessary?

[ditchcrawler]

We have carpet tiles on wooden floor looking at r=the temperature this evening its 23 deg at 4-6 foot and 17 deg at 1 foot from the floor not measured at head height yet but would guess at about 26 deg,

[pearley]

We've always had carpet in the lounge and bedroom. We replace the carpet ever 2 years (blame Steve Hudson for that) but have the thickest underlay possible. I'm sat here typing this with bare feet on the carpet with more discomfort. 

[Richard T]

Use carpet tiles - if one gets really dirty bin it and put a new one down. We laid the ones on Tyto on top of the existing vinyl. I was in a fortunate position where I had access to sample tiles for free so I accepted a patchwork pattern. The tiles are all in the same colour area like blue/grey.

[cuthound]

The two sharebiatscwe had both used Flotex carpet tiles. Both sets lasted at least 10-12 years (we sold the share before they wore out).

Brilliant things, oil resistant, survive hot coals being dropped on them with only minor marking, but not cheap.

[ditchcrawler]

Our galley has Flotex tiles. I don't think you could wear them out. We used Flotex offshore in the accommodation for years. In the lounge I have second hand carpet tiles in that they came from some exhibition some where. They carpet the halls for maybe a week and then take them all up again, there are companies that do this and then sell them on, very heavy duty.

[LadyG]

What about below the carpet ................ would an ideal floor incorporate insulation and a moisture barrier, I was thinking about thinsulate which is flexible, but there must be other options .

I fancy Westbond FR which is used in luxury cabins on board ship. It mentions insulation thermal  and acoustic.

Edited November 27, 2017 by LadyG

[lampini]

Anyone used cork tiles with any success? 

[peterboat]

I am just refitting a boat I gutted I am putting in underfloor insulation and underfloor heating for all the reasons above I hate cold floors and feet!!!! Plus the underfloor heating frees up wall space from rads

[LadyG]

14 hours ago, Arthur Marshall said:

I've got carpet tiles throughout, and cold feet in winter.  There's about a three inch gap under the floorboards where the pacing stone ballast used to sit and I did wonder about just filling this space with expanding foam both as a support to the slightly bouncy boards and as insulation.  Is this air gap really necessary?

What about bags of polystyrene beads, they would not absorb moisture, and would be removeable if you ever needed access: the foam sounds like a good idea, but you don;t know what is going on below it. I wonder about the bouncy floor, I assume it is not a desirable feature, esp if you want carpet tiles.

Would the foam  be quite expensive for large areas?

Having removed a lot of ballast, is there instability in the vessel ie does it now tip from side to side ?

Edited November 27, 2017 by LadyG

[WotEver]

The bouncy floor will be due to an insufficient  number of joists. Insulation isn’t going to help it much and using foam to completely fill the void is a very poor idea. 

[BWM]

1 hour ago, lampini said:

Anyone used cork tiles with any success? 

The downsides of cork tiles are that they are quite often slippery when wet, can attract ground in dirt and worst of all, are a nightmare to remove if you need to replace them. 

[LadyG]

16 minutes ago, BWM said:

The downsides of cork tiles are that they are quite often slippery when wet, can attract ground in dirt and worst of all, are a nightmare to remove if you need to replace them. 

and they are very 1970's

[Tonka]

Two tiles strapped to your feet

[LadyG]

9 minutes ago, Tonka said:

Two tiles strapped to your feet

Two sheep strapped to your feet with the harness 

 

Edited November 27, 2017 by LadyG

[rustydiver]

when i put my carpet tiles down i put down some of that polystyrene foil backed stuff under them, I'm not sure if its made any difference to it,haven't had anything to compare it to, i walk around in my socks most off the time without getting cold feet.

When its really cold i just wear a pair of old mans slippers and keep my feet toasty.

[36national]

slippers

 

 

[LadyG]

I had a Morris Minor 1949: heater was an optional extra, it blew cold air directly on the feet, so I borrowed the farmers wellies and filled them with straw. That worked for about forty minutes, then you had to change the straw.

[nbfiresprite]

I used 10mm Wool Insulation Felt Carpet Underlay fixed in place with double sided tape, with carpet tiles on top.  The insulation rating is 3.4 tog.

Wool Heat Insulation Felt Carpet Underlay

One roll will cover 15 sqm, The added advanage of using carpet tiles is that you can remove and jet wash them.

[ditchcrawler]

3 hours ago, LadyG said:

and they are very 1970's

Yes I have them in the Heads.

 

[Machpoint005]

5 hours ago, lampini said:

Anyone used cork tiles with any success? 

Yes, but only in the bathroom. They have approximately umpteen coats of varnish on them.

[devongirl76]

When I bought mine in Jan I the old carpet was disgusting. So got a carpet layer friend to pop over. He laid new bog standard underlay (though my floor didn't have gaps) and an offcut of dark grey speckled carpet. Hides everything really well, small offcuts in front of the fire that are easy to replace and only cost £70.00 in total so happy to replace in a few years if needs be.

Perfectly warm and toasty (and certainly better than the vinyl in the kitchen which is bloomin' freezing! And like you we get on at the back so mainly 'living' stains we had to worry about