Has anyone found a nice type of flooring to put down on the Parker 27 or SS26, i believe the 275 are the nice wood floors but my earlier P27 is the obligatory piece of carpet which just gets damp and dirty anyone found any nice laminates or anything else.

Sean

Being cheapskates we use B&Q bathroom carpet. It is very hard wearing, waterproof and the rubber backing sticks well to the steel floor in our 275.

This was recommended by Walter & Chris Brown. I would recommed also. It can be renewed every 2 years or so for about £50 and therefore looks very new!

Tim

Hi Sean, We too used bathroom carpet from a local warehouse - Im sure it was less than even £50!

I cleaned and flo-coated the steel floor then dewaxed the flo coat. the carpet we chose was all polypropylene and had a felt back which is secured to sole in stratigic places using carpet tape designed for felt.

It has been in place two years and is still going strong.

Cheers, ChrisN/P27 Artemis

How did you flocoat it, did you use gelcoat, the steel plate in my boat needs a bit of tlc so i could do it all in one if the flocoats easy.

Sean,

My experience suggests that a non-absorbant free draining carpet works well. We still have the same carpet that Bill supplied to our boat in 1982.

It is the polypropylene type dense matting .. the type you used to get in the form of carpet tiles. It has no backing so water can evaporate through the open structure freely. Any accumulation of salt and dirt is readily removed with strong hosing since the jet passes through it. Because it is non absorbant it dries quickly.

It is incredibly hard wearing. We have sailed a lot in the 27 years it has been down.

We have used Kurust(Hammerite)on the small number of rusty patches on the floor which appeared one year after an unfortunate salty swamp.

Chris Turner, Elsa 26 (103)

hi Sean, re flo coat, i cleaned off all the rust (there was plenty) with abrasive wheel then used international intercoat on the steel. This went 'funny' in a few places where there appeared to be some residual adhesive from long ago. Cleaned off and redid the intercoat so all looked reasonable then used flo coat white (from CFS supplies cornwall, but get it anywhere). Flocoat has its own wax so you get a proper hard set on surface. The wax can be removed when flo coat hard then you can use carpet tape where useful to fix carpet (- you can abrade flocoat like gelcoat to get better adhesion and to remove any bumps or peaks.)

i agree with previous about using 'open non absorbent' carpet - make sure it is water resistant and Polyprop type. Ours can be removed easily to clean though so far the dyson has coped.

Most important is to ensure good airflow through boat when unattended - I have fitted a dorado in chain/anchor locker lid, with a 4inch hatch inside locker on side which ventilates volume under deck infront of forward cabin. the gaps around the forward bulkhead allows airpassage from this through the boat and out of the washboard vent.

As a result the boat keeps fresh all the time - little condensation etc hence no mildew or smells. The hatch is sealed when sailing.

BTW flocoat is also great for getting rid of rough glass tape finishes inside lockers etc - eg under the seats, just coat thickly, and the sole in the heads seems much better with a good flocoat and some caravan type soft plastic carpet!

Excellent replys, thanks all, very interested in the flo coat method as i need to sort out the steel plate anyway.

Any one else have any suggestions.