# Jon boat deck - Carpet vs Bed Liner



## goatchze (Aug 1, 2006)

Well, I've been in the process of replacing the deck in my jon boat. The PO had decked it from the front seat to the bow, using all wood construction. Quite heavy and, since only the plywood deck itself was treated wood, the thing was already beginning to rot. (2 yrs)

So I pulled it out and weighed it....150 lbs worth of deck. Whew! Between my fat butt, the motor, fuel, coolers...yeah, that thing was loaded down.

After scrapping the old deck I decided to put in a new, better one. Having the deck up there where it's easy to stand, cast, throw a net, etc. was really nice.

So I went with an aluminum structure, riveted to the boat. I only used wood for the deck itself and coated it with resin. Total weight, 50 lbs. For a regular ol' 1436 Jon boat, 100 lbs is a lot!

But now my question is this, what to put on the deck? The original plan was to carpet it like the old one, but now I'm debating about painting on a bed liner (like Herculiner) instead? I certainly can't leave it as is, or I'll slip and break my neck on the wood.

What are the pros and cons of each?


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## jason101 (Aug 18, 2005)

Carpet and fish slime don't mix well. Neither does all the "stuff" you pull up with a cast net.

Bed liner all the way...

Jason


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## bluegill addict (Aug 13, 2005)

Cool deck.


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## wolverine (May 29, 2004)

Looks good, going to put a center console on it?


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## Capt. Lowtide (Jun 30, 2004)

Academy has some rubberized paint on liner for under $20, I think it is enough to cover an 8X8 area. Nice engineering there on your deck with good weight savings.


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## chunk and reel (Apr 19, 2007)

I just recently rebuilt all of the decks on my Aluminum boat. Instead of carpet I went with the Non Skid Marine Grade Paint from West Marine. I had it out on Baffin a couple of weeks ago, and loved it. It was not slippery at all. I was a little worried that without some kind clear coat the paint might chip easily, but we fished all weekend and there is not a chip in the paint. The best part is that you can just pull up to the car wash and rinse it out.


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## Hardbait (Jul 31, 2007)

jason101 said:


> Carpet and fish slime don't mix well. Neither does all the "stuff" you pull up with a cast net.
> 
> Bed liner all the way...
> Jason[/QUOTE
> ...


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## WestEndAngler (Jan 30, 2007)

I did carpet... here is a link to my pictures on my 1/2 arse jon boat project... we did the carpet and never had a problem with slime, duck blood came right out, even the dog got sick one time...

http://www.fishwestend.com/index.php?option=com_zoom&Itemid=38&catid=16


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## goatchze (Aug 1, 2006)

Thanks for the advice! The way things work out, I think I'm going to go with a paint on solution. Since I have 7 individual panels that need to be covered, I think carpeting would be a real pain. Just wasn't sure how good bed liner worked out.

Looks like it's over to academy to check out the rubber paint stuff and, if I don't like how it looks, over to o'reilly for the bed liner.

(paint from West Marine is out for me...too far of a drive)

Thanks to all!


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## goatchze (Aug 1, 2006)

wolverine said:


> Looks good, going to put a center console on it?


Center console? LOL. This thing is still tiller control!


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## Electric Mullet (Mar 18, 2008)

Nice Deck! Good luck with the liner.


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## BeachCityBoy (May 27, 2007)

I would suggest "SafeFloor" in Pearland... http://www.safe-floor.com/

My 16 foot Custom Flat (some call them a Boatright)


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## millertym_1978 (Apr 13, 2006)

2nd for safe floor cant wait to get it on my boatright....


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## cfred (Jun 13, 2004)

God this makes me miss my old john boat! I loved that thing.


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## txpoboy (Feb 27, 2008)

Great Lookin Rig!



BeachCityBoy said:


> I would suggest "SafeFloor" in Pearland... http://www.safe-floor.com/
> 
> My 16 foot Custom Flat (some call them a Boatright)


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## TxAdam (Jun 28, 2007)

Another motion for Safe-Floor!! Just picked up my old bass boat from Ed's shop and it looks AWESOME!! After seeing his work, I'll never again have carpet in my boats.


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## FISHNNUTT (Oct 27, 2007)

whats the cost factor on the Safe Floor?


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## hounddog (Nov 12, 2006)

if your going to do the roll/spray bedliner,check out DURABAK. it is some good stuff and can get in multiple colors . a little more expensive


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## redfish bayrat (Feb 17, 2006)

BeachCityBoy said:


> I would suggest "SafeFloor" in Pearland... http://www.safe-floor.com/
> 
> My 16 foot Custom Flat (some call them a Boatright)


Sweet looking boat. I have carpet and plywood in mine. Going on 10 years on the wood floors. Thinking of replacing them with aluminum decking and tearing up the carpet.

How well does the covering you have dissapate the heat in summer? Bare metal gets very hot down here. That's the reason I went with carpet.


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## wannaBfishin (Dec 6, 2009)

X10 on the Safefloor! This is my second boat with it. NOTHING comes close!
Nice boat!


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## ML56 (Dec 30, 2008)

If your dead set on paint you can make it non-skin by using an old spice jar(seasoned salt type) filled with coarse sand after you have the wet paint on. It sticks well and you can control the amount of texture well with the shaker, if you do wear a smooth spot in it after a year or two, a little more paint and sand and your all patched up.Works with fiberglass resin too if you want a really tuff waterproof finish.-Mike


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## Figfarmer (Nov 25, 2007)

Looking at the Safefloor website, it looks like they install what ever it is like carpet. I've never seen it before so I have no clue . Is it a spray-on, paint on or layed on like carpet product?? I have a 14' aluminum that needs a coating of something.


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