How to Make Snap-In Woven Vinyl Boat Flooring

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Add softness underfoot on your boat's deck or cabin by installing a stylish, luxury woven vinyl flooring. Vinyl flooring is a great alternative to traditional boat carpet because it is stain resistant, quick drying, antimicrobial and easy to clean. We recently installed Infinity Luxury Woven Vinyl™ Flooring on the bridge deck of our powerboat project, a 1982 Regal Ambassador 245XL. Watch our step-by-step video to see how to pattern and install your own snap-in woven vinyl flooring.
Video Chapters:
  • Patterning Floor – 00:41 min.
  • Considering Splits & Nesting – 9:57 min.
  • Cutting Flooring to Size – 15:32 min.
  • Gluing Sections Together – 21:39 min.
  • Cutting Holes Around Obstacles – 27:48 min.
  • Installing Snaps – 30:26 min.
  • Materials List – 33:05 min.
Materials List:
  • Filament Strapping Tape 3/4" – #5643
  • Seamstick 3/8" Basting Tape for Canvas (50 yds.) – #129
  • Dura-Skrim® Patterning Material 74" – #103134
  • Infinity Luxury Woven Vinyl™ Flooring Oat 8'6" – #120226
  • HH-66 Vinyl Cement 8 oz. – #1129
  • Shelter-Rite® Beige 61" Fabric – #112014
  • #5 Spur Grommet 5/8" (Brass) – #26312
  • Trimmable Butyl Tape 1" (30 Feet) – #103689
  • DOT® Snap Fastener Cloth-to-Surface Set 3/8" Screw (Stainless Steel) – #444002
Tools List:
  • Gingher® 8" Scissors Right Handed – #19104
  • Sailrite® Clear Acrylic Ruler 6" x 24" – #102400
  • Sailrite® Self Healing Double-Sided Cutting Mat 24" x 36" – #123113
  • Comfort Grip Rotary Cutter 60mm – #965511
  • Scratch Awl Yellow – #235411
  • Sailrite® Canvas Patterning Ruler – #107040
  • Sailrite® #5 Hole Cutter 5/8" – #18216
  • Sailrite® Cutting Block & Die Holder – #121597
  • #5 Spur Grommet Die Set 5/8" – #85171
  • Barry King Mallet Hammer Style 3# – #68563
  • Pres-N-Snap Installation Tool – #109011
  • Marker, Straightedge, Drill, Drill Bits, Phillips-Head Screwdriver
How to Make Snap in Woven Vinyl Boat Flooring 3

The goal for this project was to make removable flooring that would still have a streamlined, wall-to-wall look. To do this, we created our flooring in two large pieces that are glued together using HH-66 Vinyl Cement. Then the flooring will be secured by snaps around the perimeter of the deck. We chose not to add binding around the edges of the flooring for this application, since the mat runs in a largely continuous piece right up to the sides of the boat. If your flooring pieces were more segmented, you’d then likely want to add binding. You can see that process in our video “How to Replace Boat Carpet with Woven Flooring” (#200674XHT).

How to Make Snap in Woven Vinyl Boat Flooring 2

A key to making this project successful is to pattern very carefully. In the video, we spend a lot of time carefully laying out the patterning material and keeping detailed notes on it. We also test fit both the cut-to-size patterning material and the Infinity flooring itself before installing the snaps to ensure we have the best fit possible. Also included in the video is a discussion on how to make the most of your fabric, which is 8 feet, 6 inches wide and sold by the running yard so that you can have the least amount of waste.

This project is part of our Regal Ambassador 245XL Powerboat Makeover series