Carpet tiles for quarterberths?

[Sailordoc]

Hi all,

I've recently bought a Westerly Berwick, which has a fair amount of mould in the starboard quarterberth, and collapsing lining in the port one. I've fixed the source of the mould (unfilled holes from an autohelm fitting by previous owner) but had to strip out the lining to treat fibreglass and use fungicide.

I'm now debating what to reline the quarterberths with. Carpet has been used by a previous owner in fore cabin, and this seems to work OK. It strikes me that rubber backed carpet tiles would seem to be easier to work with than rolls of carpet or rolls of vinyl, but thought I should seek the wisdom of the Forum before committing!

Best wishes,

Dennis

[Uncle Albert]

I relined my q'berths using some really cheap corduroy(!) ribbed carpet in a fetching shade of beige (from Carpet Right), It had a synthetic backing rather than rubber and was easy to cut a shape around curves. Also being relatively thin it was easy to encourage round tighter corners too. Once all the old Westerly backing was removed I used carpet spray adhesive to attach it progressively along the berth. The trick is not to try and do too much at a time say about 6 - 9 inch run. Only necessary to spray adhesive onto the boat and work reasonably promptly to attach the carpet.

Only did the sides in this manner. Roof parts were attached to ply panels and retained by extended bolts which were already being used to fix the cockpit teak seat slats.

Sorry no pictures available to explain further. But I am happy with it and nothing has come detached in the 5 years since I did the work.

Oh and must mention the strange effect the adhesive fumes had on me. So be sure to open all the hatches to get an airflow through when using. Had a feeling of enibriatedness for at least 24 hours after installing. Whahoooo!!

[Sailordoc]

Thanks for this. I'll look into carpet for relining

[Nigel Birch]

I always use my 3M face mask that filters any solvent fumes & particulates when I'm messing around doing headlining....

[rhumlady]

Agreed about the 3M face mask. At around £15 or so it is worth having one on standby for these type of jobs. Working with contact adhesives even with all the hatches open is not a good idea especially if you are on your own.

[Sailordoc]

Just a quick update in case it help people searching in the future. I eventually went for adhesive backed carpet from Hawke House:
http://www.hawkehouse.co.uk/linings/sel ... ining.html

Fairly easy to apply and so far so good. Time will tell I guess

[ndt228]

Final (?) piece of advice re solvent fumes, confined spaces etc. Avoid alcohol before/during/after such work (same day). It can change (increase) the tendancy of your body to absorb fumes, and the distribution of whatever may already have been absorbed. I knew someone once who had a lunchtime pint after using some paint-stripper that morning. He went from feeling fine to very sick (thumping headache) quite quickly, and was wiped out for the rest of the day........