Carpet backing. Found a good fix for under $50

[SeaNile]

The black rubber backing on my cockpit carpets is pretty bad and sticking to the deck now.  Some fibers are exposed and some of the pieces have very little rubber left.  The topside of the carpets is in decent shape and I don't think I'm ready for new carpets.  I googled a few things and came up with this great inexpensive fix and found a lot of positive feedback from the clubsearay.com site.  Turns out Plasti Dip, available at most hardware stores like Lowes, is a great rubber like product that can be spread with roller or foam brush.  Took about an hour to scrub the backing with a wire brush and a little over an hour to tape the edges then apply the Plasti Dip.  I have before and after pics and will post later today.

Sorry if this has been discussed before but for under $50 I'm going to get several more years out of my carpets now.

John

[Lifes Good]

Excellent!  I have a new project!

Thank you,

LG

[SeaNile]

Here are a few before and after.  You can get really critical and try to make everything perfect but I was shooting for no exposed fibers and a decent amount of rubber on all parts.  If I kept adding coats everything would be smooth and even.  Maybe I'll add one more think coat in April before they go back into the boat.

I used 3 cans on Plasti Dip at under $7 per can. 









After one coat


Finished....for now

[PartsMan]

Better be carefull! I used a rubberized undercoating on my carpets. With the sun warming up the carpets the backing stuck the the floor. Made for a hell of a clean up. I would put down a small section to make sure it doesn't happen to this product. Good luck and keep us posted on how it works out.

[SeaNile]

Better be carefull! I used a rubberized undercoating on my carpets. With the sun warming up the carpets the backing stuck the the floor. Made for a hell of a clean up. I would put down a small section to make sure it doesn't happen to this product. Good luck and keep us posted on how it works out.

There are over a dozen people over on clubsearay.com who have done this and so far they love it and have no issues.  I think the longest so far is 3 years that the Plasti Dip has been the carpets and it is still holding up well, even when rolled up and stored.

Believe me, I wouldn't be the first to try this out!!

[DaleM]

Also heard that white elastomeric/rubberized roof coating works too.  A gallon is about $15.

[pepmyster]

  :thumbsup:Great idea!

[Boatin Bill]

I did mine 2 seasons a go with the same stuff.  Works
 great!  The biggest pain is just cleaning the old rubber off the floor

[boataway]

brilliant! thanks for the tip!

[Babyboomer]

I had new carpet made 2 years ago and I omited the rubber back carpet dries very fast looks great. I used Shaw brand marine carpet. Just a hint when you replace stay as light colored as possible, we chose a light brown and it was very hot the 1st year has faded a little now and it's OK I just didn't want grey again but now I know why Rinker chose that color.