Paint or Varnish

[gah319]

OK, so I am getting the wood decking cutout and dry fit. Most of it will be covered with carpet. The underside of the floor will be varnished. The top side of the floor will be partly carpeted (where you can stand on it) and partly painted (under the benches). So my question is under the carpet area can I just paint instead of doing the spar varnish? I will be using a HVLP sprayer to put on the paint so I can get multiple light coats on. Will the carpet glue hold over time? Should I varnish everything and then paint over that? I'm about a week away from this step, so chime on in...

 

[lckstckn2smknbrls]

On the floor of my boat I did oil based spar on top and bottom and rustoleum oil paint on top. Some say if you use oil paint you don't need the spar. Cant help with the carpet but I would think outdoor carpet adhesive should stick.

 

[gah319]

The paint I am using is the rustoleum boat top paint. Using a white for inside all of the compartments and then a gray for all of the areas that are visible.

 

[ccm]

If your going to do carpet I recommend using contact cement over outdoor carpet adhesive. My Dad and Uncle have redone a couple bass boats and the outdoor carpet adhesive type glue doesn't hold up over time plus the contact cement will pretty much stick to anything ( aluminum, fiberglass, wood, decks and deck lids. ) Don't use the hook and loop indoor/outdoor carpet; the first time you get a fishing hook in it you'll pull the entire runner out and that is just a terrible letdown after you put in all the work to do a nice carpeting job. A decent marine grade carpet should last 8-10 years. One thing about contact cement is once it sticks it's pretty much there ( not a lot of room for error ) so it's important to take your time with it. A 20ft bass boat can be knocked out in a weekend so a smaller boat, maybe a day or nice afternoon. Trust me it's worth it in the end and all your buddies will be jealous of your boats interior vs. theirs.