Fastening deck to frame work

Hey Guys,

Looking for some advise about fastening the plywood decking to the frame work underneath. Do you recommend bolting/screwing the deck to the frame around the entire casting deck? Is there a way to avoid having the bolt/screws show? Do you bolt the deck down and then add carpet and if so, are you wrapping the carpet or just cutting it to fit on the surface?

Thanks for the help.

There are a couple of ways to attach the decking. I used decking lag self tapping screws (#14 x 2-1/2"). I wasn't worried about the heads of them showing, so I carpeted, then attached the decking.

You can counter sink the heads into the wood, then fill with wood putty or leave it as it is, then carpet over it. If you do it like that, you can even run the carpet up the sides of the boat using spray contact cement.

Thanks Russ, I appreciate the advise. I think I am just going to screw it down after carpeting. I figure that I can get away with 8 screws (4 a side) to hold the deck down. Do you think this is adaquate? You had mentioned spray on glue. Can you tell me the type that you have used? Do you think it will be available in Canada?

I didn't use any glue on my carpet. I think the glue that people are using is some kind of contact spray OR spray adhesive... it's sticky as crap - If you have a Home Depot or some other hardware store you should be able to get it... just look around in the carpeting section or where they keep things like I probably should have, but I didn't have the patience to wait and do it. I stapled the carpet to the back of the plywood, then screwed that down. I would think that 4 screws down each side would be just fine. You'll know when you stand on it whether or not you will need more.