Mariner flooring project

[Agriman]

I'm looking to replace the carpet in our 1998 350 Mariner with some type of wood flooring in the salon area. This area has 3 floor hatches to deal with. Has anyone done this with good success? I would love to see some pictures and get some ideas.

Thanks

[Lyndon670]

So, I did this with my Bayliner 3450 Avanti about 10 years ago and had the same issue. I came up with a work around that worked perfectly, was super easy to install - but was a pain in the ass to set up. I'll explain.

First, I went to the local dollar store and bought a pile of white 3x4 sheets of cheap bristol board (construction or project paper). I then laid it out all over my existing floor, trimmed the edges and used duct tape to join the pieces together. I removed the hatches in the floor and used an exacto knife to cut the holes into the bristol board where the hatches were. I used the exacto knife to cut around the bulkeads and built in furniture.

When I was done, I had an exact template of my floor. I then took this template home and stapled this template to 4x8 sheets of thin plywood and cut the plywood as per the template. I cut and glued laminate flooring ontop of the plywood, leaving the openings for the hatches clear. The I also cut a piece(s) of plywood to fit the hatches and cut and glued the laminate to the pieces of plywood on the hatches.

When finished, I was able to put the run of plywood/laminate flooring into the back of my truck, supported it with 2x4s and transported it to my boat. With the help of a buddy, I turned the floor template on its side and carried it into the cabin. I flipped it over and onto the floor and it was an instant perfect fit. The hatches were then dropped down into the holes. I screwed the floor down and was done. The beauty of doing it this way was that i could do all of the construction at home an dthe actual install at the boat was under 20 minutes.

Hope this helps!

[Agriman]

Thanks Lyndon, I installed the laminate on the floor and cut out the hatches but I don't like the look of the hatches without some kind of borders around them. I did frame them but they make for good toe stubbers if not careful.
Thanks, Agriman