$35,000 quote for Amtico for a little over 430 square feet

[RonNP]

The carpet in my boat is getting worn so I decided I'd get a quote to have Amtico teak and holly installed. The first carpeting/flooring guy came by and said my boat was too complicated so he would take a pass. Surprised me but if he doesn't want my money he doesn't. The only quote I've gotten so far is for $35,000 for the entire boat. This is just for the interior. The boat has one set of stairs going from the salon to the master cabin and another 5 stairs going from the salon to the galley. Beyond that the floors are regular floors. I have carpeting in the entire boat with the exception of the helm and galley which has the original Hatteras parquet flooring.
I just about spit out my coffee when I got the quote. I think I'm just going to use new carpeting at this quote was insane. I can get my 12V71TI rebuilt for the amount of coin. The boat is a 1987 63' MY that last had flooring put in around 7 years ago. Thoughts?

Ron

 

[Cricket]

The outfit that provided the $35k quote doesn't want the job either. Keep trying.

 

[Pascal]

You must have used the word "yacht" at some point in the conversation....

I recently paid $8 per sq ft for T&H Amtico, so for you 430 sq ft that would be around $3500/4000 with the glue... Yes, it is a time consuming job but even if it would take a week to do the whole boat.... That s just plain stupid.

 

[Freeebird]

The first thought that came to mind when I read this thread title was, Diesel Don does Amtico now? LOL

 

[SeaEric]

Take a look at http://www.nautikflor.com/ We just had some installed in a Nordic Tug here and it really looks nice. Amtico is a great product but IMHO is a labor intensive PIA to install.

 

[Pascal]

That looks very promising, how does it compare to Amtico aesthetically ? Amtico is a real pita to install....

A quick search shows that it's pretty close in cost about $10 per sq ft

 

[SEVEN]

Ron, go with a darker carpet. The near white you have is to hard to maintain. I love the hard wood but in the living area keep it warm and comfortable. You could re carpet the boat 8 times before spending that kind of money.

 

[DCMY #92]

I agree the $35k number is ridiculous, but this flooring is tedious to install correctly. It also requires a perfectly level sub-surface. I had it installed in our 41 DCMY. I can't tell you what it cost because its buried in other costs associated with the installation. The cabin sole in our 50 year old Hat was sagging and irregular in many places. While the Amteako was expensive, it cost even more to rebuild the structure around the engine room hatches and support and level the floor before the installation.

 

[Bugsy]

43 convertible. My wife....with no prior experience....installed Amtico in our salon and two staterooms over cork and plywood subflooring. The entire job took 3 days max. Not a MY but still.......

 

[Bugsy]

Should have added....GREAT job!!!

 

[34Hatt]

Should have added....GREAT job!!! and a Great Wife!!!!!

I fixed it for you

 

[jpk55]

I got a quote that was probably from the an outfit in Suffolk County, NY. Same price. I choked too.
still looking for someone.

 

[Plan B2]

Thanks to input on this forum i installed Amtico myself. I got lucky and obtained solid mahogony boards that were wide enough for the stair treads. MikeP has written some excellent "how to" on the subject.

 

[jim rosenthal]

Keep looking and look at the flooring Eric recommended. If he says it looks good, it does.

 

[RonNP]

Take a look at http://www.nautikflor.com/ We just had some installed in a Nordic Tug here and it really looks nice. Amtico is a great product but IMHO is a labor intensive PIA to install.

Who did you get to install the nautikfloor? It looks nice. I'm on the west coast and don't know if there is an installer here for that product.

Thanks!

 

[PeterK]

Think I have intimated before I was a flooring contractor for the majority of my career. 35K is obscene. Carpet labor is always high for a boat but a tile type floor is not anywhere near as large a labor premium and materials are not marked up additioanlly as we too accustomed to seeing for most items labeled "Marine". The small feature strips re more costly but not an inordinate amount.

Someone posted floor needs to be level- not quite true- it must be flat. High spots ground down and low spots filled. Bots do present some issues on materials suitable for doing this.

I personally would be a bit leery of the Nautikflor as I am not a big fan of "click" type floorings. My second career was as a forensic flooring consultant, i.e. I assess fault in floor failures. I have always called click type floors job security

 

[Pascal]

Peter, can you elaborate on what the issues with "click" flooring? For Marine use they recommend gluing so I m not sure what issues the click assembly would create once glued.

I got an email from Nautikflor quoting $9.90 per sq ft which is pretty reasonable.

 

[SeaEric]

Who did you get to install the nautikfloor? It looks nice. I'm on the west coast and don't know if there is an installer here for that product.

Thanks!

A local guy named Eric Jans who has lots of boat/cabinet/flooring install experience. Several members here know his work. He had no problems at all with the install.

 

[PeterK]

Click floors usually do not use glue and are a "floating" (I'm mot making this up allthough it does sound like a good idea for a boat ) where an underlayment pad is installed over the substrate (which as said before must be flat) and the weight of the floor holds it in place. The floor can expand and contract based on moisture content (more applicable to wood and HPL floors thn a vinyl product). Care must be taken to have the proper expansion space at the permiter and to not have anything permanenetly installed on the floor (no nails or screws through the flooring, including fasteners for the wall base or shoe moldings.) I saw on their site in one sentence they state use glue but in the video they do not.

The issues I have seen, and again bear in mind I have spent the last 20 years primarily looking at complaints and failures, are:
Uneven subfloors
Deflection of substrate (up and down movement between joists)
Floor being pinned to substrate (nails, screws, even counters installed on top). Note: appliances and furniture are fine and do not impede the shriik and swell of the floor.
Broken locking mechanisms, i.e. the "click" components. They can break for too numerous reasons than to list here.

Specifically on Nautikflor, I have zero first hand knowledge. They may well have built a better mousetrap which would be great. If you use this product I would get in writing if glue is needed or not to assure you don't void any warranty (yes, many flooring manufacturers do look very hard for any means to avoid their culpabilty- big shock I'm sure...) I am merely trying to put out some information of similar materials I have very extensive first hand experience with. I again offer my opinion that with the all the types of movement boats experience, I am leery of this.

 

[Pascal]

Good info. Thanks.

On the site they recommend floating for shore based installations but glued with the glue they supply for marine installations. They quoted me for the supplied glue.