My DIY of the SeaDek sheet material I got

[drewkaree]

I'm not eligible for the SeaDek discount due to the non-standard color, so I figured if I bought a small sheet of it, I could test out how easy it would be to do my own on a few small areas. I bought the sheet from Amazon, cost at this time is $50 for a piece that was 18" x 38". I can also get two other sizes, 18" x 74" for $80, and 40" x 80" for $150. Pricing seems to be fixed across the board, no matter who you choose, so go with whoever ends up being the least expensive for you after shipping and tax and whatnot. For doing the cockpit area of my boat, I believe I can complete this with $500 in material. That may change slightly, since I haven't measured everything yet, but it's my belief that I shouldn't exceed $600 for what I want to do.

The wife character agreed with me that the OEM carpet of the 2019 AR210 was hotter than hell (your model and/or carpet may be just fine, but the stuff supplied with MY boat was most definitely NOT). We removed the carpet after the first week of having the boat tied up to the pier, and in full sun, and it hasn't gone back in since. I was considering going with the group buy from Will last year, but as the year wore on, I was noticing how easily the gray on the swim platform would get all crapped up, and in reading a few threads here, others noticed the same thing and went with different colors. I ordered a fistful of samples from SeaDek, and when they arrived, I let the wife look at them and decide what she would like. She liked 5 different colors, and when I reminded her of cleaning the swim platform, she quickly narrowed it down to 3, all of them blue. We "tested" all of them out, and the aqua camo is what we were satisfied with, so that ruled us out of any group buy.

I finally got around this year to cutting up the sheet that I had purchased, after I was trying to jump in the boat from the trailer, and busting my ass up sliding all over. I have a cutlist program that will spit out the best way to divvy up sheet goods based on the input of the measurements you give - I use this a lot for plywood. Dunno if they have an iOS version for Apple, but if you've got an Android, the program is called CutList Optimizer. It's also available on the web, but I found it easier to take my phone into the boat and enter my measurements in as I took them. I originally wanted to do the foot rest at the helm area, but I figured I could do 3 smaller pieces that would give me a better feel for whether I'd be able to do this or not. I chose to do the step-over spot between the stern seats, the area of the removable seat in the stern (I have never put this seat cushion back in since we first removed it), and the step in the bow right between the two cup holders. This would give me one "easy" piece (seat cushion piece), one "medium" difficulty piece (the step-over), and one "difficult" piece (the bow step). I figured the bow piece would definitively indicate whether this would be something I could tackle, or let me know whether I would want to give up at that point, and just pay Will for his expertise. For whatever reason, I went with the medium difficulty piece first, and today I finished the difficult bow piece, and I'm confident enough to post this, and I've decided to go ahead and tackle this job myself. This post isn't the whole boat, it's simply the process I used to do the difficult bow piece, and I thought it might be helpful to some of you to see how I did this. If you're not a patient person, I promise you that your money will be well spent by having Will do the work for you, cutting out all these pieces. This also clearly won't be the type of project with the teak look, since the aqua camo doesn't seem to be made like that.

On with the show. First, I remove the cup holders. Screw the trim ring counterclockwise, and pull that off, then 3 screws to remove, and you've got yourself a hole! I tried doing this a few weeks ago without removing the cupholders, and it was less than stellar results. In doing this, I also learned that they didn't seal underneath these cup holders at all, and there's some bare wood showing, as well as the fiberglass edges, so I think I'll be caulking these down in the very near future, or perhaps some 4200 to cover everything and seal the cup holders down to the deck.

(My hotspot is crapping out on me right now, so I've gotta add pics as I'm able to, hopefully I won't lose all the text when I try to post this)





Templating for this is pretty easy, since the traction pattern molded into the deck transmits easily through some paper. The wife had some thanksgiving stuff left over, but regular old printer paper or a legal pad will do just fine. You don't need card stock, you simply need something to get a general shape. Tape a few pieces together to cover the area you need to create a template for, tape it all down so it's nice and smooth and lays properly on the deck, then take a pencil and rub over the paper. The traction pattern nubs will be highlighted, giving you a perfect shape that you're wanting to cover with SeaDek. I used masking tape to hold the pieces together, and it didn't work as nicely in the taped areas, but it will suffice for what I need it to do. I MAY try to get a roll of butcher paper so I won't have to tape things together for the larger pieces, but with this little experiment here, it's not a must-have item. As you can see, with the cup holders removed, I can easily trace over that area and get a better template, than if I had left them in place, and tried to trace around the cup holders.






Take your rough template and put it on something nice to work on - I used a piece of XPS insulation. I also use this to cut the pieces. It gives the SeaDek some backing/support, as well as allowing me to run the cutter right into it, ending in a nice clean cut. To get the baseline of the template, you simply connect the "dots" of the traction pattern. This will give you the basic shape. When you're done with that, you will need to decide how much of a border to add to your template to give you the coverage you desire. In this case, the line outlining the dots is how large my final piece will be, and I also used the trim ring from the cup holder to outline a nice circle in that area. This doesn't have to be perfect, but it will help if you try your best to maintain a steady hand when drawing/outlining that line. In my case, I used a scribing tool (accuscribe from FastCap), and I simply used the pointed end to follow the outline of the traction pattern, and I spaced the pencil to the amount that I wanted, which gave me a nice evenly spaced line. My scribing tool is shown in another picture further down. Whatever you use, you want an even and consistent distance from your tracing.




When you've got your shape reasonably close, flip your rough template over and thoroughly tape the area where your cuts are going to be. This will give you a nice edge after everything is cut, because you're going to need to trace your template onto the SeaDek, and NOT doing this may result in your pen/pencil wandering all over - it's just gonna be a lot easier if you tape this, trust me on this one. Here, you can see the fancy paper my wife gave me. This doesn't have to be perfect, you just want your tape to cover the area where all the cut lines are going to be.



Cut out your template. If you have some etch-a-sketch looking lines, here's your chance to fix them. Here, you can see how the template is looking like it's nearing completion. I have noticed with some other stuff (decals, window clings, etc), that sharp points are death in the long run for your material, so I'm gonna round off those sharp points you see in this pic. You may also notice that it looks like there's some crap edges there, and you'll see in the end result that either they get cleaned up along the way in this process, or it's an optical illusion. I'm going to say that when all is said and done, it got cleaned up in the process.




Prior to rounding off those sharp points, I did a test fit to see how everything was looking at this time, and to get an idea of how much I wanted to round the points off. It's a nice fit so far




Here, you can see how I rounded those points off. I used a piece of 3/4" PEX to give it a nice shape, put it right up to the lines, and added the rounded corners to eliminate a potential trouble spot of my new installation. After this, take the scissors and cut the rounded edge of your paper template




Here's the final outcome of my template, and here's the scribing tool I used. It's simply a fancy compass, "improved" for cabinet installations and woodworking trim. I forgot to take a pic of transferring the template dimensions to the back of the SeaDek, but what I did after finishing the template shown in this pic was to take some of the wife's pins and run them through the template and SeaDek, and into the XPS, so my hands would be free to hold the template while I traced around the template edges. I used a super-fine Sharpie - not the kind with the big felt end. Use whatever works for you, but the sharpie was the only thing I could find that would work on the backing paper. If you only have the felt-tipped-pen type of Sharpie, I'd suggest holding the edge of the template flat, and going over the edge of the template onto the backing paper, to transfer the template dimensions onto the backing paper.




Now, you're gonna want some sort of razor blade or other super sharp cutting implement, such as an Xacto knife or scalpel or...you get the idea, BUT - BUT - DO NOT USE YOUR SCISSORS TO CUT THE SEADEK! It doesn't have to be anything super fancy, but a scissors will squeeze the SeaDek, and you will end up with serial killer edges. In the pic below, this is what I used for all of my cuts. That's simply one of those replaceable razor blade knives. MAKE SURE you use a BRAND NEW blade. Replace these often, they dull quickly, and you won't realize it until your cuts start looking like crap. In this pic, I've cut the majority of everything. I was able to use that knife to do the cut for the cup holder, but for the smaller rounded corners, I simply cut as close as I could to remove as much excess material prior to the next step. As an aside, I removed the pins to allow removal of the template, then I put the pins back through the same holes to hold the SeaDek in place while I cut it on the XPS sheet.




Now, you may wish to use this as an excuse opportunity to purchase a few tools. Treat yourself, go get yourself the male version of a purse. At the very least, you will need a Dremel and sanding attachments. I used the Dremel to finish off the first piece I did, and it will work just fine. I am in the process of making a few rocking chairs, and I was going to need something better suited to this than my random orbit sander, so I bought myself a Triton oscillating spindle sander. I used it to finish rounding off those sharp points, and it worked great for this purpose. Use some of your offcuts to see which direction will be best - IIRC, against the rotation of the tool gave me the best results, but test it first. You'll get a feel for how quickly you can remove material, how deep you can go in one pass, and what the proper direction is for you to sand whatever needs to be sanded.




Now that your SeaDek piece is to your satisfaction (test the fit of your piece until you're happy with it - it shouldn't require much, if any, tinkering with the fit), install it. Go on SeaDek's website and watch their installation video, and follow it. Here's the end result of what I considered to be one of the most difficult pieces I would be doing, and I feel supremely confident that I am capable of completing the rest of the interior of my boat.






Tomorrow, I will hopefully be able to finish the last "test piece" I was going to attempt. I also plan to complete the measurements I need to figure out the best size and quantity of sheet material to complete the job, and I'll be placing an order soon. One tip I forgot to mention is that when using the CutList Optimizer program, in your materials list, add several sheets of each size (meaning tell the program you have 15 sheets of each size of the material). The program will give you the "best solution" for what you plan to cut up, and you will have a diagram of what to cut out of each sheet, and what sheets you should be buying. I'll try to remember to take a screenshot of the program after entering in a few pieces so my explanation is a little clearer.

*edit* final piece done today

 

[drewkaree]

CutList Optimizer and a sample layout. I still need to add pieces, but this should give you an idea of how these types of programs help you utilize your sheets most effectively. If you are going to attempt this, make sure to input the longest measurements needed.

As an example, the piece under the J seat on my boat has a triangle shaped "bump" directly under the"glove compartment” (no idea what that is, but that's what I've called it). I will cover that area, but if I wanted to save material and make it easier to cut out, I could skip that. I need to add that additional piece to the overall length of the "cooler area" and trim away the excess.








If you're building furniture, you can account for grain direction, the kerf of your saw blade, Baltic Birch dimensions, etc. This isn't the only program like this, it's just the one that I use and prefer.

 

[drewkaree]

Got the rest of my material, worked on templates for the rest of the boat, filled in the holes left from the carpet snaps, and I'm slowly working on getting the pieces installed after sanding down the gelcoat paste patches.

Last weekend, got all the sanding done, and installed the two bow foot well pieces



Since I was only able to fill about 2/3 of the snap holes before the paste started to set up in the cup, I finished filling the rest of the holes this weekend, and added to a few of the previous patches that would be showing, and I was able to get the anchor locker piece applied as well.






Tomorrow, the plan is to sand the patches underneath the rear section of the port bench seat, the foot rest at the helm, and the section in front of the captain's chair, and apply those pieces of SeaDek. I'm really looking forward to the pieces under the port seat, so my friggen coolers stop sliding around under there.

If time permits, and I can sand and polish the area between the fuel hatch and the stern seating, I'll also be able to apply the fuel hatch piece. I still have to template the area around the captain's seat post, and the forward section under the port seat, so I may do that instead of the sanding... depends on how the day goes.

 

[HangOutdoors]

Looks fantastic! The custom fitting is really nice.

 

[drewkaree]

Looks fantastic! The custom fitting is really nice.

I picked up a Fiskars "finger knife" (for lack of a better term) that uses Xacto blades, it really made those cuts on the anchor locker piece super easy once I got the hang of how to work with it. There's enough excess to allow some practice, and I will probably be able to add the two pieces for each side of the anchor locker as well. If things stay on track, I should be able to get it finished in the next weekend or two.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Great job!

 

[WiskyDan]

That turned out great, well done!!

 

[906Tony]

Looks great,good job!

 

[CarolinaJet]

That is awesome. Great color match for your boat and looks really sharp!

 

[drewkaree]

Tomorrow, the plan is to sand the patches underneath the rear section of the port bench seat, the foot rest at the helm, and the section in front of the captain's chair, and apply those pieces of SeaDek. I'm really looking forward to the pieces under the port seat, so my friggen coolers stop sliding around under there.

If time permits, and I can sand and polish the area between the fuel hatch and the stern seating, I'll also be able to apply the fuel hatch piece. I still have to template the area around the captain's seat post, and the forward section under the port seat, so I may do that instead of the sanding... depends on how the day goes.

Narrator: Time did NOT permit!

I goobered the patch paste in there pretty well, and I was using what looked like tongue depressor sticks (much larger popsicle sticks), so there were more peaks than I had realized, which made sanding a LOT more of a PITA than the first round of gelcoat patch. Use a flexible putty knife, it's what I used for the first round of gelcoat patch, and I can tell that will be far better to deal with. Between my hip killing me from lying on my side, and my shoulder and arm in some pain after the contortions to get under the seats, I was simply DONE after finishing the sanding to allow me to install the 3 pieces I had planned on doing today. No fuel hatch for me today, and I simply was not going to be going under the port bench seat to template ANYTHING after all the work was done today. I'm thinking I will wait to template the front section of the port bench seat until after I get the fuel hatch piece on, and the ski locker, so I've got something a bit more comfortable to lay on while finishing it off. I've also wanted to change out the captain's chair seat post for the adjustable mod, so I may plan that SeaDek piece for later in the season, since it'll be easier to template/install the SeaDek with the seat off and out of the boat. Fingers crossed, all the other pieces should get installed within the next 2 weekends.

In the bag are all my supplies - nitrile gloves, paper towels, acetone, screwdriver to open the acetone, folding razor knife, insulated mug for rolling/adhering the SeaDek. Up front in the bow are the two buckets I used for wet sanding - one with a few drops of Dawn in it for lubricant for the sandpaper, the other is just plain water for rinsing away all the crap after sanding. I drilled two holes in the cap of a water bottle, and I just fill it up in the plain water bucket, and squeeze to flush the area. A spray bottle would work great as well, but the water bottle was at hand, and I didn't have to worry about contaminated rinse water. For me, wet sanding was WAY better than regular/dry sanding. I tried using a coarser grit of regular sandpaper and sanded it dry - it was SUPER dusty and didn't seem to go any faster with 80 grit dry paper as compared to 180 grit wet sanding.

Here's the "Before" shot of the area prior to the 3 pieces I got installed today - I am ecstatic at how well the SeaDek under the bench seat retains a cooler - they would slide out and generally be a pain to deal with since there is no floor covering there. A solution that we hated (so we hardly ever did it) was to wet a towel and put it under the coolers. No more redneckery like that!





This is some of the crap work I did on the first go-round of filling the snap holes. I really wasn't too worried about them, other than to fill them so they'd be water-tight. They'll be covered by the SeaDek, and this super close-up shot makes it look a lot less filled than it actually was. The SeaDek will be installed about an inch to the left, so you can see how it will fully cover that spot, and there's no telegraphing through the material of that snap hole, so I have no concerns at all about any adhesion issues. I used my DeWalt worklight, that proved to be a really big help with showing what still needed to be sanded, and where, exactly, the problem spots were. In the end, there will be 2 holes that will show, at the least, and 4 holes, at most. I lucked out somewhat with how the factory drilled the holes, but I'm betting if I was going with one of Will's kits, there might be a few more that would show. The downside is the work I have to put in, the upside is the ability to lay out whatever you want to do, and feel comfortable completing it.





Here, you can see the front section that I still have to template and cut out. The travel mug was used as a rolling pin, of sorts, to help adhere the SeaDek. I placed it there to show the bump-out I have to deal with, and the little "ear" on the right side. Will's kits seem to have that "ear" as a separate piece, but again, here's where doing it myself, I can make that one solid piece. After laying out all the pieces in a cutlist program, I can tell that "ear" is separate so as to make the best use of the material and waste as little as possible, so I rejiggered a few pieces to allow my goal of doing that front section in one solid piece. If I had this one to do over again, I may have made that rounded section on the lower left trail out a bit towards the rear of the boat, but I'm comfortable with how it looks, and the wife hasn't said anything, so it's a win thus far. In this shot, you may be able to see how it covers that snap hole as well. This piece is my absolute favorite one thus far, thanks to the huge improvement for storing the coolers in that area. If I were someone about to take this on, I would strongly recommend doing this piece first, if you have a bench seat like I do. Then, go get yourself two Coleman Party Stacker coolers, and say goodbye to having a cooler in the walkway..





Here's kind of an "After" shot, since there's no really good way to show how/why I did what I did. For anyone installing SeaDek on their boat, dry-fit/place your pieces beforehand, and try to move your hands around to see the easiest way you're going to be able to peel the backing away while pressing the material down, and plan accordingly to slit the backing paper to allow you to remove it in the way you feel will be best/easiest. If I had cut the backing paper horizontally, that piece in the back would have been an absolute bear to remove. I did it vertically, folded back an inch on either side, and when it was in a satisfactory position to me, I pressed down on that center strip, sticking it in place. I lifted up the right side, and pulled the backing paper off/out at a diagonal, as shown by the creased on the paper backing, pressing down with the travel mug as I went, slowly removing the paper and getting everything all stuck down well. I did the right side first to help hold everything in place and make it a bit easier to remove the left side. It seems counterintuitive, but that's why I say put your pieces down and fiddle with things to see what YOU think is going to be the best for your application. When removing the backing on the left side, I actually went from front to back, at a diagonal from the center to the rear left corner. Again, seems like it'd be easier to go some other way, but it FELT better to me doing it that way, and things went smoothly, with no issues.






Not really a lot left to say about the other side, as these pieces were a lot easier to get at. My hip was very appreciative that I did these pieces last, and I don't know that I'd have finished the piece under the bench seat if I had done these in reverse order. The only thing I have to relate about this pic is that the reason I didn't do one solid piece here was that the upward bend would have given me some problems with wrinkles and adhesion if I had done that. One of the nice things about doing this myself is that I have scraps left over that I can test things out with, and I laid a piece down in this area to test this out, and that's when I observed the wrinkling, so I just left the gap like one of Will's kits is laid out. The rear piece that will go around the seat post will be done a bit different than all the rest due to the seat post being in the way, so I'll try to remember to lay out how I tackle that piece. I know that taking my time with this one will result in some nice close tolerances, so I think I'm going to investigate the seat post mod to make sure I won't be causing myself problems if I choose to tackle this before doing that mod.





And a final final - the "After" shot once I decided to call it a day. This shot shows the port side piece that I would take a bit further back towards the stern. I believe having any squared off pieces would make them more susceptible to peeling up or getting any pointed spots all jacked up over time, so that's why I round off every corner that will be exposed. The squared-off pieces I installed have been done that way to give me a nice edge to butt the other piece up to that when completing those areas, otherwise, that's my theory behind rounding off the corners.

 

[Chatt_Jetsetter]

Nice writeup, and nicely done!

 

[WV Hillbilly]

Well played, sir! Looks fantastic and a great write up.

 

[drewkaree]

Yesterday, I was able to finish off three other pieces, the bow, the ski locker, and the finishing piece to the port bench seat.

Since I don't have the chamfered edges, I was able to butt the final piece of the port seat up to the larger piece I had already laid down. I would have liked to do this in a single piece, but the waste from including that little "ear" would be huge. I suspect that's why Will splits that area into two pieces also, although he probably could do it all in one, if you so desired, for a price. After installing the second piece though, I would recommend that you stick with two pieces. That little area is a difficult spot to deal with.

Here's a shot of it mid-install. Seams lined up very well, but I did have to fiddle with it to keep it lined up as I went.



No installation pic of the rest, I noticed in these pics that the hinge side of the ski locker piece is a bit off. I had a really hard time unrolling that piece, so I didn't/couldn't really make a good enough judgment, otherwise I could have trimmed and sanded it better, but I can deal with it for the savings. One final piece to install (fuel hatch), hopefully I can get it done today.

 

[drewkaree]

Last bit for a while, unless I can get myself squared away to determine how to address the captain's seat before winter storage.

The fuel hatch was the largest and most expensive piece for this project, and the most fiddly piece, given the four openings needed for access to the bolts. The wife character had to help me with this one, as darkness was fast approaching, and the seats and surrounding areas were not very good at allowing me to remove the backing the way I wanted to.

After finishing the interior to this point, the wife character agrees with me, that the swim deck seems mismatched now, and she's ALWAYS thought that the gray OEM Marine Mat is a PITA to keep clean. I think I will be replacing it next year with the matching SeaDek, so at the very least, I will be templating those pieces in preparation for the change, and give myself some time to get the pieces flattened out.

Here's the last of this project to this point:

 

[drewkaree]

Hard to believe it's been 2 years since I've touched this project. Life has a way of getting out of control in a hurry! I finally did the seat post upgrade, and all the bolts came out without any drama, so I quickly decided to finish this project off, and start templating the final cockpit piece under the seat, and measured and ordered all the SeaDek needed to finish off the swim deck as well. Then, promptly got sick, and set my plan back a bit.

I ordered an extra piece of SeaDek that wasn't needed, and I found another huge piece after the order arrived. $10 restocking fee for the extra, and I am holding onto the other extra piece for replacement needs, and trying to figure out if I want to do the engine pads similar to what @WiskyDan just installed.

I've discovered the secret to removing the stick-down mats on our boats. Do it in 4 years or less, from when the last set was installed! ?? These were my weapons, and I also bought 2 quarts of xylene off @Radams recommendation for better removal, and I had a quart of acetone plus a gallon of Goof Off. Plastic razor blades and holder, and some wooden shims because I couldn't find the plastic shims I thought I would need. The black pad is for my old knees on the hard fiberglass, and we had swarming ants flying around today, hence the flyswatter.

 

[drewkaree]

The above pic was a spoiler - every piece was started on a corner with the plastic razor blade, and worked that corner until I could get a decent grip. I worked the first piece way more than any other, but found it quickly unnecessary. This is how the first piece came up, and everything else came up just as easily and nicely as this one



Proof? I got it, in spades! If I wasn't having to work between the rain, the ants, and semi-tending the grill, the entire swim deck removal would have been done in 20 minutes, and could have been done in 10 if I wasn't so slow with the first piece!

 

[WiskyDan]

I wish I had the patience and ingenuity that you do - it would save me a lot of money!!

Can’t wait to see the final fit and finish to this project!!!

 

[drewkaree]

Everything's off, and ready for templates. I have zero adhesive left, just a few tidbits to remove, and a wash to remove all the debris ghosting the old pads

 

[drewkaree]

There's a bit of discoloration, and I'm not sure if it's going to come off, but I'll find out tomorrow. I am going to be doing the lower level in 3 parts instead of the OEM layout of 2 pieces. It never seemed right to have it split right in the middle of the ladder, so I'm going to be making 2 "wings" and a "landing pad" in front of the ladder.

I had wanted the lower level to be one solid piece, but the longest available is 80",and the lower level is 82" at the widest point. It COULD be done, but the amount of waste doing it that way would be ridiculous. If I knew how to use some 3D software at the beginning of this project, I likely would have been able to utilize the leftovers from a 1-piece lower swim deck. Maybe the next go-round ?‍

Anyhoo, dunno if the discoloration will show up, but look at the dirt from the old pad outline, and it should become apparent. I'm not too worried, as it'll be 99% covered, and I don't think the 1% is going to be noticeable. That's it for today, and I should be able to wrap this up tomorrow, weather and life permitting ?

 

[drewkaree]

I wish I had the patience and ingenuity that you do - it would save me a lot of money!!

Can’t wait to see the final fit and finish to this project!!!

I'm still not 100% a fan of the camo pattern, but it has grown on me, and the dirt it hides is worth it to me in not having to scrub it so often. I hated how the gray would stain so easily, so I'm happy to replace the swim deck.

I'm really digging your engine pads, but I don't know if I can do those engine pads in the camo to match. That'll be the last bit of SeaDek I will consider, but I may need the missus to see yours in person. She's not good with seeing it in her mind, she'll need the in-person experience