Flooring Choices to use on Interior Houseboat Floors

How do I choose the best houseboat flooring material for the different areas or floors in our house boat?

What is the best flooring material for a houseboat that has a plywood sub floor? There's so many various floor coverings that we could use.

Thanks for your help.

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Reply - Answer
Well, I can understand your confusion, since it is not as clear and straight forward as it appears when you look at houseboat flooring.

As you're aware, a houseboat poses a different scenario, since it is in direct contact with the outside elements and activities.
You want a floor covering that is reasonably priced, durable, easy to clean, and that keeps it "look" forever.

You want to take into account the different situations that you're houseboat can be involved in, situations like:

At the beach: You could be at the beach and dragging sand and water from there.

Boating in the Rain: You could be out navigating in a heavy rain and need to step in and out of the houseboat, which could create a slippery situation because of the rocking motion.

Guests & Parties: You could be entertaining with many friends and guests, and need a surface that can take heavy traffic, and the occasional spill (easy to clean up).

Kids, Pets, and Dogs: I don't mean to put kids and pets in the same sentence, but we can agree that they can create a different level of dispensable energy and back and forth traffic.

Galley & Head: The kitchen and washroom can pose a special scenario when it comes to keeping them clean, dry, and shinning. (my wife keeps telling often) :)

Salon & Stateroom: The living room or bedroom maybe areas that you may want a relaxed, comfortable, carpet style decor.

Unfortunately, I cannot recommend just one floor covering that would be the best for each area of the houseboat. You will most likely be using something different for each unique area.

The choices that you have for flooring can be materials like: simple glue on tiles, linoleum, parquet flooring, wood strips, floating floors, industrial rubber tiles, ceramic tiles, and all the various carpeting commonly available.

If you decide on a floor covering, be sure to take some "before & after pictures" of your houseboat flooring project to show us here. I'm sure there is many houseboaters that would love the hands on experience that you can share with all of us.


Lastly, hopefully some of our readers will share and post comments about their houseboat floor choices, and flooring experiences. Feel free to use the "Click here to post comments." link found at the bottom of this page.


Thanks again for sharing, IAN from all-about-houseboats

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