I recently bought a Starcraft Mariner 180 aluminum boat that's full of electronics and the price was fantastic. It's perfect for what I need it to do except I want to replace the wooden floor in the boat. It's a 1989, the carpet is worn out and the floor is starting to flake at the edges and getting soft underfoot in a few places. Anyone know of a good shop to replace the floor, carpets and cover all the seats either now or this winter? I'm new to this boating thingy and would appreciate some input.

Matt from Shrewsbury

You might be better off throwing your money at a good coverit boat shed and doing it yourself over the winter. Years ago I stripped my old tracker V17 and rebuilt it over a winter. Cabelas sells good marine carpet and adhesive and you can get marine plywood or exterior and seal it with resin. As long as you put some thought into it first and order the right materials, the work isn't brain surgery. I used a propane bullet heater with a built in T-stat to maintain temps and even resined during the winter. If you use a coverit and heat, you must line the inside with plastic or everything in the shed will be moist come morning. I used strapping on the aluminum frame and stapled plastic to the inside and my condensation problems went away.

I second that.

You will find that you can buy new seats online for less than than getting them re-covered.

Pull the seats out, and you may find that replacing the floor is a matter of removing the screws, using the old floor as a template, cutting the new to match, screwing back down, and covering with carpet.

Make sure to mark and number the plywood as it comes out, to help keep them in order.

It's really an easy job, and when you get the estimate for someone else to do it, you will see why it's better to do it yourself!

Good luck.

TH

Once you have the floor figured out, don't forget to soak, soak, soak it with resin or you'll be replacing it again in 6 months...