I have a Cape Dory Typhoon Senior. Nice boat and in good shape but the interior cabin needs some work. The bulkheads (hull interior) are covered with indoor/outdoor carpeting. They are discolored and have mildew stains. I'd like to clean and/or replace. Spot cleaning hasn't helped much. I'd try a commercial steam cleaner but I'm afraid that will release the glue with which the carpeting is adhered. Replacing the carpeting would be a big job since it was obviously applied before the adjoining woodwork. To do it right, I'd have to remove and replace all the adjoining woodwork. Does anyone have any suggestions? Are there other ways to clean the carpeting? Are there other coverings I should apply over the carpeting or do I just have to bite the bullet and remove everything and start from scratch? All suggestions are welcome...
Interior cosmetics
- Thread starter amanguso
- Start date
should the bullet be used for biting on, or for the boat itself?....
dont be afraid of the steam cleaner loosening the glue... if I thought it would loosen it, I would give it a double dose just for good measure. what have you got to lose?... oh yea! mildewed carpet.
actually, the steam cleaner will be hard on the woodwork.... I hate to say it, but if you dont want to do the major refit that it probably needs, your cheapest option may be use carpet paint to paint the carpet and cover over the spots...
it probably cant make it any worse, but like lipstick on a pig, it could increase the charm of it for awhile
EDIT... although I make light of your problem, I mean no offense to you or the boat you love.... as long as it looks better, you may enjoy it more until the mildew returns or other problems arise... with a bit of care, a bit of a facelift could last a long time.
I am not sure what woodwork is creating a problem but none of the
Cape Dories ever had carpet as original equipment. If a PO added more wood it might have created a problem but the carpet should not be under any original woodwork. I would try to get rid of the carpet in any way possible and go from there.
If you have not yet discovered the Cape Dory message board you are missing out on one of the best reasons for owning a Cape Dory. Try posting your question over there as there are a lot of people who know and love these boats. I am sure you could find or someone will post pictures of the original interior for you.
http://www.capedory.org/board/index.php
Carpet just doesn't belong on a boat, Steve.
Cape Dories ever had carpet as original equipment. If a PO added more wood it might have created a problem but the carpet should not be under any original woodwork. I would try to get rid of the carpet in any way possible and go from there.
If you have not yet discovered the Cape Dory message board you are missing out on one of the best reasons for owning a Cape Dory. Try posting your question over there as there are a lot of people who know and love these boats. I am sure you could find or someone will post pictures of the original interior for you.
http://www.capedory.org/board/index.php
Carpet just doesn't belong on a boat, Steve.
Assuming - from the wording of your opening post - that cleaning the existing carpet covering rather than replace with something new is your preferred solution:
Have you tried a more aggressive cleaner than you may already have been using? (Such as http://www.homedepot.com/p/ZEP-1-gal-Industrial-Purple-Degreaser-ZU0856128/100047759 ). Applied to the whole carpet surface? With a garden sprayer so to "mist" over the carpet surface but not to over-saturate. Then scrubbed for a short while with a stiff brush? Then use a wet/dry vac to remove the excess liquid? Then repeat several times but with the sprayer now only filled fresh water? And do this only on a warm/hot low humidity sequence of days so that the whetted carpet can dry fully dry out before mold begins to grow again?
Might be worth a try before you do something more time demanding.
One item of warning about the above sequence. Industrial Purple right out of the jug before dilution with water actually is almost as aggressive as a water-based paint remover. So do your best not to over-spray onto adjacent finished wood work or let mist onto (say) your cabin floor. And get any cabin upholstery out of there! For good measure as you spray the carpet continually wipe/clean adjacent surfaces with a water saturated rag before any over-spray begins to cause collateral damage. Also, wear vinyl or latex gloves and not let linger on the skin. Make sure that your boat is well ventilated and that you have some sort of a respiratory mask on.
I mention Industrial Purple because my 1980 boat (a Hunter) when I bought it had OEM vinyl straw weave wall-paper on several interior surfaces. It was very badly stained after 25 years of humidity and mold. All references I found said the only solution was to remove. But when I wiped on a strong concentration of Industrial Purple and then cleaned off with wet rags, the original surface came back almost as if new. I also learned during this process that the Industrial Purple stuff did remove my teak's surface oil finish. Yours is a carpet rather than a vinyl wall-paper. But just an hour of work for a small area as above to see if it works is a good trade-off compared to the dozens/workweeks of hours that you will spend removing the current carpeting and finding something else to put in its place. Try first in just one segment.
Just my take ...
Have you tried a more aggressive cleaner than you may already have been using? (Such as http://www.homedepot.com/p/ZEP-1-gal-Industrial-Purple-Degreaser-ZU0856128/100047759 ). Applied to the whole carpet surface? With a garden sprayer so to "mist" over the carpet surface but not to over-saturate. Then scrubbed for a short while with a stiff brush? Then use a wet/dry vac to remove the excess liquid? Then repeat several times but with the sprayer now only filled fresh water? And do this only on a warm/hot low humidity sequence of days so that the whetted carpet can dry fully dry out before mold begins to grow again?
Might be worth a try before you do something more time demanding.
One item of warning about the above sequence. Industrial Purple right out of the jug before dilution with water actually is almost as aggressive as a water-based paint remover. So do your best not to over-spray onto adjacent finished wood work or let mist onto (say) your cabin floor. And get any cabin upholstery out of there! For good measure as you spray the carpet continually wipe/clean adjacent surfaces with a water saturated rag before any over-spray begins to cause collateral damage. Also, wear vinyl or latex gloves and not let linger on the skin. Make sure that your boat is well ventilated and that you have some sort of a respiratory mask on.
I mention Industrial Purple because my 1980 boat (a Hunter) when I bought it had OEM vinyl straw weave wall-paper on several interior surfaces. It was very badly stained after 25 years of humidity and mold. All references I found said the only solution was to remove. But when I wiped on a strong concentration of Industrial Purple and then cleaned off with wet rags, the original surface came back almost as if new. I also learned during this process that the Industrial Purple stuff did remove my teak's surface oil finish. Yours is a carpet rather than a vinyl wall-paper. But just an hour of work for a small area as above to see if it works is a good trade-off compared to the dozens/workweeks of hours that you will spend removing the current carpeting and finding something else to put in its place. Try first in just one segment.
Just my take ...
maybe so but it does make a good headliner ...sound proofs the cabin with no echo and also insulates it from the heat in summer and the cold in winter and helps ward off condensation
Had a 1988 Hunter with carpet on the interior hull. I used a commercial grade aerosol / spray carpet cleaner and saturated the carpet, shielding the adjacent wood surfaces. Scrubbed the carpet thoroughly with a scrub brush, vacuumed with a shop vac, and dried with a fan. The carpet cleaned up nicely and had a much better odor after it dried. Much easier & less expensive than replacing carpet. I think it's worth a try.
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Thanks for taking the time to submit this reply. I may try Industrial Purple before I try the more involved process of removing the carpeting. I also plan to check the Cape Dory site.
sharp knife around the edges... some of that enzyme glue loosener and then pull the carpet. The put some laminate surface down... maybe an exterior grade linoleum or rubberized tile... Carpet gets moist, holds salt and creates a funk in the boat. Hard surfaces can be cleaned with a little windex and a paper towel.
One of the nice things about having hard surfaces down below, is that you can see if you start to get mold or mildew. It is then an easy matter to clean it up.
I used to have a Typhoon and you could get right in there with a garden hose and scrub brush if you wanted to, Steve.
I used to have a Typhoon and you could get right in there with a garden hose and scrub brush if you wanted to, Steve.