Flexi teak rubber flooring

[trailertrawlerkismet]

Our R25OB came with the rubberized teak n holly looking cockpit and swim platform flooring. It really looks great but I need some first hand suggestions on portable folding chair leg feet protection. We have Pico fold up chairs and in using one yesterday the chair feet left indentations in the flooring, that do not seem to want to recover from. I’ve seen tennis balls cut to slip onto the chair feet but wondered what others are doing to help protect the rubberized teak n holly from damage from chair feet?

Jim F

 

[Mike and Sarah]

We have Pico chairs. We use floor/ door mats to protect our Raptor decking when using them. I do like the idea of tennis balls on the chairs feet. I’m also interested in hearing other solutions.
Most of the time the indentations disappear.

 

[Brian B]

We had the Pico foldable chairs with the same type of decking.
I bought furniture leg protectors at HD. They are rubber and about 2” square. I drilled holes through the rubber and tied them onto the legs. When setting up the chair I would position the protecter under each leg. Not a perfect solution but it worked.

 

[marob]

Just wondering how you like the floor. We have a new 2021 C28 and the cockpit non slip has LOTS of blotches from the mold and they may have to use the raptor to cover it up. I am not a real fan of that, love the clean look of the fibreglass.

 

[Brian B]

Just wondering how you like the floor. We have a new 2021 C28 and the cockpit non slip has LOTS of blotches from the mold and they may have to use the raptor to cover it up. I am not a real fan of that, love the clean look of the fibreglass.

I believe all of these products are Ultralon Foam marketed under various names. Ultralon is a New Zealand company and the product is distributed through Rhode Island in the US.
I installed it on my boat in 2017, that was called U-Dek. I lived in RI and had easy access to the company. I loved the product for its look, comfort and durability against stains. In 2021 I had various pieces that lifted up due to the adhesive failing. Because I was close to the distributor they were able to reapply the adhesive and reinstall the pieces. So the adhesive (3M) failure would be my only complaint. (There was another RI tug that had the same issue and we installed it at the same time)

 

[Mr Ben]

I bought this stuff from raptor deck last spring and installed it myself. Before I bought I asked the guy Kirk I think his name was, this very same question. I have a nice folding lounge chair I like sit in . He said put some raptor deck sample squares under the feet. He sent some along. Its a little clumsy but it works. My only issue with the stuff is I bought it mainly to help the dog get some grip. Its good for that. Trouble is my dog likes to make a nest before laying down. If I'm not watching he will rake it with his claws . He can actually rip right through it. He did it in a spot that is not noticable so I'm not going to worry. I bought a rear facing camera so I can watch the cockpit while underway. What we don't do for our dogs.

 

[S. Todd]

We installed SeaDek, a similar product, at various places on our R25 and then used Raptor Deck on our R29 to keep the dogs from slipping on the fiberglass. The product works for that, but the dogs' claws leave indentations that are permanent. I found that if we put a towel down on the SeaDek or Raptor Deck it kept the claws from damaging the product. I think you have the right idea that if you want to preserve the nice appearance of the Raptor Deck you need to pad the chair legs or use a throw rug under the chairs.

 

[fishheadbarandgrill]

We have the same deck and same chairs. We use tennis balls cut to fit each leg so that they can be picked up without relocating protection from a mat or furniture pad. We've been using them for several months now and work great.

 

[baz]

Jim: Curious to know why you don't use the built-in folding seats in the cockpit vs. the Pico chairs ? For all the RT boat models I've had the only one I used folding chairs on was the 20090 R25 Classic that did not have flip down seating in the cockpit.

 

[SJI Sailor]

Barry, I can answer that for C30: when there are just 2 of us, folding chairs are more comfortable. Also we can position them at the table looking aft for a great view at dinner or anytime. We use the foldout cockpit seating when we have guests.

 

[baz]

I had the Raptor decking on my 2019 R29 CB, and quite honestly even though it looks nice it can get grubby, mark some and will require some cleaning maintenance. For some people this 'grubbiness' aspect may not worry people. What I did for my R29 was to also use the RT's stock cockpit teak-holly looking carpet to cover the whole cockpit floor area. This carpet is super strong and can be cleaned easily with some soap suds and a light power water washing. It dries out very quickly. Laying this over the Raptor adhesive panels not only keeps it in good clean shape, it also solve the problem that the OP presents with the Pico chairs.

I believe RT has this carpet only for the R29 these days, but it should be easy to pattern the cockpit area and purchase a similar material to protect the Raptor. The Raptor looks nice when brand new, but can assure you it will get grubby over time, and being synthetic will eventually disintegrate some.... or simply come to terms with it not looking so pristine with time. Don't misunderstand me... it does an admirable job, looks nice, but does have some drawbacks.

 

[BB marine]

I also have two Pico chairs that we purchased about three years ago. After about 2 months of using them on our gelcoat cockpit sole I started noticing small gouges in the gel coat. I looked at the leg bases and found the rubber had worn off because of the leg base angle. There is actually just a small amount of contact to the deck and the rubber wore quickly. We really liked the portability of the Pico chairs and the comfort of them. I came up with a solution that has worked well for the past three years for us and a few other Tug and Cut owners. I purchased a sheet of .100 thick flexible Marine PVC sheet material. The main purpose of this material was to make a splash shield for my packing gland.
gallery2.php?g2_itemId=70774
I made a few measurements and found that there were two screws at the bottom of each leg that I could use to fasten a strip of this material. I cut several oval shaped pieces of material measured to drill holes in the material and then fastened the protective strips to the leg bases.

I tried to post photo's but can not this morning. When I click add item in my album I am logged out. When this is fixed I will post a couple of photo's. installing the protective covers is an easy fix and works well. I made a couple of extra strips for replacement but after 3 years we are still using the original strips.