Thank you for continuing from Part 1 of our Project Pontoon Boat article. In Part 1 we talked about cleaning up the aluminum on the Pontoons and the Railings, removing black streaks from the boat and the Outboard Motor and also swapping out the Pontoon Aluminum Railing Panels. We will now cover Pontoon Bimini Tops, Pontoon Boat Seats and Pontoon Carpet/Floorboards.
It seems like there is always "that guy" at the lake who has one of those Pontoon Boat Bimini Tops that looks like he has his great grandmothers quilt attached to his boat with some sticks he found at the dock. This is one of the first things people notice about your Pontoon Boat, so just replace it if it's falling apart or has faded to some sort of strange looking pastel color.
You can generally purchase a brand new Bimini Top and Frame for you Pontoon Boat for around $200.00 and almost all Biminis are a universal fit, so you can install one no matter what type of boat you have. The main thing to keep in mind when looking for a new Bimini Top is the width of your boat. If you order a top that is too wide or narrow, you may run into major issues during the installation. Measure twice, buy once. Your new Bimini Top will come with the manufacturers instructions specific to the top that you chose and will make the installation a lot easier.
The largest expense in making over a Pontoon Boat is always the seating. I can't tell you enough how good of an investment getting new seats and not trying to be cheap is. You spend literally hundreds and even thousands of hours on your boat each year, so why would you want one of the only things you actually see and get to enjoy on the boat, looking terrible and feeling terrible? Just budget in advance, at least $1,200.00 to completely remove all the seats and buy brand new ones. You will be thrilled that you planned for it in advance and the money you get from selling your old seats on Craigslist will almost re-coop half of that. Really, now we are only at $600.00 for a brand new complete, matching set of seats? Sign me up. You can generally get a complete rear 90" bench (usually two 38" benches with 7" armrests) with cup holders and armrests on each of the far sides of the boat plus two 38" benches at the front of the boat with armrests for around $1,200.00. Most of the seats at BiminiCovers.net have free shipping and will simply arrive at your front door ready to be assembled and installed.
The carpet in your Pontoon Boat also will show its age terribly over time. The wood will start to rot underneath and you will accumulate stains everywhere. Making sure you have sturdy floorboards is very important for your Pontoon Boat. I was lucky to not have any issues in this department, as my carpet and floorboards were all in very good shape still. I cannot go into too much detail about the subject, since I have yet to tackle this project, but I will tell you what I do know. I know this can turn into a major headache if you are not well educated on the process and you should research heavily before tackling this. What I can say is you need to make sure that you have Marine Grade Plywood for the floorboards and Indoor/Outdoor Carpet or Marine Grade Carpet. If these two things are not used, your floorboards will fall apart quickly and your carpet will smell and look awful. All things we are trying to correct when doing a Pontoon Boat Rehab Project.
To summarize, we purchased a solid pontoon boat that was in need of a makeover. It had solid wood flooring and carpet, a strong running Outboard Motor, pontoons with no leaks and that really was about it. The rest we planned on changing out and didn't place much emphasis on the condition or quality of the items. We replaced the Pontoon Railing Panels, added new Pontoon Boat Graphics, added a new Pontoon Bimini Top, and gave it a thorough deep cleaning with a strong focus on removing the aluminum oxidation. We ended up with a gorgeous Pontoon Boat at 1/3 of the price it would have cost us for a New Pontoon Boat. We never have to worry about running into another boat that looks exactly alike and we take great pride in knowing that we did all the work ourselves.
It seems like there is always "that guy" at the lake who has one of those Pontoon Boat Bimini Tops that looks like he has his great grandmothers quilt attached to his boat with some sticks he found at the dock. This is one of the first things people notice about your Pontoon Boat, so just replace it if it's falling apart or has faded to some sort of strange looking pastel color.
You can generally purchase a brand new Bimini Top and Frame for you Pontoon Boat for around $200.00 and almost all Biminis are a universal fit, so you can install one no matter what type of boat you have. The main thing to keep in mind when looking for a new Bimini Top is the width of your boat. If you order a top that is too wide or narrow, you may run into major issues during the installation. Measure twice, buy once. Your new Bimini Top will come with the manufacturers instructions specific to the top that you chose and will make the installation a lot easier.
The largest expense in making over a Pontoon Boat is always the seating. I can't tell you enough how good of an investment getting new seats and not trying to be cheap is. You spend literally hundreds and even thousands of hours on your boat each year, so why would you want one of the only things you actually see and get to enjoy on the boat, looking terrible and feeling terrible? Just budget in advance, at least $1,200.00 to completely remove all the seats and buy brand new ones. You will be thrilled that you planned for it in advance and the money you get from selling your old seats on Craigslist will almost re-coop half of that. Really, now we are only at $600.00 for a brand new complete, matching set of seats? Sign me up. You can generally get a complete rear 90" bench (usually two 38" benches with 7" armrests) with cup holders and armrests on each of the far sides of the boat plus two 38" benches at the front of the boat with armrests for around $1,200.00. Most of the seats at BiminiCovers.net have free shipping and will simply arrive at your front door ready to be assembled and installed.
The carpet in your Pontoon Boat also will show its age terribly over time. The wood will start to rot underneath and you will accumulate stains everywhere. Making sure you have sturdy floorboards is very important for your Pontoon Boat. I was lucky to not have any issues in this department, as my carpet and floorboards were all in very good shape still. I cannot go into too much detail about the subject, since I have yet to tackle this project, but I will tell you what I do know. I know this can turn into a major headache if you are not well educated on the process and you should research heavily before tackling this. What I can say is you need to make sure that you have Marine Grade Plywood for the floorboards and Indoor/Outdoor Carpet or Marine Grade Carpet. If these two things are not used, your floorboards will fall apart quickly and your carpet will smell and look awful. All things we are trying to correct when doing a Pontoon Boat Rehab Project.
To summarize, we purchased a solid pontoon boat that was in need of a makeover. It had solid wood flooring and carpet, a strong running Outboard Motor, pontoons with no leaks and that really was about it. The rest we planned on changing out and didn't place much emphasis on the condition or quality of the items. We replaced the Pontoon Railing Panels, added new Pontoon Boat Graphics, added a new Pontoon Bimini Top, and gave it a thorough deep cleaning with a strong focus on removing the aluminum oxidation. We ended up with a gorgeous Pontoon Boat at 1/3 of the price it would have cost us for a New Pontoon Boat. We never have to worry about running into another boat that looks exactly alike and we take great pride in knowing that we did all the work ourselves.
About the Author:
Learn more about Pontoon Boats. Check out BiminiCovers.net and you will be amazed at all of the Pontoon Boat Bimini Top options you will have.
No comments:
Post a Comment