Marine synthetic teak, marine faux teak, and marine plastic teak are basically the same thing: pvc.

What about foam marine flooring?

I like the look of foam marine flooring when it is relatively new. It is usually fabricated by a machine using computer generated templates. I like this custom look far more than carpet. I advise anyone wanting to put foam marine flooring on their boat to make sure they are getting custom mats made by a professional company and ask to see past installations they performed.

There is a lot of foam marine flooring products coming from China. I personally will not install any marine flooring from China because I witnessed other contractors having quality issues and they were basically on their own with no real warranty and ended up eating the job. A lot of marine foam products from China are peel and stick types of installations and I have little faith using that method for real boat use. 

My suggestion is if the custom foam marine mats from a pro are not in your budget then stick with your non-slip fiberglass. 

A downside to the foam marine decks is that they disintegrate over time. The walk areas and entrance areas show the wear first. Once you see the surface start to break down it becomes the only thing your eye is drawn to. The useful life of marine foam decks is not nearly as long as marine vinyl flooring or marine synthetic teak.

Here you can see Reviews on the foam decking product. What stands out in the excellent reviews the product received is that the customers are reviewing how easy it was to work with and how it looks after it was installed. In other words, it looks great right after it was installed. You will see a few customers that mention how easily it was scratched and torn up by regular boat use.  I only mention this because it is easy to just glance at reviews and see 4-5 stars and not see that the customers, for the most part, are not rating the overall experience of the life of the product.

This is the reason why I personally won't sell or install this product. I believe the shortcomings outweigh the benefits and eventually, I would have unhappy customers.

What about marine carpet for boats?

I am not going to hold any punches here...., I really, really dislike marine carpet. It's just a bad choice in 98% of most situations! During my career, my company has sold and installed over 10 million dollars worth of carpet and I  still don't like it. 

I believe carpet is chosen to have something different then non-slip fiberglass and mostly for budget concerns. Here's what I don't like about it. 

It has formaldehyde in it, it is hard to keep clean, it collects dirt and pollens, it gets moldy, it holds odors, just to name a few. It also gets wet and stays wet for a long time. 

If you read what boaters do to protect their carpet, everything from air drying it with a blower when they get done using their boat, to keeping the boat covered, to constant cleaning of the carpet, you will see that carpet is maybe the cheapest option but takes the most effort to maintain.

Thoughts on marine vinyl flooring...

I seriously love Lonseal's marine vinyl flooring, here's why:

• The value boaters get for the cost is the best in my opinion.

• The installation can be done by the boat owner with no experience.

• The surface or wear layer is really impressive.

• It's waterproof.

• The patterns to choose from are extensive.

• The maintenance couldn't be any easier.

• It can be installed in the interior or exterior of the boat.

• It will outlast almost anything else out there.

• You can add a fresh look to it by simply sponge mopping a very simple water-based finish on it whenever you want to.

• It has choices that are non-slip.

All of the points above pertain to Lonseal's Marine vinyl.

As a flooring contractor, I had many opportunities to be a rep. for most any flooring products I wanted to represent. After decades of being in the business, I have narrowed it down to one manufacturer due to their super high standards of quality. 

I chose Lonseal for the marine vinyl as I have found that they have the absolute best marine vinyl flooring available.

This boat vinyl flooring is available at ameriteakstore.com

The average cost of Lonseal marine vinyl flooring is about 7 dollars a sq ft with most customers installing the vinyl themselves.

This is a picture of Lonseal's, "Teak and Holly"

I hope that my opinions were helpful to you and if you have any questions about boat decking please feel free to reach out to me at jerryt@ameriteakmarine.com  phone 530-925-2646