Marine rubber flooring takes about 3 days to cure after a 1 to 2 day install. Deck Armor hand-trowels rubber and epoxy flooring onto boats at our Tampa shop. Call (813) 434-0395 or request a free estimate and we will map the timeline to your haul-out window.
The Short Version of the Timeline
Plan on 4 to 5 days from start of install to a floor that is ready for the water. That is 1 to 2 days of troweling plus about 3 days of cure.
- Install: roughly 1 to 2 days.
- Cure: about 3 days.
- Old flooring removal: adds about a day, if your boat has foam or carpet to come off.
With removal, plan on 5 to 6 days. The boat stays with us the whole time.
What Happens on Install Days
We trowel the floor in by hand, section by section, until the deck is covered in one piece. The material is virgin rubber granules bound in marine-grade epoxy.
There are no panels to cut and no sheets to glue. The floor is shaped to your deck as it goes down, so install time depends on the size and layout of the boat. Our drop-off to launch walkthrough covers each step.
What Happens During the Cure
The epoxy binder hardens and locks the rubber granules to the deck. This is what makes the floor permanent. Once cured, it is a single bonded layer with no seams and no glued edges.
Nothing is left for us to do during these days. The floor just needs time, and the boat needs to stay put.
Why You Cannot Rush It
Launching early puts a floor that is still setting into water, and a floor still setting can compromise the bond. The bond is the whole product. It is why we can offer a lifetime warranty on recreational boats and 10 years on captain and commercial boats.
A day saved on the calendar is not worth a weaker floor. We hold every boat for the full cure.
Planning Around a Haul-Out Window
If you have a fixed window, count backward from the day you need the boat in the water. Start with the cure, then the install, then removal if you need it.
- Pick your launch date.
- Subtract about 3 days for cure.
- Subtract 1 to 2 days for install.
- Subtract about 1 more day if old flooring has to come off.
Add a few spare days on top of that. Tell us your date when you call and we will say plainly whether it works.
Boats Already in the Water
Every standard install happens at our Tampa shop. If your boat is in the water or you do not have a trailer, we meet you at the ramp, haul the boat to the shop, and bring it back when the cure is done. Our ramp pickup covers about a 50 mile radius.
Anyone who can get a boat to the Tampa shop can be served. A boat too large to trailer can get mobile installation for an added mobile fee, and mobile is not offered in the summer months.
Get the Boat Ready Before Drop-Off
You can strip old flooring yourself before drop-off. If you would rather we do it, removal adds about a day and goes on the quote. The old flooring has to be off before we start, because our floor bonds permanently and cannot be cleanly removed later.
Cosmetic gel coat cracks are fine, we install over them. A soft or flexing deck needs your glass shop first. Our prep checklist lists everything to do before drop-off, and what to expect covers the rest.
Book Around Your Calendar
Every boat is measured and quoted individually, so there is no one number to post here. One call gets you a solid estimate, and we will put the install and cure days on your calendar at the same time.
Get a free estimate or call (813) 434-0395.