What Is the Best Pontoon Boat Flooring?

Related Product: Patio Outdoor Tile

The right pontoon boat flooring will provide protection for the boat from all kinds of weather, including sun damage and water damage. A marine environment is tough on all kinds of materials, which means pontoon owners may need to put together a replacement of the original factory installed flooring for the boat after a few years.

Some of the best pontoon boat flooring options to consider for a DIY replacement install include:

• Foam and rubber blend
  
• Vinyl
  
• PVC plastic
  
• Carpet with foam backing

Products consisting of these materials should provide long lasting performance, even in a highly humid area near the water that’s frequently exposed to rough weather.

Additionally, the marine flooring often provides structural integrity and reinforcement for the pontoon, so it has to have some firmness to it.

It needs to be able to support the weight of whatever items the boat owner wants to place over the top of it, including furniture or equipment needed to operate the pontoon.

Whether using the watercraft to try to catch fish or to enjoy a lazy day traveling on the lake, the right flooring improves the experience.

What Kind of Pontoon Boat Flooring Has a Mix of Comfort and Firmness?

A composite mixture of PE foam, EVA foam, and rubber blended material will yield a combination of cushioning, firmness, and durability that’s ideal for floors in a pontoon.

The Life Floor Slate Tile product is a popular selection that consists of these types of materials. Even though the tile measures only 3/16 inches in thickness, it has more cushioning than you might expect to find in such a thin tile.

These tiles offer UV stability, meaning they’ll maintain their color integrity and stylistic looks, even when exposed to regular sunlight. This is a non-slip, waterproof deck material that is usable for an installation in any kind of heavy moisture environment.

Color options include Boulevard, Kestrel, Mohave, River Rock, and Sandstone.



A similar product with a ripple style surface texture is the Life Floor Ripple Tile. These tiles also measure 3/16 inches in thickness and have the same foam and rubber blended materials to create a waterproof installation. These tiles resist UV damage in sunlight as well.

Color options in the Ripple Tiles product include Bluebird, Boulevard, Kestrel, Lily Pad, Mojave, and Sepia.

Both of the Life Floor products deliver anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties, which means they will not allow dangerous mold and mildew to form on them. They’re easy to clean too. These tiles work in any kind of temperature, maintaining their slip-resistant properties.

Is Vinyl Durable Enough for Installation in a Pontoon?

One of the biggest benefits of installing the right vinyl as pontoon boat flooring is that it will look amazing for a long period of time, even when exposed to the harsh weather that’s frequently found in marine environments.

The LonWood Marine Collection Commercial Vinyl Roll offers this type of durability, while also delivering an extremely stylish and high quality design that will look great in any kind of boat, including in a pontoon.

The LonWood product has a glossy urethane finish over a teak and holly design in the vinyl that looks like natural hardwoods. The manufacturer places the urethane layer onto the vinyl at the factory, which reduces the amount of maintenance the customer must perform on the roll of vinyl after installing it.

What Type of Flooring Helps Excess Water Drain Away?

The Patio Outdoor Tile product works nicely as a pontoon boat flooring selection, thanks to the perforations that extend all the way through the PVC plastic tile. Additionally, PVC will not absorb water, making it a perfect choice in an area constantly exposed to water.

Should the pontoon end up with quite a bit of water on the inside of the boat after a trip, the water on the floor will travel through the perforated tiles to reach the boat’s drain.

PVC works nicely across the floor for the pontoon, as PVC plastic is flexible and provides just a little bit of cushioning, making it comfortable, even when people are walking across it in bare feet. It’s also very slip resistant.

The solid colors available for the Patio Outdoor Tile include gray, terra cotta, and blue.

Is It Possible to Install Carpet As Boat Flooring?

Carpet provides a warm type of flooring for almost any use case, but it may seem unlikely that carpet can stand up to the kind of wet environment found in a boat. With the right kind of carpet product, though, it will work nicely as a floor for a pontoon.

The Royal Interlocking Carpet Tile product is the best choice for a marine environment. It is waterproof and odor-proof, so it stands up well to regular dampness.

The manufacturer bonds the carpet to an EVA foam base, which delivers a level of cushioning. This foam allows installers to place the carpet tiles directly over the top of a firm floor in the base of the pontoon without the need for additional padding.

Colors available in the carpet tiles include blue, charcoal, dark gray, light gray, green, and tan. Something to keep in mind when installing this type of flooring in your pontoon, however, is that the thick foam will expand and contract with temperature fluctuations and sunlight exposure, so you’ll need to leave room for this to take place.

For more on this topic please review our Waterproof Flooring product page.