A New Kind of Flooring

I started looking a while back, for some flooring to replace the old tiles in the Galley area. I wanted something that would maintain the wood look, yet not something phony like wood grained photo embossed linoleum tile. Pergo will not last in any moisture area and it is a floating floor. Parquet floors have such a thin veneer that I didn’t feel they would last long either. And as to other Home Depot offerings like engineered hardwood flooring, just give it the old bucket of water test and see what it looks like next day.

I looked at two products, one new to this country called Amtico and the other Metrofloor Tru-Wood collection. The Amtico is now used in Hatterus and other top quality boats and mega yachts as well as cruise ships in the bar areas. This stuff looks like real wood. The down side was it was very expensive, $12/sqft. And hard to find samples and a dealer. I settled on Metrofloor Tru-Wood in Pecan. It is interesting stuff. You can read all about it at their web site http://www.metroflorusa.com/products/truwoods.html .

Essentially it is real wood veneer sandwiched under a 30 mil clear vinyl layer, followed by a vinyl back, then fiberglass cloth, then vinyl. This comes in a few colors. You want the tick embossed, not the barnwood. Pecan was a very close choice to Teak and it comes in 4"x36" planks. You cut it with a tile knife or miter saw, or heavy sheers. The stuff needs their special adhesive to have the warranty validated, although if they found it in a boat I don’t know what the reaction would be. It does not exclude it, but it is approved for kitchen and bath. The good side is if you shop it, you will find it for $5/sqft. I found it on line at http://www.ifloor.com .

The best part is, this stuff will climb an incline. By that I mean, if you look at the galley floor where it joins the hull under the sink cabinet, the flat floor ends and the hull begins. There is a deep valley there caused by the indentation of the tabbing. I filled it with bondo to make it a smooth transition from floor to hull. This flooring is flexible enough to follow the contour. The stuff is easy to install. Check the photos.