Quinte Fishing

Project: replace boat floor with aluminum diamond plate! This should be a nice complement to the thread by Papa Fishing.

The original plywood and carpet in my boat needed to be replaced. I considered many options including plywood with epoxy, composite (Thermolite) and aluminum. The criteria for this decision were mainly it had to be easy to clean (no fish stink), and longevity – I only want to do this once (on this boat!).



The boat is a 19’ Alumacraft Trophy. In addition to the floor replacement I will also be rebuilding the consoles (next project). This generation of Alumacraft is known for having a very poor quality dashboard and windshield; once the floor is done and the consoles are remounted I will make new tops for the consoles and a new windshield (this will be modeled after a true welded boats like Stanley or the river jet boats found out west).

There are pros and cons for using aluminum (over plywood and vinyl for example) but I preferred the true quality and ‘industrial’ look of the diamond plate (DP). The drawbacks of the aluminum are:
- Working with it! I had the full sheets sheared to roughly what I needed; I have my own smaller shear, punch and brake to help with the smaller details but cutting out profile to fit the bow was done with a jig saw and de-burred with a belt sander and

- Stiffness. Aluminum sheet (1/8”) is not as stiff as 5/8” plywood; the boat may need additional supports installed.

- Brightness and hot in the sun. The shiny DP will definitely be a problem as-is; my plan is to etch the surface as soon as the install is done. My hope is that he natural dulled finish will be sufficient. If this is not satisfactory then it will be etched, primed, and painted. I also plan on installing a snap-in marine carpet; this will be easily removable for cleaning, etc. (Note: I also considered using aluminum flat sheets and covering with marine vinyl; this might have been a best of both worlds option).

- Slippery. This was the most difficult problem (if it is slippery) because the only solution is to resort to painting with a non-slip coating. I decided that the snap-in carpet would mitigate this concern most of the time.

Note: I also discovered this product – knurled diamond plate! It was more expensive and the delivery time was too long for my project; walleye opens in a couple of weeks . Here is a picture of the knurled DP. I understand that this style of DP is now the standard or emergency service vehicles.
Sexy stuff!


I did not mention cost; I compared the cost and level of effort using plywood and decided that I was not interested in screwing around with cutting and fitting plywood, encapsulating it in epoxy, drilling holes in my once-sealed sheet… starting over in 10, 15 years… I felt the aluminum was the better choice.
For this project I needed two full sheets, one 4x8, one 5x10, and a smaller panel for over the fuel tank. The 5x10 sheet made the best use of materials (least waste).

The boat disassembly:



The bow section had ribs on 12” centers – this will be great support for the aluminum.


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First sheet installed . It just happens that following the old panels as a template, that the front sheet (including the little peace in the nose) will allow me to reinstall the consoles and bow fixtures. I left the plywood floor over the gas tank to protect it while I was crawling all over. The sheets are installed over a heavy bead of silicone caulking and held in place with 3/16 aluminum pop rivets. I chose aluminum rivets because they are much easier to remove than stainless (the original floor used aluminum also).


Consoles back in place. One technical difficulty was dealing with the thinner flooring. This lowered every thing by about ½” (yes I can do fractions! ). The bow fixtures (live well, storage and benches) fit too tight; to help a little I installed a rubber gasket between the sheeting and the fixtures. This was not necessary for the consoles.


The back of the boat was much easier to do. I did need to add some bracing over the gas tank to prevent flexing. I also added rigid sheet foam where the original flotation did not offer any support for the floor.



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