A guide on the different types of flooring found on a yacht

With thanks to Yachting Créations 

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Yachts are getting bigger, allowing for the spaces inside to be made just as comfortable as a guest or owner's home. Selecting marine carpets and flooring for a yacht is therefore no different than for a home. Just as important as the furniture and materials used, is the flooring and just like most rooms in a home, the flooring on a yacht will define the space. 

High-end flooring is widely used on yachts to accentuate the elegance of the vessel. It’s common for yacht builders and owners to incorporate hardwood flooring, marble, stone, tile and high-grade carpet into the design of the master cabin, lounges and bathrooms. Teak, synthetic teak and un-natural flooring are used in the areas of high traffic such as decks and boarding platforms.

The use of carpet on a superyacht

Carpet plays a major role in yacht flooring installation, especially in luxurious guest areas: It is a popular yacht flooring choice for interior rooms including the salon, stateroom and guest cabins, as well as the foyer, corridors, staircases and crew areas.

It offers not only a warm and beautiful canvas for any yacht interior, but also a safe environment, providing a non-slip surface and the ability to soften any impact.

In general, carpets also absorb airborne pollutants to give better air quality indoors. Furthermore, they are easy to clean and help to reduce engine noise on board, rather than magnify it as some hard flooring may do.

Christophe Cotte of Yachting Créations explained, “Wool carpets are a good choice for the superyacht interior, and although delicate, are much easier to clean than many believe. Wool is actually very strong when used alone, but a 90% wool and 10% nylon mix is sometimes better – especially for small and busy guest areas, as the nylon helps to strengthen the fibres and keep the pile of wool standing up. This comes at a price of around €100 per m².”

Got a question about yacht carpets? Ask a carpet specialist in your area here.

The use of hard-surface flooring on a superyacht

Hard-surface flooring is another common type of yacht flooring found on board today’s superyachts, with many incorporating ceramic, marble, wood, and faux wood flooring into their interior spaces. Some also fuse carpet and hard surface floorings together, with wood flooring used as a border around a carpet installation.

Tile flooring is another favourite on board, due to its high design quotient and durability. Both porcelain tile flooring and ceramic tile flooring are tough and extremely scratch-resistant, temperature tolerant and stain-resistant; furthermore they are easy to clean. You tend to find tiled floors in the galley and bathrooms on board.

Got a question hard flooring? Ask a hard flooring specialist in your area here.

The use of wood floors on a superyacht

Wood flooring offers natural beauty, warmth and design appeal to any superyacht interior. Longer-lasting than carpet, wood is arguably the easiest type of flooring to maintain and is the best choice for the environment.

On board, hardwood flooring installation is typically used in accent designs in the salon and in the formal dining room, as mentioned above. Other installations include the bridge, galley, library, guest rooms and fitness centre.

Got a question about wood flooring? Ask a carpenter or joiner in your area here.

The use of stone flooring on a superyacht

Stone is another popular material used in yacht flooring because of its luxurious appeal, high durability and easy maintenance. Both marble flooring and granite flooring are in high demand, especially on superyachts.

Marble is prized for its beauty, durability and variety of colours and patterns. Like marble, granite can look beautiful when polished and also resists scratching.

Got a question about stone flooring? Ask a stone specialist in your area here.

The use of unnatural flooring on a superyacht

Known as unnatural flooring, flooring such as vinyl, rubber, PVC and synthetic teak, among others, are frequently found aboard superyachts, as it often offers many advantages over traditional floorings, especially when you consider the harsher environments they often face. 

Synthetic teak decks are made of textured PVC plastic, so there’s no way for things like red wine or fish guts to soak in and cause problems on the deck during al fresco dining. Synthetic teak also has excellent non-skid properties, reportedly providing an even better grip when wet than actual teak. It requires almost no maintenance to keep it from splitting or going grey. On board you typically find synthetic teak on decks and rubber/PVC can be found on boarding platforms. Find out more about synthetic teak here.

Christophe said, “Synthetic carpets such as Polymide are perfect for the crew areas on board, as they offer long-lasting quality and are very easy to clean using an injection/extraction carpet cleaning machine. It currently costs around €80 per m² for good quality synthetic carpet. It is important to use an underlay with synthetic carpets where possible, as a good quality underlay can reduce up to 36DB of noise.” 

Got a question about unnatural yacht flooring? Ask a marine flooring specialist in your area here.

The use of superyacht mats on board

As marine carpets and flooring have improved to keep up with the changing needs of the yachting industry, so have mats.

Christophe explained, “As carpet and flooring technologies have improved, we are now offering an incredible new carpet or matting for superyachts; similar to the traditional rubber-backed dock mat, but much better in their design and flexibility for use on board.

“These docks mats have been available for years in only a few colours and with limited printing clarity. These usually leave black marks on the teak, finding them reserved just for the dock, but we can now manufacture incredibly soft, shiny mats from recycled bottles, which are slip-proof without the rubber backing. These are eco-friendly, flame retardant, and much more flexible in terms of design and use on board. They are now available in almost an endless array of colours, and in photorealistic definition - perfect for use inside or outside the yacht, as no rubber means no marks. They protect hard floors against shocks and staining, and are ideal for warming wood or marble flooring in the wintertime. These range from €60 to €100 per m².”