Tools for Scraping Carpet Out of a Boat

Traditional Scrapers

• Traditional hand scrapers are usually used for the initial carpet and adhesive removal. "Traditional" equipment includes tools like putty knives with well-sharpened blades, razor knives with fresh blades and the same hook scrapers used to peel paint off the exterior of your boat’s hull. There are some variations on these tools, many of which include long handles that allow you apply more leverage or more force than you can with the shorter handles on the "traditional" forms of the tools.

Mechanized Stripping

• In addition to the scraping tools like putty knifes, you can use a drill and stripping wheel to mechanize the stripping process even more. The stripping wheel has a shaft designed to fit in a power drill's chuck. Once the stripping wheel's shaft is inserted in the drill chuck and the chuck tightened, you can use the drill in the same way that you would ordinarily use any grinding tool, by holding the drill perpendicular to the surface and using the stripping wheel to grind dried adhesive from the boat deck. Care must be exercised to avoid grinding a hole in the deck.

The Vacuum

• Whether you pry the dried adhesive away from the deck with a blade or grind it away with a drill and stripping wheel, you'll need to remove and dispose of the the materials that you scraped from the deck. Because the adhesive is dried and -- if you use the stripping wheel -- ground, a vacuum cleaner may be ideal. A vacuum cleaner will clear the loose materials from the surface, after the surface has been denuded of its covering, with a minimum of fuss. A wet/dry vacuum may be best, particularly if the carpet you remove has been waterlogged in the recent past.

The Final Wipe

• Wet-and-dry vacuums will suck up the dry materials ground from the deck and, probably, a large portion of any water remaining in the boat. Even so, to prevent future problems caused by mildew growing in newly installed carpet, the deck should be wiped down with clean, dry rags. In addition, to prevent mold from gaining a foothold when you install the new carpet, Don Casey, boating expert with the Boat Owner's Association of the United States, recommends that you wipe the deck with a clean cloth saturated with chlorine bleach.