How to Install Floorboards on an Inflatable Boat

Rigid-hull inflatable boats, with their fiberglass or metal bottom, will float just as well without a floor. If you use your inflatable as a tender for a larger boat that's moored or anchored, you may think installing a floor a waste of time. But if your inflatable is your boat, installing the floor panels civilizes the RHIB's otherwise-raw and uninviting shell. The flooring comes as a kit. The only tool you need is probably stored in your garage.

Things You'll Need

  • Zodiac floor panel kit
  • 2 oars
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Instructions

    • 1

      Insert the tapered bow panel -- with the shortest edge -- as far forward in the bottom of the boat as possible. The short edge should be nearest the front of the boat. Insert the second bow section, with the next shortest edge, into the bottom of the boat. Its shortest edge must butt up against the bow panel. Ensure the valve stem and valve cap protrude from the hole at the front of the second bow section.

    • 2

      Inspect the rectangular deck panels to determine which is narrower. Place the narrower of the two panels on the bottom of the boat next. Fit the next largest rectangular panel behind it. Place the rear deck panel -- the panel that has a semicircular notch removed from one edge -- in the boat next, so the semicircular notch is to the rear of the boat. Should the panels not lie flat, step on them to force them into place.

    • 3

      Slide an oar lengthwise under the bottom of the boat so it supports one side of all the deck panels. Slide a second oar under the bottom on the opposite side of the boat to support the panels on that side

    • 4

      Lay the deck stringer along the side of the floor panels. Make certain the open slots or the diagram of the sun that's embossed on the top of the stringer are facing upward. Roll the stringer inward; the stringer will lock into place, and the floor installation is complete.