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Here I’ll show you how we installed some marine carpet in our Jayco Swan.
Covering the floor with carpet tiles is 21 on this list of the 35 most popular modifications for Jayco camper trailers…
…we opted to take a little extra time and cut a single piece of carpet to fit.
So I’ll show you how I did it step-by-step
(and how it held up camping with 3 kids when it was wet, rainy, and muddy)
Here we go:
1. Create a stencil the same shape as the floor
We used sheets of A4 paper and stuck them together with plain old sticky tape
This meant we could move them to fit around every corner…
…and ended up with a stencil that was the exact same shape as our floor
(making sure there was a slight overhang for the floor trim)
2. Buy a piece of marine carpet to fit
The stencil was 2.9m long and 1.54m wide.
Everywhere I looked the marine carpet came in rolls that were 2m wide…
…so a 3m piece was needed. This is the one I bought:
(Bunnings has the best price, closely followed by Clark Rubber)
3. Weigh the stencil down and cut the carpet
I placed the stencil on top of the carpet…
…and put some weights on it to keep it all in place while I did the cutting
To cut I used a Stanley Knife in the corners and a Klever Kutter for the long edges
(way easier than scissors… about $10 from Office Works or $7 here off eBay)
The finished product – this is what a single piece of carpet for our 2014 Jayco Swan OB looks like:
4. Place the carpet down (and under the floor trim)
All you need to do is make sure the floor is clean and lay the carpet in place
(because it’s one piece that fits snuggly, it locks itself in place)
The only “installation” we did was:
- Unscrew unscrew the floor trim
- Tuck the carpet underneath, and
- Screw the floor trim back in
No trip hazard.
How does marine carpet go in a camper trailer when free camping in Winter?
A few days after installing our marine carpet we went to the Flinders Ranges where it was cold, wet, and muddy
The carpet got wet and muddy… but no different than if we stuck with bare vinyl.
The good news was that it:
- Was easy to brush off and keep clean
- It dried quickly (especially with our diesel heater), and
- It felt much warmer under-foot
When we got home it was easy to get clean again
(when it’s marine carpet that’s in a single piece it’s easy to remove, hose off, and dry)
Summary: Installing marine carpet in a Jayco Swan camper trailer
I’m glad we installed a single piece of marine carpet in our Jayco Swan.
It’s lightweight, created a bit more warmth for camping in the winter, protects the floor from the kids, and it’s easier
to clean than permanent carpet or tiles.
I’m not sure how it’ll go in Summer…
…but it made its way onto our list of 7 Tips To Keep Your Jayco Camper Trailer Warmer While Camping In Winter
