An inflatable boat with a hard floor will make your holiday on the beach more relaxing. It’s very convenient and highly portable so you can carry it along easily.
But how to assemble an inflatable boat with a hard floor? If you don’t have any idea about the assembly of this boat, you can follow the steps below.
- Step 1: Prepare the inflatable boat
- Step 2: Inflate a boat halfway
- Step 3: Place and secure the floorboards
- Step 4: Set up seats in a boat
- Step 5: Fully blow up the boat
We will give you the details of each step and show you how to make a floor for your boats. Let’s explore! Windrider of The Rockies.
To assemble a hard floor is not difficult
How To Assemble An Inflatable Boat With Hard Floor?
To assemble them with a hard floor is not too complicated. The following steps will help you complete the assembly quickly.
Step 1. Prepare the inflatable boat
In the first step, you need to find a flat area to lay it out. This area must not have any sharp things because they can damage them. So, you should clean the ground and make it as smooth as possible.
After you take them out of the bag, spread them out on the area. the wider you spread it, the easier it will be to inflate.
Step 2. Inflate the boat halfway
You have to find the air inlet valves on the body and open them. If your boat has safety valves, you can open them by turning the inner part.
Generally, each boat’s chamber will have a valve, so you should number the cap of each valve. In this way, you can put the caps back to their right positions after inflating.
Next, connect the hose of an air pump to the opened valve. An electric pump or air compressor will be convenient to inflate your boat. However, when you finish blowing up, using a manual pump will be easier to control the air.
You can start inflating from chambers in the rear and move on clockwise. In this step, only fill 30-50% of each chamber with air.
An electric pump will be convenient to inflate your boat
Step 3. Place and secure the floorboards
Adding floorboards inside will be the most struggling part of this guide.
The hard floor of most inflatable boats includes 3-4 floorboards. Each piece has a number corresponding to a position inside, and you need to place them in the correct order.
Place floor pieces into a boat
First, put floorboard number 1 to the bow section of the boat. This floorboard has a hole, and you should adjust its position so that the boat’s keel valve is in the middle of the hole.
After that, connect the last piece (number 3 or 4) with the transom at the rear. Add the remained floorboards to the space in the center. Check the floor to make sure that all the pieces are in the right place.
Finally, secure the floor pieces with stringers or side joiners. You just need to slide them into the sides of the floorboards.
Secure the floor pieces with stringers or side joiners
Step 4. Setup seats
After you have done with the floor assembly, you can install your boat’s seats. Find the seat brackets on both sides of your boat and hook up the seats to these brackets.
Step 5. Fully blow it
You can blow up your boat with an electric air pump until it’s nearly full of air. Then, finish the inflation with a hand pump to avoid overinflating. Remember to close all the caps of air inlet valves after blowing up.
If your inflatable boat has a keel, you should choose a higher pressure mode for the air pump to inflate it.
Finish the inflation with a hand pump to avoid overinflating
See more: Make A Sail For Inflatable Boat
How To Make A Floor For Your Inflatable Boat
If the hard floor gets damaged, you can make another one to replace it. With some time and effort, you can save a lot of money for purchasing a new floor. Here is the guide for creating a floor for your boat.
You can make a floor for your inflatable boats
Step 1. Preparation
You will need to gather the following things to make a hard floor for inflatable boat by yourself.
- A board of marine plywood with a thickness of 0.5 inches and is larger than your boat
- A large cardboard
- A saw or woodcutter
- Some pieces of sandpaper
Step 2. Take some measurements of the floor
To have a floor that fits your boat, you need to take the exact measurements with the following steps.
- Turn over your boat and find the seam connecting the floor with tubes.
- Attach the cardboard to the bottom with ducktape.
- Mark the connecting seam with a marker on the cardboard then cut the sheet according to the trace.
- Lay the cardboard on the plywood and mark it.
Step 3. Shape the floor
Place the plywood on flat ground and cut it with a saw or woodcutter. Follow the trace you made to get the right shape for your floor. Using an electric circular saw will make the cutting simpler.
Step 4. Smooth the edges of the floor
After cutting, the edges of the plywood will be very rough and have many sharp splinters. You need to rub the edges with sandpaper to make them smooth and avoid rupturing your boat.
Step 5. Enjoy your new floor
Now you have created a new floor. Place it into, check if it fits your boat, then hit the water and enjoy!
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Final Words
Above are steps for how to assemble an inflatable boat with hard floor. If you do this assembly for the first time, you can ask someone for help. We hope that with this guide, you can assemble your boat successfully. Thank you for reading!
Reference: Inflatable Boat Floor Help
