Learn About Boat Materials

Got ratty old carpet under the gunwales of your flats boat or poling skiff? Replace it yourself with custom-cut foam decking! Here’s how to measure your boat, remove your old carpet and glue, and install your new under-gunwale pads.

For DIYers, fiberglass coring can get confusing. Here’s a quick guide to the basic core options and a comparison of two especially popular choices with significantly different characteristics — Coosa composite board and NidaCore honeycomb panels.

Various types of coring are widely used in boat building to make fiberglass panels lighter and stiffer. Here’s what you need to know about one choice: thermoplastic honeycomb core, commonly called Nida-Core.

The newest project for RV and travel bloggers Danielle and Tommy of Instagram’s popular “Slow Car Fast Home” is restoring a 1978 SeaCamper trailerable houseboat. See how they rebuilt the structural grid with Coosa composite board.

Sea Hunt’s Gamefish series is hugely popular for good reason: these 25-, 27- and 30-foot center consoles are ready to fish right out of the box, easy on the eyes, and represent an exceptional value in their class. Still, there are upgrades to improve the functionality of these boats.

It’s a question that’s asked again and again on boating-related forums and social media groups: What’s the difference between King Starboard and garden-variety high-density polyethylene (HDPE)?

Prior to purchasing my boat, I knew the deck had some soft spots and would need to be replaced within a few years. Read this article to learn more about replacing a wood-core deck with Coosa board.

Are you considering Lexan or Plexiglass for a marine application? Listen to our team discuss the benefits of Acrylic vs. Polycarbonate for different marine projects.

Need to replace a deck or transom but don’t know what thickness of Coosa Board to use? Tune in for expert advice when using Coosa Board for your project from our team!

Are you looking for a material for your boat project that won't discolor in sunlight? Watch this video to learn why King Starboard might be the perfect solution.

There are many brands of marine foam decking in the market. You might assume, given the obvious similarities between not only the products themselves but even their names, that they’re all fundamentally the same stuff — But you’d be wrong.

It’s an all-too-common problem for DIY boat owners — removing or replacing an accessory or part leaves unused fastener holes or, worse yet, unneeded or oversized cutouts. Here are a few considerations to keep in mind when planning a project.

We get a common question for somebody looking to modify their boat. They want to add something where they have fiberglass in an area, and the first thing they need to do is make sure something's not behind it before they cut into it.

Working on a boat improvement project? We discuss the best plastic materials to use for your DIY project, including tips and tricks when working with King Starboard, Acrylic, and PVC plastic sheets.

Did you know that custom shower and pool benches can add luxury and convenience to your home? Starboard is a unique and reliable material that is lightweight, waterproof, and incredibly durable. So why choose Starboard for your next custom shower or pool benches? Watch this video to find out!

Cored composite construction, in the simplest sense, is a sheet of some kind of coring material sandwiched between layers of fiber-reinforced plastic — usually fiberglass but sometimes carbon fiber or Kevlar.

Curious about the best material for a transom reinforcement? We discuss the pros and cons of using Starboard vs Coosa Board for transoms and kicker motor brackets.

At the end of the day, Starboard is a near-perfect replacement for teak and marine plywood in many applications. Here are the top 6 King Starboard “gotchas” — the quirks and challenges you should be aware of up front.

We’ve all faced it — the dreaded “holey moley” moment. It’s that moment that you stand over your boat with a drill in your hand, contemplating the damage you are about to intentionally inflict on your vessel.

Can you use King Starboard for a boat casting platform? In this video, we answer this common question and discuss some other important project considerations.

You’ve got some wood trim on your boat that’s just shot, and can’t be refinished? Learn how Boat Outfitters makes sourcing custom-fabricated replacement parts easier to find than ever!

Here we answer the common customer question "My boat seat base broke; what material would I use to be able to re-staple the cushion material to it?”.

One of the most popular questions about king starboard is, "can it be glued?". Watch to learn all the pros and cons of gluing starboard as well as common applications, alternatives, and what adhesives to use.

Thinking about adding new electronics or repowering? Here we go over the three considerations to make when upgrading or replacing the dash panel on your boat.