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I built a set of "shelves" in my garage that hold kayaks.

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Currently the surface the boat rests on is very smooth birch plywood. This is mostly ok, but I'd like to have some sort of dense foam between the boat and the wood, for a couple reasons:

  • It will conform to the bottom of the boat and reduce the risk of flat spots in the hull from small contact area
  • It will protect the bottom of the boat from scratches while sliding it (the shelf is smooth enough that this is really only an issue at the beginning and end of the sheet)

Q1: I'm unsure what kind of foam I should use... I'm envisioning something in a massive sheet like the size of a sheet of plywood, maybe an inch or two thick, and fairly dense.

Q2: I'm also unsure how to attach it to the plywood so it stays in place (and also slightly overlaps the lengthwise edges of the shelf, for the aforementioned scratch protection).

The111
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4 Answers4

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foam is going to sag, and stick, use some second-hand carpet instead.

Jasen
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  • I have arrived at this idea too recently. I will double up carpet foam under carpet, which I can easily wrap around the front and back corners of the shelf, which adds protection there and allows me to nail it to the crossmembers under the plywood. No nails or adhesive needed on top. Thanks! And as far as sag, I **want** the foam to sag. A cradle is recommended if you are storing these right side up. Sagged foam is a natural cradle. – The111 Oct 23 '22 at 17:17
  • Leave a keel strip of less foam or no foam and/or build up more foam outside the keel area for more "sag" – Ecnerwal Oct 23 '22 at 23:04
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    @Ecnerwal these kayaks have a surprisingly flat profile on the bottom (it's for stability if standing while fishing). There are basically 3 keels, or more like a pontoon boat. I'm mostly just wanting a flat surface with a little give to increase the contact area. Finished up the first shelf today with FOUR layers of 5/16" 8lb foam under the carpet. Surprisingly it all stays put when sliding the boat in and out. Just stapled the ends of the carpet wrapped around the supports underneath. – The111 Oct 24 '22 at 02:40
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A large flat foam piece that was the size of the shelf and conformable to the bottoms of the kayaks will almost for sure be a cause of very high friction making it nearly impossible to "slide" the kayaks in from the end. This will be particularly a problem for the lower shelf where end wise insertion is the only way into the shelf.

You may want to consider an alternate approach where the "padding" on the shelf is done in strips lengthwise on the approx 1/4 and 3/4 side to side positions of the shelf. This would reduce the friction a lot. In addition you can install some casters upside down at the insertion/extraction ends of the shelf to allow rolling the kayak into place. In fact it may even be possible to eliminate the "padding" strips altogether and install two rows of the upside down casters to roll the kayaks in along the full length of the shelf.

Casters are available that are made of relatively soft material (think similar to skate board wheels) that will be kind to the bottom of the kayaks.

Michael Karas
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  • It would be more friction than bare wood for sure, but it's not actually an impossible level of friction, I've slid the boat on unadhered puzzle block foam before and it moves ok. But I think I'm leaning toward carpet over padding, which will be amazing for low friction and also wrap the corners of the shelf nicely. Casters do the opposite of what I want (distributing the load) by concentrating the load in a few places, this is exactly what is not recommended and will deform the hull over time. I could use them for loading only, but they can't be part of the final resting location. – The111 Oct 23 '22 at 17:19
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Why not just place a camping sleeping pad on each shelf? You could attach commercially-available velcro strips to the pad bottom and shelf so the pad doesn't slide around. There are plenty of reasonably-priced good-sized camping mats, but I would try to just get a piece of "ensolite" foam, maybe 1/2" to 1" thick, cut to fit your shelf.

A description of Ensolite from an online foam vendor:

Ensolite PVC-NBR-CR is an energy absorbing foam originally developed by NASA to protect pressure from damage. It has virtually 100% memory and is waterproof. ... The density of Ensolite allows it to be used for exercise matting, kneeling cushions, boxing rings, and camping pads, while remaining soft to the touch for comfort. It also can be used dampen noise and vibrations in automotive and industrial capacities.

Good stuff.

Armand
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I'd get a bunch of pool noodles and cut them to the width of the shelf. They're round, so they'll roll under the kayak, making it easier to insert into the lower shelf. It's polyethylene, so almost impossible to glue to anything, but that shouldn't be a problem for this use.

For the top shelf, the kayak doesn't need to be inserted lengthwise so it would be better if the foam didn't roll. I'd use PE foam pipe insulation. It's like a pool noddle but it's hollow, so you can open it, staple it to the shelf, then let it close itself back into its original tube shape. It's pretty soft, so the kayak should dig into it. Just put enough of them to share the weight...

bobflux
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