Rotting floor in aluminium boat

[councilman]

I recently purchased a 1985 Starcraft. It is a 16' aluminium boat with what looks like a plywood floor. There is a ski hole in the middle of the floor.

The floor where the seats are seems solid but around the ski hole, and near the back of the boat, it is a bit soft in spots. I pulled the carpet off of the floor in the ski hole and saw, to my horror, that the wood under the carpet was completely rotted and crumbled in my hand.

It looked like it was a very thin sheet of wood, like Luan, between the bottom of the boat and the carpet, that just disintegrated over time. I am now convinced that I will have to replace the entire floor from front to back. I am new to owning a boat, and have no idea how to go about it. I would like to do it myself so I can know the boat inside and out.

Is there a source for diagrams of the hull, or sub hull? Can a floor be partially replaced? Are there any sources for step by step instructions on floor replacement for Starcrafts? Is there anything out there what would let me "shore up" the existing floor? The floor has some soft spots but I am a large man and spotted it right away but my family did not notice it at all.

I have young children and want to make sure it is not only strong, but safe and water tight. I would appreciate any help!

Chris

 

[APPALOOSA2]

Re: Rotting floor in aluminium boat

Chris, its not that bad of a job. I would replace with 3/4 inch and rivet the floor back in ,some screw it back but I highly recommend rivets.

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=260400

Go to Joey Plumley restoration on the above link, that will help you and Joey did a excellent job.

 

[geedubcpa]

Re: Rotting floor in aluminium boat

I am in process of replacing the floor of my 1981 ss160 - it took 3-4 hours of hard work to yank out the console and flooring - you have to unbolt the console from the side and from the floors. I used a grinder to remove rivets. I have about 2 hours in cutting the wood and dry fitting.

Overall not a horrible job to tackle - It might be possible to just replace the 48 inch section in the middle but it seems to me that you may as well do the whole floor. If the front is 100% solid then you can probably just replace the back - on my boat the back section starts right where the console ends.

 

[elkhunter338]

Re: Rotting floor in aluminium boat

Rivits/screws/machine screws your choice. I chose to add some more alum. angle and rivit and bolt the alum angle in the boat then attached the 3/4 marine plywood to the alum angle. I primed both sides of the plywood, used vulkum calk on the seams and them applied a deck anti skid coating to the floor. Very happy with the results. No carpet in my boat, fish and carpet do not mix. I like the anit skid coating. I would recommend marine ply wood.
I half way thought about putting a alum floor in the boat but did not due to cost. Wood seems to be holding up ok.

 

[Joe_the_boatman]

Re: Rotting floor in aluminium boat

Chris - replacing the floor isn't that hard. Stock, our boats came with 1/2" untreated plywood floors (at least mine did). You may want to upgrade to 3/4" and it will feel solid as a rock. I used 1/2" and am happy with it (weight and cost savings over 3/4") but it does flex a tiny bit.

I used a step drill to remove all rivets. You'll also want to invest in a pneumatic/hydraulic rivet gun. If you use pressure treated (as I did) make sure bare wood isnt' touching any of the hull or stringers, as the copper in the wood is corrosive to the aluminum.

You can probably knock this out in a week or 2. Good luck.

 

[Joe_the_boatman]

Re: Rotting floor in aluminium boat

I should also mention that with small children you may not want to go the route I did with the non-skid paint on the floor. It's pretty rough on bare skin. Carpet may be the way to go with kids in the boat.

 

[North Beach]

Re: Rotting floor in aluminium boat

Not tryin to be negative on the 3/4" plywood but I keep seeing posts about folks upgrading the extra 1/4". Has anyone thought about how that will throw off the measurement for the side panels that will be re-installed later? I re-did my deck with 1/2" and did one layer of glass and it seems just fine.

BTW Joey-Great job on the re-build!

 

[Joe_the_boatman]

Re: Rotting floor in aluminium boat

Not tryin to be negative on the 3/4" plywood but I keep seeing posts about folks upgrading the extra 1/4". Has anyone thought about how that will throw off the measurement for the side panels that will be re-installed later? I re-did my deck with 1/2" and did one layer of glass and it seems just fine.

BTW Joey-Great job on the re-build!

Thanks man. I'm still waiting to use her out on the lake though - lots of (weird, unexplainable) engine problems. We're planning another test launch this weekend.

I suppose that 1/4" could throw off the side panels. Mine were rotten with the rest of the floor, so they got replaced/painted as well, which means no old holes to line up.

 

[geedubcpa]

Re: Rotting floor in aluminium boat

I also debated the 1/2 inch vs 3/4 inch floor - after completing the floor I can tell you that the 1/2 is just fine.

 

[Andy in NY]

Re: Rotting floor in aluminium boat

I am almost finished with the floor in my 69 16', and i used 1/2"... curious to see how it comes out after glass, but the 1/2" seemed to flex like mentioned earlier. maybye the glass will stiffen it up.

councilman, i dont know if you decided to do this work or not, but i have to say that i am in the middle of it now and its not hard, but not easy (coming from someone with limited carpentry skills). i had a carpenter friend cut out the deck pieces for me... i dont know how good i would have done on my own. the glass is tricky, but im getting there.