Plywood floor, resin, tuffcoat

[jrousell]

I am replacing the floor on my 19' aluminum boat.

I am set to use AC exterior plywood and glass it with polyester resin and matt.

I was going to glue carpet down on top of that.. but I am now thinking about using the tuff coat product.

In researching the tuff coat product I learned that on top of fiberglass they ahve a two part epoxy primer. My question is this.. should I just instead think about using the tuff-coat product on all sides of the bare plywood insetad of teh glassing step?( I don;t need the structural suppport of the glassing- that was just for water proofing...)


If teh primer step of the tuff-coat product is itself a two part epoxy... maybe I just use that all around...

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Plywood floor, resin, tuffcoat

Hello jr..

Its really up to you m8..if you like the nice plush of marine carpet then glass it.

If you like chunks of rubber that has sunday meetings of how they would like to take some personal epidermis off you then go with the Tuffcoat

YD.

 

[jrousell]

Re: Plywood floor, resin, tuffcoat

funny

but-- that actually isn't my question.

what I am asking is whether people think the poly resin glassing step is necessary if I am using the water-based 2 part epoxy primer they sell( in addition to the 2 top coats of their one part poly rubbery coating...)

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Plywood floor, resin, tuffcoat

Personally..I glass any/all exposed ply m8. ( bear in mind though..Ive never done a restore for my own.. only professionally .. )

For the cost/longevity issue its IMO worth it. some dont glass..just epoxy..

You really Dont want to re-do this thing..AND for resale factor, you can show your pride of how you "over" did things because you care that much..

Whats it gonna cost ya extra ? 50 bucks ?

YD.

 

[jrousell]

Re: Plywood floor, resin, tuffcoat

probably about $100 in resin and glass matt and a couple evenings...
but with 4 young children- cutting 2 evenings out of it is darned near priceless

but-- good points -- I will probably end up glassing it on all sides first

 

[Mark42]

Re: Plywood floor, resin, tuffcoat

Have you thought about the vinyl deck cover from Marideck or Nautolex? Easier on the feet than non-skid for the kids, and easier to clean up than carpet, and probably cheaper than the 2 part epoxy and rubber coating.

 

[jrousell]

Re: Plywood floor, resin, tuffcoat

you mean like glue down vinyl flooring?

that is what was on the boat.... I could go that way-- but the tuff coat stuff did look like a good fit for us

also the current floor had water between the vinyl and the plywood- and I think I want to avoid that... which was my reason for maybe using tuffcoat over the carpet

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Plywood floor, resin, tuffcoat

Since replacing the sole in an aluminum boat is relatively easy, you have a few options. You can go very expensive, like epoxy and glass over something more expensive than good marine ply, or going low cost with painted CDX plywood. The high cost method will start at 7 to $800 and go up and might take several weeks to do it right, but you may never need to do it again.

The lowest cost method is CDX with non skid paint, this may only take $100 in materials and an afternoon to install. This method may last 5+ years the better care its given, the longer it will last.

Your method is in between, you're using better coatings (better than paint), but some water may get through, so the plywood you use can have a big affect also. Low cost CDX won't hold up as well, or last as long as the better grade Marine plywoods will (there are many grades of marine ply that use different woods for different purposes.). Low grade ply may check (crack) and warp causing an unreinforced coating like a paint or even polyester or epoxy resin to crack, adding glass lengthens the lifespan a great deal. Better plywood will resist checking and warping much better, so an unreinforced coating will last much longer.

The sole in my aluminum jet boat is honeycomb panels that are glassed over, I did it 7 years ago and I expect to have no issues until the boat goes to the scrap yard.

My buddy did his jet boat about a year ago with the cheapo method ( $ 50.00, CDX and porch paint) and it has sat outside the entire time uncovered. I must say it still looks very good and he?s pleased with it, he feels that if he needs to redo it in 5 + years that?s fine.

Long winded rambling to get to what you really asked, it will hold up OK, but not as a well as the fully glassed method.

 

[jrousell]

Re: Plywood floor, resin, tuffcoat

thanks so much for taking the time to give me all that info!

I did some research here a bit before I started-- I was originally going with pressure treated plywood.. but after research here decided to go middle of the road with ACX plywood (a step up from cdx in that is has much smoother and crack-free faces) and poly glassing it on all sides...

I just noticed that the tuff coat primer step was a two part epoxy-- and it sounded an awful lot like what I was doing for the poly resin glassing step( minus the mat...)

I have about $150 in the AC plywood
I am expecting to put in over $100 in poly resin and another $60 in CSM if my math is correct ( 85 sq foot deck x 2 sides)

then the money for the covering of course...

In a perfect world I would find a suitable price and source for aluminum plank-like decking and do that... that would rock!!!-- but I can't find a suitable supplier

 

[WATERHAM]

Re: Plywood floor, resin, tuffcoat

I just did exactly what you are doing 2 months ago. I was going to use Durabak but chose Ultra tuffcoat because you could buy it off the shelves. I used Marine ply. Other that that I coated bottoms and sides in resin. Once cured, I lightly sanded sides (enough to get the primer to stick) otherwise it would roll off. Used the Tuff coat on the sides and Top only (light grey) . I didn't order enough primer to complete the job so I used a water based (important) primer from H.D. applied per instructions and continued the project. Cannot tell the difference in the H.D. primer v.s. the Tuff primer as far as the product sticking to it, but I can tell you the finished product is very nice and accessible if you need some that day.

 

[chrishayes]

Re: Plywood floor, resin, tuffcoat

There is some good info here.

 

[jrousell]

Re: Plywood floor, resin, tuffcoat

I just did exactly what you are doing 2 months ago. ...

Awesome info. Did you use fiberglass CSM when you did the resin glassing?

Do you by any chance have any pictures of your progress - or even just of the final look? I would LOVE to see some good pictures of what it looks like. I have heard that thus chopped rubber aggregate stuff is somewhat squishy and easier on barefeet compared to sand based anti slip coatings.. is that true?

we are going with light gray also.

 

[jrousell]

Re: Plywood floor, resin, tuffcoat

I got a reply from the manufacturer of tuff-coat.

He kind left it open but did say that their product was not intended as a waterproofer, while it could help in that reguard....

but it kinda sounded liek teh water based 2 part epoxy primer resin isn't eth same as the epoxy resins that are used for glassing and therefore I should do the resin-glassing on all sides underneath the tuffcoat stuff...

I was pretty much already headed that way from your help on this thread...


I will take some pictures as I progress

 

[P 0 P E Y E]

Re: Plywood floor, resin, tuffcoat

Good luck

Remember good wood (quality marine plywood) lasts longer.

If you dont need to glass it, dont.