14' Holiday Floor Replacement

[jmeny]

Since you all helped make the transom repair last year such a success, figured I'd return to the same place for winter 2/round 2 of another project I'd like to get done. Floor has some of that green outdoor carpeting on it from po, and let's just say what works for some isn't exactly ideal for fishin and crabbin. Plus it was untreated and has seen better days. I know some of you have similar (or the same) boats and might have some input on how i'd approach this, so any input on unexpected things you ran into or things you would've changed a second time around is welcome.

I'm mainly concerned with how I'm gonna seal this thing once it's in. Was looking at the 3:1 med 635 epoxy, but was wondering what kind of coverage I was gonna get and how much I'd need. Also, does anybody have experience with using durabak (application, how it holds up, how the rough finish is on bare feet, if it bonds well to 635, coverage, etc).

Last question is about flotation. I've read that ~1 sq ft of foam = ~60 lbs flotation. Did these boats come from the factory with flotation, or is this a safety precaution you all tend to add when you put a new floor in? Haven't opened up the floor yet, so I don't know what I'm gonna find. I was looking into the possibility of installing some hatches in the floor for storage of life jackets, tools, etc instead of filling up that space with foam...bad idea, good idea?

As usual, thanks everyone and hope you all get some relaxation time over the holidays.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 14' Holiday Floor Replacement

I'd order 2 gallons of epoxy to start. Do two coats on the bottoms, 1 coat on the top, hitting the edges with every coat. Then install it in the boat and put the final coat on the top (this will help seal the fasteners). From the factory your boat would have had a couple big pieces of white styrofoam in it. I'd replace that with either the pink or blue construction sheet foam from Lowes/Home Depot or pool noodles. Neither of those options will absorb water like the white foam eventually does. Your 14' is probably fairly shallow so I don't think it would be worth sacrificing the flotation space for minimal added under-deck storage. Durabak is a great product from what I've heard. I used marine vinyl on mine and love it.

You can see how I did mine here: http://s176.photobucket.com/albums/w200/ezmobee/New Boat/?start=all

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 14' Holiday Floor Replacement

Make sure when you are installing your deck that you predrill all your holes and then coat them and the fasteners with epoxy. Unprotected holes in the deck is the main cause for deck rot.

 

[kfa4303]

Re: 14' Holiday Floor Replacement

ditto. Be sure you use either marine grade plywood, or quality exterior grade plywood too, but never pressure treated. Also, be sure you use aluminum rivets, or stainless steel fasteners. Ideally, both should be coated with some 3M 5200 prior to installation, just to be extra safe. The pink and/or blue foam works great, won't absorb water, can be cut to any shape, and is relatively cheap. One 4 x 8 sheet will fill quite a lot of space. The noodles are great too and you might be able to get them at a bulk discount from your local dollar store. good luck. keep us posted. we love pics.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 14' Holiday Floor Replacement

Plain old deck screws work great also.

 

[jmeny]

Re: 14' Holiday Floor Replacement

Thanks all for the quick responses. EZ, nice lookin deck, and holy smokes thats a lotta noodles. Couple questions...I'm assuming the stainless/deck screws are self tapping and are attached into the single (or in your case double) longitudinal stringers under the deck and that the sections of ply are held together with fiberglass mat and resin. Any other options/suggestions for attaching the sections together aside from the resin/mat route, or is that the best way? Was planning on using the 635 epoxy on the ply with no mat, then possibly later coating with durabak. Second...how, if at all, does the deck get attached to the side of the boat where it sits along that ledge? Are the only fasteners holding it down along the stringers, or are there other necessary attachments?

 

[boatnut74]

Re: 14' Holiday Floor Replacement

The original deck was originally riveted down, to the stringer and on the outside of the ribs. In between the pieces of ply there is a strip of aluminum also riveted in to kind of "tie" the pieces together. If you don't want to see the joints in your deck, you can fill them with thickened epoxy and sanding, feathering them out between coats and the joint will dissapear.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 14' Holiday Floor Replacement

What he said ^^^ I got some basic fiberglass cloth from home depot and put it over my seams and epoxied it some more. Seems to have worked well.

So where are you planning to run this boat?

 

[jmeny]

Re: 14' Holiday Floor Replacement

Cool, figured thickened epoxy or some epoxy over glass would do the trick, but never hurts to double check. I'm sure I'll have some other questions once we get the floor out (it's always harder to picture stuff til you're lookin at it), but that's a bunch of good info to get started with, thanks. We actually have been running it for quite a while now with a used 25 hp we picked up sometime around when we fixed the transom last year, and couldn't be happier with it. We mostly fish and crab in the Patuxent River, with some occasional trips to the Wye, Potomac, and some areas in the main bay (Chesapeake).