17ft Shoalwater Flat Bottom Restoration

[ondarvr]

Don't worry about wet on wet, you have at least a couple of days to do more glassing before there will potentially be any kind of problem.

The floor needs to be very solidly anchored in place, plus weighted down or you risk it raising up as the foam expands. Drill more holes than you think you will and don't pour much foam in until you a get feel for it.

 

[Skiff_man]

What do you mean by I have a couple more days before I potentially have any problems?

 

[ondarvr]

Depending on the exact resin you're using you have a minimum of a couple of days to a week or more before there are any bonding issues. While shorter times are better, it's not going to make much of a difference in this situation.

 

[Skiff_man]

Ohh, I was thinking that if I had put too much resin, which is usually a problem for someone that doesnt have a lot of glassing experience (like me) then it would be much better to do wet on wet because the second layer will soak up a lot of the excess resin.I am not trying to argue with you I just want to be sure that I get this right. Thank you for your help

 

[Skiff_man]

Well I am about to leave to go get my resin I ordered it locally and I took WOG's advice and I am getting 15 gallons instead of 10. I think I got a great deal on the resin from a local boat shop, $290 for all 15 gallons including the hardener.

 

[ondarvr]

Use a fuzzy paint roller to wet out the glass if you are doing a big area, it will suck up a lot of surplus resin so it can be used elsewhere.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Hey Skiffman sounds like you have a good plan.

Few answers for ya..

When you make the holes im assuming your using a hole saw. When pouring..put those pucks back in your hole ( like you said ). Weigh them down flush so you dont have to deal with them before you glass.

As WOG said..no way should you pour while your tabbing is green. Wait till its cured..or pour first and then tab and deck. Obviously you have your deck screwed down to the stringers for this way to work. As far as putting cabosil on your stringer to deck mating surface..well there is some disagreement on that. Personally I like to screw and glue it down. Dry fit the deck..pilot hole..pull it up..caulk it..screw it down. You could use 4200 fast cure if you can caulk and screw down fast enough.

If you have closed compartments under the deck..be careful when pouring. Well..be careful pouring anyways..but compartments can trap air if your not paying attention. Ive seen the pressure POP decks up. Not like an explosion..but one hell of a scary POW!

You can do this in a day no problem. Doing one layer at a time can pose some problems..like little burrs sticking up etc. So yea..do it all in one shot if you can. If your deck heats up a little from the foam ( Stuff does get hot )..let it cool down before you layup.

4 yards per gallon is a guide. Linear or square..doesnt really matter. It takes what you give it. But you got the resin thing covered anyways

If you have time..yea..put some gelcoat on it while your all gung ho.

20 bucks a gallon is a sweet deal. Hopefully its not the stuff that kicks off in 5 minutes..without warning lol. Might want to do a test pint to see what the pot life is first.

Your right on track man..good luck.

 

[Skiff_man]

Yacht Dr.,

Thank you for all of your answers and taking the time to help out. How long will the tabbing take to cure? If I tab the deck in friday night will it be safe to pour the foam Saturday morning? I really want to do this all at one time and get it over with and with working an 8-5 M-F job it is hard to find time to do this. Also when I put the last coat of gel coat on which will be waxed, how long will it take for everything to full cure? On another note, my center console and seat screw down. And with the pucks how do I put those back in the hole and weigh them down without them falling through the deck? Are you saying to put them in there after the foam?

Should I predrill holes in the deck for this before glassing and fill them with PB that way i will be screwing into PB instead of the plywood and prevent water from seeping around the screws and into the plywood causing it to rot over time?

 

[Woodonglass]

Watch this...

 

[ondarvr]

Should I predrill holes in the deck for this before glassing and fill them with PB that way i will be screwing into PB instead of the plywood and prevent water from seeping around the screws and into the plywood causing it to rot over time?

It doesn't work very well with polyester putty, only epoxy, polyester putty isn't strong enough to hold screws that well, it tends to crack.

 

[Skiff_man]

It doesn't work very well with polyester putty, only epoxy, polyester putty isn't strong enough to hold screws that well, it tends to crack.

So should I just screw it into the deck?

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Well it had better cure by Saturday morning lol. Your gelcoat should be dry the next day(ish). Depends on a few factors.

Yup..put those pucks in when the foam reaches the top. You can get some wax paper taped to scrap plywood and use something to weigh them down over the pucks.

I know this sounds like extra work..and it is..but I put my deck down for a dry run. Mark where the stringers/bulks are on the ply ( like in the vid WOG just posted ). Then pilot hole for the screws and hole saw for your foam. Take the deck back up..lay down some 4200 caulk on the stringers and bulkheads. Put the deck back down Carefully and screw it. You have your 'foam' holes for little handles for easier placement. Tab the sucker to the hullsides. Then foam..then glass right over everything ( screw heads and all ). No need for PB..its all encapsulated in glass.

Again..cant stress this enough..careful when foaming. You dont have to have it volcano out the holes on your first fill . I thought Frisco was gonna pop his deck on the first fill in the Vid posted lol. You might want to have a 3/8" drill bit on stand by just in case you think you trapped air in a pocket..make a blow hole quick

Good luck man.

 

[Skiff_man]

I am not concerned about the holes when I screw the deck down. My concern is the screws that hold the center console down. I can't put that in until after I glass the deck and that will put holes into the plywood that water could potentially get into.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Well I understand that. Pilot the holes for the console..take it up and spooge the daylights in and around the holes with 5200. Put 5200 on the screws too.

Off hand..the only other way that I can think of is to fiberglass some wooden cleats where the inside of the console is. Then drill sideways into the base of the console into the cleats. Im assuming you have a flange on the console which have your mounting holes. Grind off the heads of your #12 ( whatever ) screws and glue them down with 5200 just for cosmetics. Put finish washers on the actual screws going sideways into the cleats.

Alas..this is a lot more work, but it will make sure water doesnt get into your deck. I know a few consoles and seats that are done in this way.

 

[Skiff_man]

That is a good idea, I had not thought about doing it that way. I think that I may go with that Yacht Dr.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Im sure there are a few other ways that others can come up with. Hopefully some other guys jump in here with more ideas..so you can have a few different flavors to choose from kinda thing

Oh..and call me Dave. Yacht Dr was so 10 years ago.

 

[Skiff_man]

Would it be stupid to just 5200 the console and swing back seat to the deck and not worry about the screws? Then I can do like you said and put the screw heads on it for aesthetics. I cant think of a reason to take it out after i finish this build.

 

[ondarvr]

Just glass it in place, no screws.

I liked the way my current CC had the console glassed in place, it looked strong and water tight. I recently removed the console and found they screwed through the flange to hold it in place for glassing, so there were more than a dozen unsealed screws going into the floor.

 

[Skiff_man]

Yeahh thats what I don't want is screws going into my water proof deck.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Not sure about the 5200 plan. I guess you could give it a try. Mebbe 5200 strips of wood instead of glassing..then side-screw to those? I mean you could epoxy coat the crap out of em first...

Sure you could glass that sucker down. A bit of finish work would be in play though. It would be better if it was a recessed/flush mount flange if you went down that road.