1983 thundercraft needs new floor....

[sinbad jr]

When I repair the floor can I go right over the one thats there or should I remove it the old floor ? Can somebody help me with this one please

 

[Windykid]

Re: 1983 thundercraft needs new floor....

You should remove the old floor and inspect for further damage or rot.

 

[escapade]

Re: 1983 thundercraft needs new floor....

ditto on that, make sure then entire floor is removed, this way you can see whats going on underneith and if any other problems have risen ie stringers

 

[JMRuth72]

Re: 1983 thundercraft needs new floor....

Sinbad,

After helping a friend pull his floor out and seeing the damage that it was hiding I would strongly recommend complete removal and replacement. You have no idea what caused the first one to fail with looking. You could have more damage under the floor to fix, poor drainage or water logged foam to name a couple. Take your time and do the job right the first time and it will last longer than if you just sandwich a new piece of wood to possibly waterlogged rotten wood. Good luck, be safe and have fun.

 

[sinbad jr]

Re: 1983 thundercraft needs new floor....

im sure this is going to be a hell of a job and not looking forward to doing it.
should I just remove where its soft or the whole thing?

 

[sinbad jr]

Re: 1983 thundercraft needs new floor....

thanks alot for your help, I will and do my best..........How long did it take to remove the floor?

 

[Chinewalker]

Re: 1983 thundercraft needs new floor....

Removing the floor is the easy part. A circular saw works great, set at whatever depth your floor is, and care taken when getting to the edges so you don't go through the bottom of the boat. An angle grinder works well to smooth things up when the floor is out. In my experience, these floors rot bottom up, not top down, which means you likely have saturated foam and rotted supports & stringers....
- Scott

 

[JMRuth72]

Re: 1983 thundercraft needs new floor....

Sinbad,

It took us about 8 hours over 2 days if I remember correctly. That is including taking out all of the foam that was waterlogged. Nasty mess, suggest letting the kids do it if you have any.

 

[63silverline]

Re: 1983 thundercraft needs new floor....

I am doing my first floor now. From what I have seen under my floor I would recommend removing the old floor. Lots of dirt, roots, and worst of all, water. I pulled mine out and have been drying it out for the past month. It is good and dry now and ready to put the new one in. For removal I started with a Rotozip tool but got smart quick and used a circualr saw. As stated above be careful on the edges. I went through mine about an inch long in one spot. To get even closer after the saw I used a die grinder with a cutoff blade. Took just a couple of hours to get the bulk of the floor out. This is a 14 footer.