Advice needed on floor repair for '98 bayliner

[kaw550]

The floor around my ski locker has gotten soft. Tonight I pulled back the carpet and found it extends to the drivers foot area. The thin layer of fiberglass has cracked and allowed water to get in.

I know there are two beams that run from the engine compartment to the front of the boat. I am not sure what else is under the floor.

Any suggestions one how to fix? With there be framing under the floor? I am concerned how it ties into the the left and right sides of the boat.

I attached a couple of pictures of the floor area.

Any reccomendations on how to fix it?

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Advice needed on floor repair for '98 bayliner

The substructure of your boat will look similar to this...

The longitudinal "Beams" are called Stringers and the Lateral ones are called Bulkheads. You will need to drill into them and check the drill shavings to see if they are wet. You may or may not have Foam under the deck and between the stringers and bulkheads. It may or may not be waterlogged. If it is it has to come out. It will NOT dry out. Lots of examples here on the forum. Do some searching and reading.

 

[jumpjets]

Re: Advice needed on floor repair for '98 bayliner

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=453426&page=2&highlight=jumpjets

I'm not saying I did it right, but you can reference the thread above to see what I did about a small soft spot. I've been boating for 2 seasons with that repair.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Advice needed on floor repair for '98 bayliner

No offense but you are correct... this is not the way to do the repairs to your boat. You should always use cloth with epoxy. When patching in pieces of stringers they should be "Sistered" in not just glued in with epoxy. Lot's of incorrect, structural issues in that link that should not be followed. Even though it's been going for 2 years it's still not the correct repair method.

 

[kaw550]

Re: Advice needed on floor repair for '98 bayliner

Thanks for posting up the pictures and the link. I know I have a lot of research to do before I start rebuilding. So far, this looks like the right place to start.
I am sure I will not be close to the using the correct terminology but here goes....
The driver and passenger side dash are molded fiberglass. They wrap around from the sides of the hull and connect to the floor. In other words they are not coming out easily. What are the chances of there being bulheads under the open floor? Would I cut back to dry wood and add them?

Also, in the picture above there is no support along the sides hull in the middle of the boat. My concern is that the floor may have been moulded in and there is no surface to fasten the floor too. If you look at the picture it is not completely flat along the right side.

I dont want to get in over my head but it is a nice boat. I want to do it right.
I am mechanically inclined, I have some experience with construction and autobody, I have the tools but boat construction is new to me.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Advice needed on floor repair for '98 bayliner

If you look at the bottom of your thread there are several threads that are similar to yours. You should investigate them and you'll learn a lot.

 

[mxcobra]

Re: Advice needed on floor repair for '98 bayliner

take a look at mine, its a older bayliner...
but may be simaler to what ya got.