Aluminum deck

[greatdayne51]

Hello all, I just had a thought, my quota this month. I was reading about painting an aluminum deck and was wondering about putting an aluminum deck down instead of a plywood deck. With a little more cross bracing on the stringers it seems you would have the support to use rather thin aluminum so as not to increase the weight and Never have to worry about the deck rotting. I realize there might be condensation, but with a really careful glassing job it sounds like a possible plan to me. Let me know what you guys think, my wife has convinced me I need other opinions at times, and she doesn't know about this. Go figure.

 

[gewf631]

Re: Aluminum deck

There's been several discussions recently over here. <br /><br />Take a look-see.

 

[JasonJ]

Re: Aluminum deck

The floor is a major part of a fiberglass boats structure. Unless you can positively attach the aluminum floor to the transom, sides, and stringers, the structure will not be stable. In a fiberglass boat, the floor being glassed to the sides, stringers, and transom is what gives the boat its torsional strength. Anything less than that is a gamble. Aluminum boats are built differently, and have different torsional strenght requirements.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Aluminum deck

Not that it's a Bad Idea,<br />But JasonJ is Right.....<br />The floor definetly Is Structure....<br />And, When building Structure,<br />Wood + Plastic work together Very Well...<br />Aluminum + Wood work together Very Well....<br />But, Aluminum + Plastic Never work very well.......<br /><br />Of Course, I'm Assuming that you're talking about a Fiberglass Boat....<br />If you've got a tin boat, It's a very viable Idea.... Diamond Plate..!!!!!

 

[Hooty]

Re: Aluminum deck

Funny you should mention that. I was at one of my favorite scrap metal yards a coupla weeks ago and found twenty or thirty pieces of 1/4" thick aluminum composite panels. This stuff has a bonded aluminum honeycomb core and is unbelievable strong. I bought a 4'X 10' piece for the price of scrap aluminum and I'm thinking seriously about making a race fairing for my boat. This stuff would be ideal for a deck.<br /><br />c/6<br />Hooty