Another one on floors. Pressure treated ply overlay?

rebuilt

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
May 11, 2007
Messages
274
15' tri-hull bass boat. Carpet. Foam. Poor care. Left in the weather. = Floor problems. My situation is all of the above. Used boat, bought cheap as is. The problem is not too serious, as compared to competely rotten floor in my other project. But one project at a time. There is one spot that's a little springy. Not mushy. It doesn't groan and crackle when I step on it. It feels like the glass has delaminated from the ply floor, kinda springy. It's no simple job to just rip this one up, redo stingers if necessary, then relay pressure treated ply and glass it back up. It's a two piece hull, with 2 livewells, a dry rod storage compartment, sit down cockpit type helm. and another dry storage bin. The imbellishments are all part of the top half. I've read the advice pertaining to hidden problems, ie stringer problems, and short of building a hoist to lift the upper half off, I just cannot get to the frame work under the floor. The rest of the floor feels sound. It's about a 1' square spot. So my question is this. Why can't I wire wheel the existing floor to clean glass, glass in another layer of 6oz cloth or chopped strand, then lay 3/8' pressure treated ply over that? Affix with galvy wood screws, glass another layer over the PT ply, carpet, and done? It sure sounds doable to me, and given the other alternative, IE, separate the hull halves, I don't really know what else to do See pics, Thanks, KR
 

Attachments

  • Picture 002.jpg
    Picture 002.jpg
    61 KB · Views: 0

Chris1956

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Mar 25, 2004
Messages
28,074
Re: Another one on floors. Pressure treated ply overlay?

If you can lay 3/8 plywood over the soft spot, can you not cut out the old plywood and replace with new 1/2 plywood? You will need to attach the new plywood to something (stringer or frame). But you could add some support between stringers and frames if need be.
 

sdunt

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Sep 11, 2005
Messages
389
Re: Another one on floors. Pressure treated ply overlay?

Patching the floor is not the generally recommended method, but it has been done and documented on this forum. The guy who did it had a bas boat just like your, consoles that ran to the floor, etc. and he was successful at cutting out the rotted floor and installing new plywood flooring in sections..

So it can be done, I would not layer over top I would cut out the 'cancer' and patch in a new piece of wood.
 

bouttime007

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Apr 21, 2007
Messages
546
Re: Another one on floors. Pressure treated ply overlay?

If you can lay 3/8 plywood over the soft spot, can you not cut out the old plywood and replace with new 1/2 plywood? You will need to attach the new plywood to something (stringer or frame). But you could add some support between stringers and frames if need be.

If you know where your stringers are, you can cut back to them(break halfway) and replace the soft/rotten sections. You need to remove rot or you will be chasing it time and time again.
 

rebuilt

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
May 11, 2007
Messages
274
Re: Another one on floors. Pressure treated ply overlay?

Good input. I can find the stringers with a little construction gadget called a stud sensor. It uses something like sonar to find solid material. Yeah, I know, my wife smiles when I mention that too. I'll cut out the soft spot, check for stringer problems, fix'em if they show, then use backers and cleats to re-affix the ply. I'm gonna sell this one, or I would not put carpet back in it. I hate the stuff. But some guys are crazy about it. Once again, my thanks to this forum and the folks who make it what it is. KR
 
Top