Re: Carbon fiber floor replacesment
To be fair, you can do it and it won't cost tens of thousands.
For a 17 foot bass boat I'd expect a cost around $500 for the cloth (assuming about 100 sq. feet of floor space, and three layers of cloth in the floor) and about $150-200 in epoxy, plus about $400 in honeycomb core sheets, or $130 if you use good quality plywood as a core.
I'm assuming you'll do all the work yourself, creating a cored carbon fiber deck about a half inch thick. Note that you'll need to reinforce the deck for stiffness because the carbon is stronger than glass but the thinness of the deck will make it more flexible.
So, total cost of materials is around $1300, not counting tools, protective gear, etc which you would have to have for any boat rebuild. This is also assuming you don't make mistakes getting the carbon cut, laid or wetted out.
The only advantage to the carbon for a deck over wood or fiberglass is weight. A deck built using carbon fiber and honeycomb core would weigh about two thirds of what a standard plywood/fiberglass deck would weigh.
The cost of materials for a high quality plywood deck covered in biaxial fabric would be about $80 for fiberglass, $100 for epoxy, $130 for plywood, for $320 total plus labor.
So, the question is... is that extra $1000 out of your pocket worth it to save one third the weight of your deck? For most of us, the answer is no
Erik
