Decided to fill it unless you think better of it

[NGABaldEagle]

I posted a thread that said casting deck repair and its on page 2 now with pics.
There isnt much wood that is bad.
Th topside of it appear to be good and some of the bottom of the thicker pieces are soft.
I was thinking of just filling all of this in slowly with some kind of filler that will harden good enough to bolt my pedestal base to.

The wood is mostly strong and hard. I have removed the rotten parts for the most part. Its a 20 year old boat. I expect several more years of use.
I would think I could fill this all in with some kind of liquid bondo or something similar that would harden like a rock and be strong enough to support a pedestal base adn fishing chair.

What do you think?
Thanks.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Decided to fill it unless you think better of it

Do you have access to the underside of that area? I would say there could be damamge below the seat base and access to the underside will help with the repair.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Decided to fill it unless you think better of it

if nothing else i would cut out to good wood. then take some 1x4 and slip them into the hole glue and screw them, with a good lap under the existing floor then cut a piece of 3/4 ply to close the opening. i would double up the area where the seat mounts, by adding another piece of 3/4 ply to the bottm side before attaching the patch. remember is has to hold that 260lb, petit butt of your squirming around on the seat.

 

[NGABaldEagle]

Re: Decided to fill it unless you think better of it

Thanks guys.
Take a good look at the close up and I will tell you what you are looking at.
Its hard to see it for what it really is since you arent here.

I have attached the pic and a paint drawing of it to give you an idea what you are looking at.

Now look along the line where the wood and old paint meet on the bottom edge. The wood appears to be wet or have a reddish tint.
That wood is about 1/2 in thick.
Underneath all of the painted surface is 1/2 in plywood.
In the center section where the pedestal base hole is designed to have 1/2 plywood on top of it.

Looking at the paint drawing (if you want to call it a drawing) you can see its nothing really but 2 long stringers of 1 3/4 inch boards running fore to aft flanked by 1/2 plywood.

The underside is all fiberglassed in with no damage.
When you look at the hole in the picture, You are looking at the the underside fiberglass. It doesnt have any wood on top it.
The decks are really nothing but plywood sandwiched by fiberglass.
I hope I have been aboe to describe really what you are seeing in the picture.

What I need to know is if there is a product that will seep into all the voids and cracks and fill all of this in and be drillable and strong for a pedestal base.

What do ya think?

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Decided to fill it unless you think better of it

looking at it now. with your weight, i'm 200lbs, i would cut out that center piece of 1/2'. seeing you are recarpeting. i would cut a complete new front deck out of 1/2" where the cut out is i would double up the 1/2" fit the pedestal before fastening the ply down. using the star fasteners that have the point on them that drive into the wood from the bottom and bolt from the top. you could either caulk the edges in real well,, or leave a space around the edge, as a drain trough, for water to run off.

 

[erikgreen]

Re: Decided to fill it unless you think better of it

Thanks guys.

What I need to know is if there is a product that will seep into all the voids and cracks and fill all of this in and be drillable and strong for a pedestal base.

What do ya think?

If there was something like this on the market, I think a lot of people here would jump for joy.

Short answer: There are products that claim to penetrate wood, solidify, and be as strong as you'd like. However, to date none of them are as strong as just replacing the wood completely or patching with some reinforcement below the deck as has been suggested.

If you really, really don't want to fix it right, just reinforce it and patch it. Long term, however, I'd say you probably will be pulling it out to fix it eventually anyway, since the repair will work for a while but won't be as strong or durable as just replacing the deck.

Also, if this occurred with your casting deck, check the rest of your hull wherever a screw holds something on... odds are the other screws were sealed the same way, and anywhere there's an attachment you may have a leak. If you find any other leaks and seal them now, you may save yourself a lot of problems in the long run.

Erik

 

[NGABaldEagle]

Re: Decided to fill it unless you think better of it

Nope!
Im not against doing it right.
The availability of 1 3/4 wood for it is what I need to find.
The deck on both sides is half inch and in excellent condition.

What you are looking at is half inch plywood in the center that covers the hole you see and its about 6 inches wide.
Stradling it is 4 feet long boards about 4 inches wide and 1 3/4" thick.
Outside of the big boards is 1/2 inch plywood that covers the rest of the deck that need not be replaced.

I have decided to open it up and remove the long boards and replacing them.
I will also replace the 6 inch wide strip of half inch plywood that runs fore to aft in the center.

Do you think I would be ok using treated wood?
The wood looks like it might be some kind of common wood used for boat building. Maybe some kind of fir?

This area will be covered with something that I can sand flat and seal with paint as well. I dont know what that is yet so some help there is needed.
being sealed up might allow me to get away with non marine grade wood I suppose...What do you think?

Where might I buy a small quantity of wood?
Im in the ATLANTA area.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Decided to fill it unless you think better of it

Why not use 3/4" plywood and glue 2 pieces together with gorilla glue or good epoxy. You will get a pretty solid piece when done.

If you are feeling VERY rich and want to spend money do a search for Seacast..... it is a pourable material that can only be sealed up with fiberglass resin..... epoxy will not adhere to it.

 

[NGABaldEagle]

Re: Decided to fill it unless you think better of it

Hey thats a good idea.
3/4 plywood is tough stuff.
2- 3/4 in thick strips 4-5 inches wide and 48" long would be more than sufficient to handle my big fat asteroid on the pedestal seat.

I'll Gorilla glue them together and epoxy resin them in.

On the other hand I could go to the local custom wood guy.
I was thinking of having him machine a solid timber to be an exact fit.
Shouldnt cost anymore than $100. I was gonna use fir or beechwood.
I may go the oak route because of its strength.

I will post more pics and explanations about what I have found, tried, used, or discovered. I will be opening up the deck over the weekend weather permitting.

I ma not going to half-asteroid this project.

 

[seven up]

Re: Decided to fill it unless you think better of it

...some of the oak variations do not epoxy well because of the closed grain...

just thought i'd throw that into the fray



Enjoy!

 

[NGABaldEagle]

Re: Decided to fill it unless you think better of it

Here is the progress so far.
See the attached pics.
I have used a wood chisel to dig out the good wood and get back to the fiberglass shell that you see.
I used my vac to clean the dust and sanded the edge of the glass.
I glued my pieces toghether with Gorilla glue and placed everything in.

So far beyond the pics I have used bondoglass to even it all out.
I will sand my first coat and apply a second and sand until its level and smooth.
I plan to sand the rest of the deck and paint it all with something.
I havent figured out what to paint it with yet.

I will take a pic of the finished product before painting and post in a few hours. This job is a PIA but atleast my casting chair will hold my XL keester without flipping me in the water.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Decided to fill it unless you think better of it

Looking good. Do not be afraid to shoot some stainless steel screws into the wood and countersink them. Then seal them up with your resin too.

Just one question....... how are you going to attach the chair? How are you going to get to the underside to tighten things?

 

[NGABaldEagle]

Re: Decided to fill it unless you think better of it

Arrgh! me lads!
Thanks for the props.
Im almost done.
I have some final finish sanding and it will be ready for paint.

Do you thing a couple of primer coats, finish coat, and the new carpet glue will be an adequate seal?

Does anyone recommend any products to use?
Its basically a bondoglass repair surrounded by original glitter paint.
I sanded the glitter paint down to raw glass along the edge.
I sanded the glitter paint to knock the gloss off.

Im going back with 20 weight carpet on the the front casting deck and thje main deck unless something thinks better of it.

Would a thinner carpet drain better?

I have easy access underneathe the deck via a hatch at the stern end of the casting deck. I will be able to drill the same holes out no problem.

Product suggestions please.

I will provide pics when the deck is ready to be painted and should be by luch tomorrow.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Decided to fill it unless you think better of it

See if you can get a piece if aluminum plate or stainless steel to mount under the new wood from the bottom to assist with the stress and spread the load.

 

[NGABaldEagle]

Re: Decided to fill it unless you think better of it

Im done.
I have to clean it up for paint.
I still dont know what to paint it with yet.

I have to take my wife for Italian now so i will be delayed in completing the project.

I will stop and buy the paint when I am out and roll it on today.
Pics to follow later.

Oh! Bob VT,
One side of the chair pedestal will be bolted to 2- 3/4" stacked MDO boards Gorilla glued together.
The other side will be bolted to 1/2" marine grade.

When it was rotten it still held me.
Now It will for sure but I am still planning on adding aluminum bars underneath from bolt to bolt.

Pics to follow later this evening.

 

[NGABaldEagle]

Re: Decided to fill it unless you think better of it

Sorry guys.
I tried my best but didnt stop progress for some of the pics.

She is all done including new carpet.

See pics.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Decided to fill it unless you think better of it

you took a wrinkled old lady and made her a teenager, great job.

 

[NGABaldEagle]

Re: Decided to fill it unless you think better of it

Nice of you to think so...But she is in her mid 30's IMHO.

I'd say she aint got her cherry no more but still has the box it came in.

I think if I would have done a complete overhaul separating the hulls and redoing her that way she would be a cherry again.

She has some nice features but is rough on the edges.

The metal flake looks good in some places, excellent in others, and bad in most. Just plain worn with lack of maintenance.

As far as I know the only way to make her look new is to paint.

Its really ok with me as Im just a old hillbilly anyway and I wont sweat it if I bump a rock or spill fish guts on the metal flake.
Its really just a fishing boat to me so I wont freak out if you spill your beer.

My whole purpose was to make the deck right again to hold my hefty frame.
I had to recarpet the front so I just bought it all and did it all.

Thats a project I only want to do once in my life.
It was kind of a labor of love for me.

Thinking really hard about a Humminbird 787 C2i.
Wishing I could afford one that nice but Im short a few hundred.

The most important thing to me was that this boat be mechanically sound.
So many people have older boats and mechanical trouble.
I feel confident that my boat is mechanically sound.
It actually dont look too bad either but is a somewhat rough around the edges.

Thanks for your compliment....I did follow your advice and glue 2-3/4 boards together for each side of the front deck.
As you said, Very strong and will easily hold more than my 260 lbs.

Happy Boating & Fishing!

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Decided to fill it unless you think better of it

i have a hummingbird piranah 20, that does a good job for me. just frustrating and heck to see the fish , and can't make them bite.