deck project

[m_court15]

My deck was feeling a little soft a a couple spots, so I decided to just start ripping up the whole deck. I have been going through old post about this, but still have a couple questions.

-should I pre-coat the deck with a layer of mat, the use cloth when I install it in my boat?
-should I coat both sides?

I will be using a polyester resin.

I will be putting a roll on bed liner down on the deck instead of carpet.

the pics are of the front half of the deck ripped up.

 

[JB]

Re: floor project

Re: floor project

deck

 

[Old Salt Oz]

Re: deck project

G'day m_court15,

Quote
<< 1. should I pre-coat the deck with a layer of mat, the use cloth when I
install it in my boat?
2. should I coat both sides?
I will be using a polyester resin.>>>

1. yes you should coat the new ply to prevent more soft spots in the future,
you can glue into position with resin and Micro Fibres, then run another strip of fibreglass and resin around the edge again, to prevent moisture entering the ply end grain and give a neat easy to clean finish. You could add a coving using Micro balloons for a real neat professional finish.
It will be a lot easier to apply the glass cover after the board has been cut to shape but not yet installed.

2. Yes, you must coat both sides as both will be in a potentially wet or high humidity environment.

Using Polyester resin is not a good idea at all, in fact a waste of your time and money; Polyester resins will not stick to timber in the long term and water will get in resulting in more soft spots.

Also note that Polyester resin does not bond well to old polyester resin. Epoxy resin will give you a chemical and mechanical bond 40% stronger and 90% more water resistant.

When coating the ply floor sheet, mix your epoxy resin and hardener then add 40% by weight of Methylated Spirits, this will thin the resin and help it to penetrate, just keep applying wet on tacky till it has an all over high gloss, the edges will take about 4 or 5 times as much as the flat surface and it needs it.

I hope this helps.

Avagoodweekend......

 

[CapriRestorer]

Re: deck project

This is what I did on my deck-

I bought sheets of posterboard in order to make a template. I measured the width and length of the interior of the boat. Once I had a template, I filled in the gaps between the stringers with that Expanda-Foam stuff for extra reinforcement. I bought normal sheets of plywood and coated them in epoxy. I later painted on fiberglass resin on the bottom of the floor. I laid the floor inside the boat and coated the top layer with fiberglass resin. I later reinforced the deck to the boat hull with fiberglass resin and deck screws. I later layed indoor/ outdoor carpet over the floor.

My project took less than a day to complete and it was inexpensive ($300).

I hope this helps

 

[drewmitch44]

Re: deck project

why did JB say deck? Thats verry good jb you said a word that was used in the post! wow let me try....DECK

 

[peacekeeper6]

Re: deck project

G'day m_court15,

Quote
<< 1. should I pre-coat the deck with a layer of mat, the use cloth when I
install it in my boat?
2. should I coat both sides?
I will be using a polyester resin.>>>

1. yes you should coat the new ply to prevent more soft spots in the future,
you can glue into position with resin and Micro Fibres, then run another strip of fibreglass and resin around the edge again, to prevent moisture entering the ply end grain and give a neat easy to clean finish. You could add a coving using Micro balloons for a real neat professional finish.
It will be a lot easier to apply the glass cover after the board has been cut to shape but not yet installed.

2. Yes, you must coat both sides as both will be in a potentially wet or high humidity environment.

Using Polyester resin is not a good idea at all, in fact a waste of your time and money; Polyester resins will not stick to timber in the long term and water will get in resulting in more soft spots.

Also note that Polyester resin does not bond well to old polyester resin. Epoxy resin will give you a chemical and mechanical bond 40% stronger and 90% more water resistant.
When coating the ply floor sheet, mix your epoxy resin and hardener then add 40% by weight of Methylated Spirits, this will thin the resin and help it to penetrate, just keep applying wet on tacky till it has an all over high gloss, the edges will take about 4 or 5 times as much as the flat surface and it needs it.

I hope this helps.

Avagoodweekend......

most boats are made of poly....

 

[m_court15]

Re: deck project

why did JB say deck? Thats verry good jb you said a word that was used in the post! wow let me try....DECK

I went back and edited it to say deck, it originally said floor.

thanks for all the advice!

the floor ripped out easily in one piece, so I just used that as a pattern. Then I coated it with a layer of polyester resin and mat. Then to join the floor to the hull I'm going to use resin thickened with cabosil to fill the gaps, then go over it with resin and cloth.
I work at a place that sells fiberglass products, so I get the resin for free.