jackrabbit66
Seaman
- Joined
- Sep 26, 2014
- Messages
- 58
I bought this boat for a great price knowing it had soft spots in the deck. Although its currently functional, I want to go ahead and make plans to replace the deck preemptively. I have access to the sub-deck from the two hatches on either side of the bow (areas in green in picture). on the starboard side, the decking material under the hatch is completely saturated with water and comes out in chunck( picture). It would appear that the manufacturer used 3/4" OSB with a fiberglass sheet glued to the bottom side & sprayed the top side with some kind of black spray paint. The Fiberglass sheet on the bottom is still solid but the OSB is completely rotten. I'm also able to see the stringers in several locations and they appear to be in great shape. The stringers are 3/4" plywood completely encased in fiberglass.
My plan is to remove the two chairs & use a grinder to completely remove the deck that i have outlined in RED in one piece to preserve the top decking material (in the picture). Once the deck is off the boat I'm going to pull out the OSB subdeck and clean the plastic decking. Next I plan to replace the sub-deck plywood with 5 new 3/4" ACX plywood panels that I've coated either a thinned out varnish or epoxy resin with fiberglass. since I'm able to remove all of the sub-deck under the area in green through the hatches, I'm going to slide in the two panels marked 4 & 5 in the picture, under the consoles from the stern of the boat. Once all the deck is in place I will pre drill & screw it to the stringers (adding marine grade sealant to the pre drilled hole) then apply some kind of role on adhesive to the top of the sub deck and reattach the plastic decking. once dry I will fiberglass or bondo the areas that I cut with the grinder and seal with a gel coat.
The area between panels 4 & 5 is a fiberglass panel for the fuel tank & there is no deck under the bow of the boat. obviously I will cut the panels in a way that allows the ends to rest on the center of a stringer.
Does anyone see any problems with this idea? any advice?
My plan is to remove the two chairs & use a grinder to completely remove the deck that i have outlined in RED in one piece to preserve the top decking material (in the picture). Once the deck is off the boat I'm going to pull out the OSB subdeck and clean the plastic decking. Next I plan to replace the sub-deck plywood with 5 new 3/4" ACX plywood panels that I've coated either a thinned out varnish or epoxy resin with fiberglass. since I'm able to remove all of the sub-deck under the area in green through the hatches, I'm going to slide in the two panels marked 4 & 5 in the picture, under the consoles from the stern of the boat. Once all the deck is in place I will pre drill & screw it to the stringers (adding marine grade sealant to the pre drilled hole) then apply some kind of role on adhesive to the top of the sub deck and reattach the plastic decking. once dry I will fiberglass or bondo the areas that I cut with the grinder and seal with a gel coat.
The area between panels 4 & 5 is a fiberglass panel for the fuel tank & there is no deck under the bow of the boat. obviously I will cut the panels in a way that allows the ends to rest on the center of a stringer.
Does anyone see any problems with this idea? any advice?
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