Drain hole needed in boat

[iggyw1]

Hey guys,

I have an old Geneva boat. It is fiberglass and has a good, solid floor in the boat. When the boat was manufactured back in 1964, the floor was "water tight" and the drain thru the stern of the boat is at the top of the floor in the boat, so if it rains or takes in waves , etc., the water on the floor can be drained out whle boat is on the trailer with no problem. However, the floor is no longer completely water tight. New seats have been put in thru the years, with new screw holes in the floor. Brackets are screwed in to hold battery boxes, gas tanks etc. New carpet was put in by original owner a few years ago with molding screwed in around the sides and ends of carpet. Now there is some water that gets in beneath the floor, and no way to drain it.

I want to put a drain plug in at the bottom of the transom beneath the floor level OR in the bottom of the boat, thru the hull itself. with a drain plug that I can remove when boat is on the trailer. Has anyone here put a drain plug in either of the two places, and how did it work? Was it easy to do? Seems like the one thru the transom would be the easiest one to do. Plug needs some kind of brass liner put in first, correct? Thanks for any help or ideas on this.

 

[JoLin]

My Carver has a factory installed drain through the keel, about 6' forward of the transom. Problem is, when the boat is blocked bow high for the winter I can't get all the water out of it. So, last spring I put a drain hole and plug through the transom.

I wanted to place it as low as possible without accidentally drilling into the hull. What I did was to drill a pilot hole from inside the transom to make sure I wasn't drilling too low, then used a hole saw from the outside to make the mounting hole. I drilled the hole slightly oversize and sealed the inner surface with epoxy. Same with the screw holes, packed them with epoxy. Once it had all cured I redrilled the screw holes to the correct size and mounted the drain with slow cure 5200.

I used a bronze drain and plug assembly like this

Hope that all made sense

 

[alldodge]

Jolin has a good method

I'll add, with water getting under the floor I would cut a larger whole in the floor and look under it. If you have standing water you may also have rot starting. I would suggest starting small, maybe a 3 inch hole saw just to the side of the keel. Only do this if you have at least 3 inches above the keel to the deck

 

[redneck joe]

My Carver has a factory installed drain through the keel, about 6' forward of the transom. Problem is, when the boat is blocked bow high for the winter I can't get all the water out of it. So, last spring I put a drain hole and plug through the transom.

I wanted to place it as low as possible without accidentally drilling into the hull. What I did was to drill a pilot hole from inside the transom to make sure I wasn't drilling too low, then used a hole saw from the outside to make the mounting hole. I drilled the hole slightly oversize and sealed the inner surface with epoxy. Same with the screw holes, packed them with epoxy. Once it had all cured I redrilled the screw holes to the correct size and mounted the drain with slow cure 5200.

I used a bronze drain and plug assembly like this

Hope that all made sense

Mine aswell, and i had the same done when i had the transom work done last year.

 

[Chris1956]

Iggy, Some of the boats with the watertight floors had no foam floatation. If you have no foam, and a leaky floor (actually deck), your boat will sink to the bottom, if you get a hole or other leak. I boat with foam floataiton will simply swamp and float at or near the surface, allowing you to hang on to it until rescue.

I would recommend you fix the leaky floor, or better yet, install some floatation foam.

 

[iggyw1]

My Carver has a factory installed drain through the keel, about 6' forward of the transom. Problem is, when the boat is blocked bow high for the winter I can't get all the water out of it. So, last spring I put a drain hole and plug through the transom.

I wanted to place it as low as possible without accidentally drilling into the hull. What I did was to drill a pilot hole from inside the transom to make sure I wasn't drilling too low, then used a hole saw from the outside to make the mounting hole. I drilled the hole slightly oversize and sealed the inner surface with epoxy. Same with the screw holes, packed them with epoxy. Once it had all cured I redrilled the screw holes to the correct size and mounted the drain with slow cure 5200.

I used a bronze drain and plug assembly like this

Hope that all made sense

Yes, I made perfect sense out of what you said. I like the idea of a pilot hole so I do not go too deep . Thanks!

 

[iggyw1]

Jolin has a good method

I'll add, with water getting under the floor I would cut a larger whole in the floor and look under it. If you have standing water you may also have rot starting. I would suggest starting small, maybe a 3 inch hole saw just to the side of the keel. Only do this if you have at least 3 inches above the keel to the deck

Thanks. I did drill two 3" holes last year thru the floor under the back deck of the boat where the gas tanks and battery are stored. One hole on each side of the keel. There is about 6" between the floor deck and the hull. I checked all of the wood in between (the main runner going from front to rear and the ribs going across the width of the hull). I can only see so far towards the front, but figured the back end would be the worse spot. They are in great condition with a nice thick coating of fiberglass sealing all of the wood. The wood seems to be 2" x 4"s and they have the bottom corners cut off so water can run from one section to the other all the way to the back of the boat. I cut the hole in the floor between these two 3" holes and made the hole 12" wide x 8" front to rear. I put an aluminum angle iron around (& sealed it) it so no water will get below the floor deck if I get water on the floor. I installed a bilge pump & it does a good job, but it leaves about 1/2" or so of water under the floor because the pump is up off the floor a bit by design. If I put in a drain, as I trailer the boat home, the water should leave 100% on a nice day. What I do now is take my shop vac out when I get home and make sure it is dry. Its a pain in the butt to have to do this.

 

[iggyw1]

Iggy, Some of the boats with the watertight floors had no foam floatation. If you have no foam, and a leaky floor (actually deck), your boat will sink to the bottom, if you get a hole or other leak. I boat with foam floataiton will simply swamp and float at or near the surface, allowing you to hang on to it until rescue.

I would recommend you fix the leaky floor, or better yet, install some floatation foam.

You are right, there is no floatation foam in this boat. I am seriously plugging all of the holes that I can see in the floor. I am thinking of possibly pulling the entire floor up and redoing it and putting foam in it. Is there some type of spray floatation foam I can put in there now without pulling the floor up? Maybe foam that I can spray into holes that I make thru the floor in every section that is between the floor and hull? That would be too easy probably.LOL If there is such an animal as spray floatation foam, I can install it in every section under the floor then patch the holes really good.

 

[Chris1956]

There is spray foam available at home despot and other home stores. It will expand strongly, and possibly displace or distort the deck, so be careful. Marine foam also comes in the pour-in style. Two liquids are mixed and it foams and hardens very quickly.

 

[alldodge]

Foam has a good and a bad side. Foam can increase stiffness of the hull and if there is enough foam it can keep the boat from sinking. In my opinion I don't think you can add enough to the boat to keep it from sinking. Foam will soak up water if it continues to be in contact with it, and boat will get heavier. Without foam the water can be drained of or suck out and ensure it stays dry.

 

[flipbro]

I agree with All dodge! But if u do go with foam I don't believe the spray foam from Home Depot is a closed cell foam. Use the two part pour foam closed cell.

 

[iggyw1]

I watched a few videos on line that showed how to install the two part foam, and like what was said, if water gets in there still, you have a bigger problem due to the boat being extra heavy for your power factory (motor). I will not be adding the foam, and if the boat ever sinks, I hope I am out of it at the time! LOL We do wear our life jackets while in the boat. We have the jackets with co2 cartridges that inflate automatically when they get wet. I fish mainly on Lake St Clair in Michigan (connects lake Huron to Lake Erie great lakes. I tend to stay close to shore, and on days where the waves are too high, I do not go out. I decided against the foam but will definitely add a drain plug thru the transom of the boat right at the hull of the boat under the floor deck.

Thanks everyone for your input! I got some good ideas from it.

 

[Old Ironmaker]

If time permits i.e. no one is waiting for you to get off the ramp, pull the new plug while the boat is at the greatest angle on the ramp. You should get 100% of the water out of it, as well you can monitor how much water you are talking on if any. You will not get all the water out just trailering the boat. As far as pumping in new foam into the hull you will do more harm than good if you are not 100% sure that that hull isn't talking on water.

edit: and don't forget to put that new plug back in. For a threaded plug it is a good idea to wrap the threads with Teflon Plumbers tape.