Floor Board placement Question

[nightvision]

Hi all,<br />I'm restoring a trihull fiberglass 15 footer and have a couple questions.<br /><br />a. The floor board was rotted mostly in the back of the boat. In the Bow area it's OK. I wanted to take all the floor board out and putting in new floorboard. However, I discover that I can not get under the bow to remove the floor board in that area. Thus can I leave the floor board under the bow where it is and just add new floorboard in rest the of the boat. How do I go about attaching the existing floorboard to the Bow floor board. do Ihave to mechanically attach them since in some place there are no stringer direcly under there?<br /><br />Also, what is the best tool to cut fiber glass. I was using a circular saw and it was having problem cutting through the fiber glass. the blade seems to skid around in area of thick fiber glass.<br /><br />Thanks for the help.

 

[Hooty]

Re: Floor Board placement Question

I cut the fiberglass with a die grinder and cut-off wheel. Goes through it like salts through a widder woman. <br /><br />c/6<br />Hooty

 

[Bondo]

Re: Floor Board placement Question

Yep,<br />Another Preferred Weapon is the 4" Grinder,+ Disc........<br />It's Your Boat........<br />You can do AnyThing You Want............. <br /><br />One way to form a seam accoss the floor is to Add a Nailer to the bottom of the bow floor.... It gives you somewhere to screw the new wood down.....<br />That,+ A Bunch of Resin + Filler, You'll be Good to Go........

 

[JasonJ]

Re: Floor Board placement Question

Just hope that the floor under the bow portion is actually good. Mine was shot so I had to remove the entire upper deck to get at it, and do the transom as well. 4" grinder with cutoff wheel works well, Its my personal choice.

 

[mercuryblues]

Re: Floor Board placement Question

I just went through the same thing last spring with a 15 foot boat alot like yours.I found that a saw zall with a metal cutting blade does a nice enough job of cutting out the old wood and fiberglass,just dont cut too deep thats for sure.Also I would keep weight in mind when selecting your new material for the floor.Good luck

 

[Bill Matuscak]

Re: Floor Board placement Question

When I cut the floor out of my tri-hull bowrider, I had the same problem as you. Consoles and bow seats make removing the floor darn near impossible. I cut the flooring as far forward as I could, then stuck my digital camera down in the bilge and shot a bunch of pictures. The digital cam works great for checking out nooks and crannies and is non destructive. Just stick the cam in the hole and shoot. Reviewing the pics on the computer showed good wood and clean hull up front. I only had to cut a little further to get a clean edge. It was easier than training a mouse to run up there and report back. Just an idea from a newbee.