Re: Floor replacement question?
I'll start by pointing out that I'm no expert - but I just removed the original floors from my '83 Lund and found that they were simply plywood covered with carpet - untreated and unsealed. They're soft in a few places, but all in all they held up for more than 20 years, spending at least the last 10 years (probably the entire life of the boat but I don't know for sure )stored outdoors with only a cheap boat cover to keep the elements out. <br /><br />Would fully encapsulated plywood hold up longer? No doubt about it if truly fully encapsulated. The way I see it pulling up the floor, at least in an aluminum boat where they're only held down with rivets or screws, every 20 years is probably necessary at least to replace the carpet if nothing else. At 18', I only need three 4' x 8' sheets of plywood to replace all of the wood that's there so it's really not that big a deal. <br /><br />The other thing to consider is that unless the plywood is completely encapsulated you may be doing more harm than good. If water finds it's way in the encapsulation will only hold it there longer expediting the decaying process. With this in mind you have to consider how you're going to fasten the floor to the hull and how you're going to attach accessories like seats, battery and fuel tank hold downs etc. Any breach in the encapsulation is a problem. <br /><br />If you're truly serious about maximizing the life of your floors look for alternative materials, like aluminum sheet or some of the new composite materials that are becoming available. The way I see it, do it the easy way knowing you'll be back doing it again in 20 years or go all out and forget about it for good. In my case the boat isn't worth the expense of "permanent" flooring.<br /><br />A glass boat is a different matter. <br /><br />My two cents anyway.
