Floor replacement?

[1sttimeowner]

Hi all,just found this site and hope to get some help on some questions on boat repairs.I have just bought my first (fixer upper)boat.I am replacing the flooring and the supports under it.Looks like the wood they used for the supports is redwood,is it okay to use pressure treated wood as a replacement?Should it be painted with a certain type of paint?do they need to be epoxyed down to the bottom of the hull?Also it looked like they used particle board as flooring,would regular plywood be just as good/how thick?

 

[Bondo]

Re: Floor replacement?

Looks like the wood they used for the supports is redwood,is it okay to use pressure treated wood as a replacement?

Ayuh,...... P/T Plywood is My 1st Choice,.......
Just let it Dry Out before you use it, it tends to be Too Wet when you buy it......

Should it be painted with a certain type of paint?do they need to be epoxyed down to the bottom of the hull?

Ayuh,....... Epoxy is a Great Choice of resin, for both Coating,+ attaching the wood to where it's going......

Also it looked like they used particle board as flooring,would regular plywood be just as good/how thick?

Ayuh,..... 1/2' P/T Plywood is the Choice here as well.......
Dried,+ sealed with Epoxy.........

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Floor replacement?

1st time, I recommend solid pressure treated dimentional lumber in the same size as the original stringers. Use fiber glass cloth and either polyester resin or epoxy resin (Poly for normal repairs, epoxy for high strength, critical repairs).

Use 1/2" Pressure treated plywood for the flooring. Dry it out for a few days, or buy a dry piece from the store. Use two layers of cloth or light duty mat over the plywood and plenty of polyester resin. Coat the floor on all sides, before installation, and screw the floor to the stringers with SS screws.

 

[1sttimeowner]

Re: Floor replacement?

Thanks for the replies,all the advice i can take in on this project is very helpful.
My next ? is,I am replacing the floor supports(stringers ? ) as well since they were all rotten.Should or could those be replaced with full length wood?I noticed when I removed them they seem to be in diff. lengths or is that the way cause someone else may have done it before ?I didn't think this would be so much work at first,but thats why it is a project boat! 8)

 

[croSSed]

Re: Floor replacement?

Hey, 1sttime,

Check my Photobucket site for the project I'm doing. It might be helpful:

s110.photobucket.com/albums/n103/tadpoleig/

TG

 

[Solittle]

Re: Floor replacement?

Have you checked the transome for rot yet? Often they both go together.

 

[1sttimeowner]

Re: Floor replacement?

Have you checked the transome for rot yet? Often they both go together.

Have not checked it yet.I have most of the stringers out now,only have about a foot left to cut out before the transome.Are they difficult to replace?

 

[ManOfwar690]

Re: Floor replacement?

belay that pt and fiberglass DONOT mix and will part ways soon after it is covered as the pt is an oil and resin will not stick mor then a few weeks maby a mo. DONOT use pt . strait kiln dried board is best then glass over it but soak it in a thinned out resin NO WAX resin and apply alot of it as the wood will suck it up i would use 1 QT resin to 3 cc of hardner and 1/4 QT acitone as the thinner alow to dry over night and using a NO WAx resin you will not have to sand to put on your glass lay the glass on resin it and remove the air bubbles with a rolling tool and then do the same for the underside of your decking just do not glass it Just the thinned out resin and do it 2 times in the same day then put the flooring in place screw it down with silacon bronz screws counter sunk get some cavasil
mix the cavasill with resin only No HARDNER... mix it till its a nice paist allmost like bondo fill screw heads flush to the floor then glass as normal the hardner from the glass resin will cure the cavasil resin mix and it will not crack hope this helps

 

[1sttimeowner]

Re: Floor replacement?

Have you checked the transome for rot yet? Often they both go together.

Have not checked it yet.I have most of the stringers out now,only have about a foot left to cut out before the transome.Are they difficult to replace?

Well SoLittle I checked the transome today seems to be real solid.Got most of my stringers cut to fit also.Now should I use fiberglass cloth on top and bottom,It looked like the old floor was painted.Also keep hearing about floatation foam,there wasn't any in my boat.Should there be?

 

[Nova II 260]

Re: Floor replacement?

To Foam or Not to Foam. IMHO foam is just a moisture and mold trap. The way I understand it, manufactured boats 20' and under are required to have floatation from the mfg's. Mine current boat is a '26 without, Thank God. My ( abandoned) project boat had foam and I bought the two part foam to replace it. However, after reading a bunch on rebuilds, I decided not to bother with it. As long as you structure your stringers and floor support properly you don't have to have it. When you do your rebuild just keep in mind how long you are planning on keeping the boat, 1, 5, 10, 100 years? You'll most likely never recover the labor/parts cost of the rebuild when you do sell. So, make it save, functional and cost effective to suit your needs and get 'er done for summer.

 

[tmh]

Re: Floor replacement?

As I've posted in a few recent threads regarding the floatation foam issue, some folks recommend using empty, capped soda bottles in there...2 liter or whatever, Adds almost no weight and traps air for floatation, That's what I am doing on my 19' BR floor replacement. Just make sure to get them in there tight or slap some epoxy/glue on them to keep them from shifting all around.

No structural support like tight foam would give, but if the stringers are solid you should be fine.

 

[andy6374]

Re: Floor replacement?

Foam gives the hull structural integrity and floatation. I would never get rid of it. You'll be thanking yourself for adding the foam when you crack a below the waterline thru-hull. Even if the foam doesn't provide enough buoyancy to keep it from sinking it will give you a hell of alot more time before you do sink. I hollow fiberglass hull will sink very very fast.

I also don't have the opinion "that whatever I do I can't prevent water from getting below the deck". If decks are properly glassed over and tabbed to the sides of the hull and all hardware fittings/thru-hulls/engine mounting bolts are bedded in 3m 101/4200 (none of that silcone crap), yes no water should get in. These fittings should also be re-bedded every couple of years because bedding shrinks and hardens with time and then water get through.

Where water will get in is through deck hatches. We try to keep that to a minimum by not using cheap hatches. By a beckson deckplate and watch it leak. On the other hand by an Armstrong deckplate and it will still leak but very very little. And besides deckplates are usually for the bilge area and such, ie, places where there is no foam.

The do make completely watertight (not waterproof, but watertight) hatches. Bomar and Ancor make some, but there are pricey but in my opinion worth it.

 

[wil7483]

Re: Floor replacement?

Here are two excellant restoration projects with step-by-step floor replacements. The 1st one is mine. I totally restored a 1975 Mark Twain 180BR and it is long reading but worthwhile. You can see it herehttp://www.marktwainboats.org/cgi-b...c7e173e4158bdd246add38eef034;act=ST;f=2;t=483

The second is a really good floor replacement post also on a Mark Twain. You can see it herehttp://www.marktwainboats.org/cgi-b...c7e173e4158bdd246add38eef034;act=ST;f=2;t=286

 

[Bondo]

Re: Floor replacement?

belay that pt and fiberglass DONOT mix and will part ways soon after it is covered as the pt is an oil and resin will not stick mor then a few weeks maby a mo. DONOT use pt .

I Don't Doubt that You believe that,.........
But,........
I've got Several hulls that I've rebuilt using P/T Plywood,+ have had No Seperations,....... None,..... Nada.......
The oldest 1 is Over 10 Years Old..........Alibet,.. Done with Epoxy resin.......