"Glassing" the floor

[coalminerswife]

I've been trying to impress upon my husband the importance of "glassing" the floor. I got some backup over the weekend from a couple of guys we met at the boat dock.

How exactly does one go about doing this? I've gathered that I need some resin and some fiberglass. First, where does one buy this stuff? If I walk into the local Lowes and ask for resin and fiberglass, are they going to look at me like I'm nuts? Is there any particular resin product I should look for?

Secondly, how does this work? What's the process? I'm guessing that we need to cut the wood for the floor first, and then apply the resin and fiberglass? How long does this take?

In short, I need some kind soul to give me easy to follow, step by step directions on how to do this.

Also, while we're on the subject of floors, I can't help but wonder if we bought the wrong kind of foam to go under the floor. What should we use for that? The stuff we bought is white, looks like styrofoam, and comes in long sheets. I'm not where I can go look at it, but the receipt says it is 3/4" poly panel. Is this an acceptable foam?

 

[ondarvr]

Re: "Glassing" the floor

This thread will answer many questions about this subject.

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=234392&highlight=hull+extention

After reading it you will have some specific questions about your project, you may also question the sanity of the person that started it.

 

[howlnmad]

Re: "Glassing" the floor

The white styrofoam panels are not what you want. You need the blue or pink ones from lowes or HD.

the amount of materials you will need to do the deck, won't be available at lowes.

If the old deck is still in, it needs to come out and the hull prepped. Yes you cut the new to size and encase in glass first.

Do some searching in this forum. There is an endless amount of help here. More details about the boat and some pics would help.

 

[coalminerswife]

Re: "Glassing" the floor

The boat is a 1973 Starcraft, maybe a Holiday or an Islander. It's 19' long. It's completely gutted. The hull is ready for the new deck, which we will do once we get done painting.

You say Lowes won't have enough to do it. How much exactly does it take to do a boat that 19' long and 5' wide? Obviously, I can calcuate the square footage, but I'm not sure how many layers of the stuff we need to put in the bottom.

Here's the boat:

 

[paparoof]

Re: "Glassing" the floor

I'm shopping right now for materials to replace my floor (and everything else). My local Lowe's can order marine plywood so I'm just going to go with that. I'm getting my fiberglass cloth and resins from http://www.uscomposites.com/.

Hopefully you kept the old plywood floor pieces to use as templates. Cut out the new wood, get a coat or two of resin on the bottom and edges of the panels (the edges will soak up a TON of resin), install panels into boat, then apply fiberglass cloth and resin to the top.

Good luck!

 

[ondarvr]

Re: "Glassing" the floor

Since its aluminum you have a few options, the easiest and lowest cost method is to use exterior plywood and just paint it with porch paint, add some fine sand for a non skid finish.
Don't even bolt it down unless it won't stay in place. For about $100.00 and an afternoon you'll have a floor that will last from 5 to 10 years, maybe longer if you keep it indoors in the off season, or if you lift the floor panels out store just them inside.

You can upgrade from there, as you upgrade the cost and time will go up quickly.

You can epoxy coat the wood, polyester with glass, epoxy with glass, marine plywood, a combination of one of these and non skid paint or carpet.

At even a higher cost you could go with honey comb panels, no rot and light.

It just depends on how much time and money you want to put into it.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: "Glassing" the floor

Ext. Grade Ply, 5/8" from Lowes, 7 yds of 6oz cloth 3 gallons of Poly resin from USComposites.com. Coat the bottom glass the top Pay attention to the edges.

 

[coalminerswife]

Re: "Glassing" the floor

"Hopefully you kept the old plywood floor pieces to use as templates"

The boat didn't have a floor in it when we got it. It looked like this when we got it.

So, there is no template. I wish there was. I suspect that would make things much easier.

Our plan is to put insulation in, first. We bought the wrong stuff, so I have to take that back to Lowes, and get the correct stuff. I'm still a little confused as to how much I need.

Then, once the floor pieces are cut, I'm going to put the resin and fiberglass on them. Lowe's has the resin, but their selection of fiberglass cloth is limited--very limited. They have 3x3 sheets only, and they're over $6 each. Does the fiberglass need to go on the top and the bottom? Also, do we need to drill holes for the screws before we glass it?

Once the floor is in, it'll be carpeted. We have already bought gray marine carpet.

If anyone is interested in seeing our resto thread, this is it:

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=418927&highlight=1973+starcraft

 

[ondarvr]

Re: "Glassing" the floor

You need to use resin and glass on all surfaces, resin alone is weak and tends to crack and peel rather quickly without glass.

 

[coalminerswife]

Re: "Glassing" the floor

We should also put the resin and fiberglass on the transom, correct? I ordered both resin and fiberglass from US Composites last night. It was considerably cheaper than buying from Lowe's. I hope they ship quickly.