Help On pontoon floor

[bscheper]

I pulled up the carpet on my pontoon floor as it was old and falling apart. The floor is 3/4" plywood and still solid. However in a couple areas the top ply of the wood has delaminated. I removed the loose areas of top ply and was hoping there was some type of floor leveling compound I could put down to fill/level the areas that were removed and cover the entire floor to seal it prior to putting down new carpet. Any ideas would be helpful and much appreciated. Note that I will be gluing carpet down to whatever product I use. I like to think of the boat as a classic as it is a 24' 1984 Riviera Cruiser with hardtop. Not sure my wife and kids would agree but the new carpet will be a nice upgrade.

 

[bscheper]

Thoughts on sealing with old timers wood sealer and then several coats of poly?

 

[Woodonglass]

How large is the de-laminated area? Are you sure the rest of the plywood is ok so that dry-rotting won't occur??

 

[bscheper]

Rest of the plywood is ok with no dry-rotting. No soft spots when walking around boat and that is 225 lbs. I looked on top and bottom. The top layer of ply just bubbled up in a few areas length wise on the 4X8' sheets of plywood so I removed it. So I have about 5 - 10 places in the plywood where there are 2" inches in width and 4' long where the top ply is missing.

 

[Woodonglass]

If that's all you have then I'd use thickened Resin (laminating Marine resin thickened with Cabosil and chopped strand) and a broad putty knife to fill the void and call it good. Don't use Bondo Hair!!! It uses Talc for the filler and WILL absorb water over time. Since you'll be carpeting your boat, the carpet will be holding water and the bondo will Fail over time. KEY: Plywood must be ABSOLUTELY DRY before applying the Hairy Resin or it WON't adhere well. Drilling some1/4" holes into the area will allow the resin to form "Resin Rivets" and aide the resin in sticking to the wood and won't hurt anything since the resin will fill and seal the holes

 

[bscheper]

Thanks for the feedback! Just so I am clear since I am new to all this: You mean epoxy resin with hardener? Then add Cabosil and small cut up pieces of chopped strand to the mix and put it on with putty knife? Any idea ratio of Cabosil to resin so I know how much to buy? Would it be ok to seal the entire floor with old timers wood sealer since I have the carpet already off or should I stay away from the areas I will be using resin on?

 

[Woodonglass]

yes epoxy with cabosil and cut up Shredded strands of CSM (about 1" long) I'd put down the filler first and then saturate everything with the Old Timers and pay close attention to the edges Once the deck is done and coated with the final 2 -3 coats of full strenght Polyurethane and then you put the carpet down. IF BIG IF you predrill and seal ALL Holes you put in it for attaching the railings console seats etc then your deck will last for a good long time