How should I repair fiberglass floor of bass boat?

[Thaiboxer04]

I recently bought an older 87 Glasstream 15ft bass boat to fix up and use. The floor throughout the boat feels ok to me but there is a very soft spot right under / around the front swivel seat. The seat is mounted right on top of the live well so I was able to get pictures of the underside by reaching into the livewell. I am not sure what is the best way to cheaply make this area sturdy again. My initial thought was to cut a piece of wood that is a much bigger diameter than the seat base...carpet it and mount it over the whole area so it rests on the sturdy outer edges...then mount the seat to the new wooden piece. Then I realized that the boat has 2 livewells and neither are hooked up so they cant be used anyways. Now I'm wondering if it would be better to put something inside the livewell to sturdy up the floor? Not sure what the smartest approach would be so i'm hoping I can get some good suggestions! Thanks in advance to anyone that can help! Here are a few pics...

 

[JoshOnt]

I would think cutting out the rotted part and replacing it also putting a sealed piece of wood underneath in the livewell for some extra support but no matter how you do it you have to think about how to prevent it from happening again. It is better to spend the extra now and know it is good for a long time.

 

[Thaiboxer04]

Thanks for the suggestion! Any other ideas from anyone who experienced this issue?

 

[DeepBlue2010]

Soft floors has rotted wood under them. This never stop, it will continue spreading everywhere until every piece of wood on the boat is mulch.

Having a backer plate that is big enough to rest on solid edges might work temporarily until those solid edges rot away as well as the backing plate itself if it is exposed to rot.

Soft floors are not a good sign on a boat, it might be an indicator of larger problem. Inspect your boat carefully to access the situation and know for sure if it is contained in this area or allover the boat.

If you are lucky enough to have the rot contained only in this area, and as Josh said before, the rotted wood needs to be cut and replaced. The new solid piece of wood must be sealed and glassed properly. Good luck

 

[Thaiboxer04]

Thanks for all that info. That is the only spot I have found anywhere. What is strange is that there is no wood. It is fiberglass only as shown in the picture unless there is wood on top but if so it must be very thin. It feels as if it is maybe 1/4" thick which I dont understand why they would mount a swivel seat over the livewell with such a thin flooring.

 

[DeepBlue2010]

What makes you think that? Is it because fiberglass is the only thing you can see from the outside or you took some core samples of your deck?

It is very unlikely - but not impossible - that you have a no wood core all fiberglass deck. Wood is used as a core, it will not show from the outside. The picture you posted is showing the outer-skin of the laminate. I would be very strange - and legally costly - if what you saying that they mechanically fastened a seat base to a thin layer of fiberglass is actually true.

 

[Thaiboxer04]

I would definitely go with your assessment before mine since you sound to know your stuff pretty well! I guess there might be a layer of wood across that area with carpet glued to it. I just put my hand on top and underneath the soft area and it felt really thin. Hard to guage thickness that way though. I'll take the carpet up a little and check on it tonight. Thanks DeepBlue!!

On another note... I think I may actually be lucky because if water was coming through the wood and fiberglass there...it shouldn't have let anymore damage occur lower down because i'd guess the water would just drip into the live well itself?

 

[52FordF2]

DeepBlue, could he remove the seat and check the base, screw holes to see the thickness or if it has any wood there?

 

[gm280]

Thaiboxer04, I know how your Glasstream was built and I think if you remove the seat base and look, you will see a sandwich of fiberglass, wood and more fiberglass. And the wood it rotted and cracked up. SO, you have to remove any and all rotted wood and then either replace that wood section with some exterior grade plywood sealed in polyester resin and CSM. Then you need to apply a few more coats of fiberglass CSM and underside with 1708 matt to hold the weight again. Your boat was built using a chopper gun method of boat building and it is now time to do some quality repairs... JMHO!

 

[Thaiboxer04]

Thanks gm280. It sounds like a real headache and expensive! I know nothing on the history of this boat...were these boats built really bad?

 

[gm280]

Thanks gm280. It sounds like a real headache and expensive! I know nothing on the history of this boat...were these boats built really bad?

Those boats were built in Georgia and of course no longer made. At the time lots of little boat companies were cropping up all over the place because boats were a hot topic then and everybody wanted a piece of the pie. Those boats were not laminated woven clothe hulls but were chopper gun hulls. In other words they sprayed polyester into the molds and then used a special type gun to chop up the fiberglass and spray the fibers in all over the wet polyester. Then a few guys would roll the glass fibers down with roller. Much like paint rollers. So the hulls could be built quickly and very cost effective. But they didn't have the hand laid fiberglass work like the more expensive boats like Ranger was doing at the time. But for what they were/are, not a really bad hull either. The water performance was pretty good. If you look at the underside of the bow area, you will see they actually have a pocket to help raise the hull when moving across the water. That helped lift the boat and therefore made for a faster hull design. If you look inside the hull, you will see the chopped fiberglass threads going every direction. That gave it strength in every direction, but not the strength of true hand-laid hulls of the more expensive boats... As for repairing your front seat area. NO it really isn't that hard to fix your boat. But it will take some careful work and then you can enjoy the fruits of your labor and happy fishing again... Just a little info...

 

[Thaiboxer04]

Excellent response and MUCH appreciated that you took the time to share your knowledge! I definitely will do what it takes to get her back on the water for sure and very interesting to know the history on the model. Unfortunately though... fixing the floor will be taking a backseat at this time because I just found out an hour ago that my motor is no good and has a dead cylinder :-(