Ideas On The Cost Of Rebuilding Floor???

[AJSVFORCE]

I have just looked under the bow of my 21' Donzi bowrider through the ski storage port,and "HOLY CRAP!" The plywood under the fiberglass floor of the bow is sagging about 3 inches and the laminates are seperated.
Under the rear seats the floor was so bad I could push through it with my hand!
At first i was going to try and replace just 4' from the stern forward,but I dont want to start a project that i just cant afford to finish.

I got the boat for free well,I did some work on a truck for the couple who owned the boat and got it in trade for the work.
Any ideas on how much it would cost to redo the whole floor?
Thanks for the help.

 

[sschefer]

Re: Ideas On The Cost Of Rebuilding Floor???

The reason boats are called money pits is for just these reasons. Not to scare you but unless you are extremely lucky, you are probably looking at only a small portion of the damage.

There's two ways to approach it.

1. Tear out and replace only what's visibly bad.
This would probably run you about $200.00 for wood and carpet and other assorted materials.

2. Realize that there's rarely any such thing as a small amount of dryrot so take the winter to tear it down and make it new again. This will run in the neighborhood of 500.00 if you stay on track and don't overthink the solution.

Item 1 is less expensive but the costs will be lost when you are forced to do item 2.
There's plenty of time to do Item 2 now. It would be a bummer to have to do it next summer.

 

[JaSla74]

Re: Ideas On The Cost Of Rebuilding Floor???

I'd go in thinking that you're not going to be lucky. If the floor is soft near the rear then there's a good chance that part of the transom may be saturated as well. It could add up real fast pending on what you replace it with.

Obviously you won't know until you start tearing into it, but if you have to replace everything including the deck/stringers/transom (worst case scenario) you should be able to keep it under a grand. If you pay someone to do then triple that figure.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Ideas On The Cost Of Rebuilding Floor???

First a Donzi is a top shelf boat. They do go bad if neglected however, once restored it will still have great value. Donzi's are worth the work.

You have to do some surgery and find out the extent of the rotten wood. I would have the transom checked carefully too.

I will not even attempt to guess on repair numbers. If it was my boat I would go with nothing but the best to restore it....... I would not show the effort or go the cost if it was a lesser boat.

 

[thatguy]

Re: Ideas On The Cost Of Rebuilding Floor???

It is going to cost you both time and money to fix the rot issues. I personally would go for it. Its a gorgeous looking little boat you have there!

My advise to you is to search these forums. Read up on what it takes to inspect, assess, and rebuild the floor and the stringers. When you find a good thread with lots of pertinent info, print it out and reread it a few times to really absorb the info.

Once you have an idea on what to look for, head out to the boat and start in on assessing the damage. When you go back to the boat with what you have learned, you may find yourself more at ease with the boat, knowing that you have knowing that you have this site in your hip pocket. This will make it easier to decide if you want to repair the boat.

Now, if you do decide to tackle the boat, and you start to loose the ambition, or cant see the light at the end of the tunnel. came back and keep reading. Kind someones build that is similar to your and see what they did and how it finished. This will keep you motivated.

Good luck!

Tom

 

[rothfm]

Re: Ideas On The Cost Of Rebuilding Floor???

Agreed thats a nice boat, well worth the time and affort. I did my 17' bowrider(since sold) last year. I never did that work before but in a couple weekends I had it better than it ever was. I ripped out the whole interior and did windshield to stern. Replaced one stringer too. Cost of material, stainless screws, fiberglass and resin was about 300 for me. Not too bad. It came out very solid and looked great with the new carpet.

Good tip from the other poster...First Ensure the transome is truely solid. Otherwise your plan will change

Go for it!

 

[AJSVFORCE]

Re: Ideas On The Cost Of Rebuilding Floor???

Thank you guys so much for the info and opinions.The boat looks better from afar,it has so many things that need cleaned or replaced,but thanks on the compliments.
I have not had this boat in water but it started right up and went into gear smoothly,it seems to be mechanicly sound.
There are also plenty of scratches on the outside of the boat that are just through the jelcoat.
The seats have seen better days also.
How do you check the transom?
Thanks so much for the help.
Andy

 

[DJ]

Re: Ideas On The Cost Of Rebuilding Floor???

Nice looking boat.

Figure the rot is from the hull up. Stringers and deck.

Well worth it.

Check the transom with a rubber mallot. If it sounds solid-OK. If hollow, you have issues.

Estimate your wood and glass/resin and triple it.

 

[tmcalavy]

Re: Ideas On The Cost Of Rebuilding Floor???

When you test for soundness, listen for the rap sound of solid wood on solid wood. I like to use the handle of the mallet. Nice, crisp rap sound means solid; dull, hollow thump/thud means bad news.

 

[J. Mark]

Re: Ideas On The Cost Of Rebuilding Floor???

Well since the boat runs, I would suggest that after you check the transom and if the transom is sound, you take the boat on a light test cruise. See if it has any problems mechanically and if the electronics are in good shape. It will help you to evaluate what you need to consider for an overhaul.

next step, if it passes the transom test and test drive is to register and title the boat before you spend any money on repairs.

Core samples are a cheap way to check stringer and transom integrity as well as to determine if foam is wet.

Some research might uncover whether or not Donzi used wood in the stringers or a composite.

It is a pretty boat-while it has the flaws you noted, you also have to decide if you want a beauty queen, or a utility boat, Most want something in between and deciding where will help you to evaluate whether or not the project is something you should undertake.

Transom, stringers and floor may take anywhere from $500 to $1000 depending on what you use, but you will need to dedicate a 100 hours or more to do a proper job. Keep in mind that stringer and transom repair entail removal of the engine so you will need a cherry picker or something to pull the engine.

Good luck. There is a lot of info here and these folks will walk you through anything that confuses you.

 

[AJSVFORCE]

Re: Ideas On The Cost Of Rebuilding Floor???

Well the transom seems to be solid. I went ahead and removed everything so i could get a better idea of what i am dealing with.
OH BOY!!! Its really bad,i dont know how i am going to get to the area under the bow. You can see in the pic, where the stringers were swelling and cracked the floor.
Any ideas?
Thanks,
Andy

 

[JaSla74]

Re: Ideas On The Cost Of Rebuilding Floor???

If you're lucky the stingers may stop just under the helm. You should be able to tell by looking through your deck hatch. If they go the length of hull then you'll probably have to remove the cap. Depending on how bad the stringers are you might be able to splice in without removing the cap.

 

[sschefer]

Re: Ideas On The Cost Of Rebuilding Floor???

Is the wood still wet? If it is, get some fans and heaters and dry it out before you tear any more out. It may be just that it's wet and looks ugly. I've seen this in my own boats and I found that after I dry everything up the repairs are relatively simple. What you are looking for is evidence of dry rot. When the wood is dry, it will fall apart and when it's wet it will be mushy. All wood swells when it's wet but that doesn't mean that it has the fungi that causes dry rot.

The odds are not in your favor on this but it's always worth the time.

 

[salty87]

Re: Ideas On The Cost Of Rebuilding Floor???

your boat, how do you want to fix it?

you can probably tell that there isn't much worth saving there. the more you end up replacing, the more you risk by not replacing everything that's questionable....no point in spending time/money on a new floor when there are rotten stringers, why do the floors but not the soaked transom (would be surprising if you had no transom damage), etc.

that can lead to replacing interior parts and before you know it, you've got a total rebuild. it's a slippery slope.

how far are you willing to go? do the work yourself?

i think you should expect it to run at least $1k and as mentioned above, it always costs more than you hope. couple hundred in wood or more, couple hundred in resin/cloth, assorted tools and safety equip, carpet or whatever you decide to put back down...

 

[AJSVFORCE]

Re: Ideas On The Cost Of Rebuilding Floor???

The wood is frozen,i dont know if it has the fungus or not.
I do know it was wet when the temp. dropped and everything that was wet swelled with ice.
The plywood has seperated into its many layers and the stringers look like they did the same from what little of them i can see(top).
Not shure what to do.

 

[sschefer]

Re: Ideas On The Cost Of Rebuilding Floor???

Oh boy, I didn't know about it freezing. That's probably not a good thing. Still though, thaw it out and dry it up before you do too much more tearing into it. Can you put it somewhere so that you can do that?

How's the motor, did the freeze plugs pop, is the block o.k.

I noticed you said that you didn't want a project that you couldn't afford to finsih. I think you might just find yourself in a better postion to part it out or sell it and get paid for the work you did for the customer.

 

[salty87]

Re: Ideas On The Cost Of Rebuilding Floor???

it's not a fun job, it's very dirty work but it's not very complicated stuff.

most of us have had to pay good money for a questionable boat and find out the hard way that we bought some problems. you're a few steps ahead of that at least.

if you like the boat and the engine is stronh, you're not too far dollar-wise from having a solid boat. that's alot more than you can say about buying most used boats, unless the floor has already been replaced...and that will cost ya. they don't last forever.

 

[AJSVFORCE]

Re: Ideas On The Cost Of Rebuilding Floor???

Boat was winterized properly,motor and lowerunit are fine.
Think it was a yearound on a lift dock boat that had no cover.
Motor started right up and purrs like a kitten,goes into gear smoothly.
Can the stringers be spliced? How is it done?
Thanks,Andy

 

[JaSla74]

Re: Ideas On The Cost Of Rebuilding Floor???

Basically you cut out all the bad wood of the stringer. Grind the glass back about a foot or so on good end of the stringer. Replace the section & glass over. I would only suggest this if you KNOW the majority of the stringer is good shape. Do some core samples. If not, you're better off replacing whole stringer. I personally would probably want to replace whole stringer. By the time you pull all that crap out you might as well do it all.

You can also use a product called Seacast. Google it & you find its various uses.

You have a nice looking rig, so I think she's definitely worth the repairs.

 

[AJSVFORCE]

Re: Ideas On The Cost Of Rebuilding Floor???

Has anyone seen anything like this before?
It seems that there are no "STRINGERS" that run the length of the boat!!!
There are just a bunch of pieces of plywood braces,nothing runs the length or width of the boat!!
This cannot be right,has somone redone this floor the wrong way?
Please help,
Andy