plywood floor replacement

[Wreck Rider]

Hi guys, I've got a short question that will probably result in long answers, thanks in advance for sharing your experiences!<br /><br />My 16' fibreglass bowrider has a plywood floor that is starting to feel kind of soft just rear of middle where it meets the right side. There's carpet so I can't see what's going on but as there's more little pieces of rotted wood in the bilge every time I drain it, pretty safe bet that the plywood's rotted. <br /><br />How much work and how much skill will it take to replace the foor? I'm pretty good at working wood but don't know much about fibreglass. Also I'd like to hear from someone who's done this job to get a feel for how big it is. Should I replace the flotation foam at the same time?<br /><br />Thanks.

 

[jajeeper]

Re: plywood floor replacement

Check out the boat restoration forum on this same website. You will find all the info you need there.

 

[salty87]

Re: plywood floor replacement

best bet to learn more about this is to jump over to the project section of the forum.<br /><br />i haven't replaced mine, yet. it is getting soft too but i have read up some. the size of the job all depends on what you find under the floor. either a complete replacement or you might get lucky and only have to replace a section of it. the foam is most likely water-logged and should at least be removed. i'll replace the foam when i do mine.<br /><br />i'll let someone who has done the work talk about that. it seems that if you get the wood replaced well, that the fiberglassing is just messy but not terribly difficult. probably easier said than done, though!

 

[quantumleap]

Re: plywood floor replacement

Use the red 'search' icon above in the projects forum and type in "floor rot".

 

[Solittle]

Re: plywood floor replacement

Don't be surprised if the stringers & transom also need work.

 

[JasonJ]

Re: plywood floor replacement

Click my link, thats what you have to look forward to, worst case scenario. Good luck...

 

[moderator1]

Re: plywood floor replacement

Moving to Boat Restoration and Building.

 

[Wreck Rider]

Re: plywood floor replacement

Here's an update!<br /><br />Being curious I peeled part of the carpet up, "just to have a look" (my buddy laughed at that when I told him on the phone), on Saturday morning and by mid-afternoon the floor, stringers and spreaders, and all the saturated foam sat in a dripping, rotted, stinky pile on my lawn. By dusk of day 1 we had the hull cleaned out and the fibreglass attachment points ground down. Next morning we went to buy all the materials and by the end of day 2 day three stringers and six spreaders were cut to size and shape, positioned, and glassed to the hull and to each other.<br /><br />This job seems to be going pretty quickly, the floor goes on today (day 3) after work. Not difficult so far, just a lot of work and pretty dirty.

 

[RotaryRacer]

Re: plywood floor replacement

Wow. Most poeple take months to do that much work. I have a similar project ahead of me. How much money do you have into materials and what type of matereials are you using? How big and what type of boat?<br /><br />So you are telling me if I take a long weekend I could get this done assuming I have all of the materials readily available.<br /><br />This project is looking better and better. Time may no longer be a factor.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: plywood floor replacement

Bravo Wreck Rider! It is amazing how fast improvements can be made to a rotten boat using only a skilsaw, sawzall and hammer +chistle! <br /><br />I recommend foaming the available space under the floor and at least two layers of saturated cloth over the new plywood floor.

 

[Wreck Rider]

Re: plywood floor replacement

To Rotary Racer<br /><br />Our boat is a 16' bowrider (Canadian Boat, circa 1980) fitted with an outboard so the job starts below the windscreen and continues to the transom (approx. 5'5" by 8'6"). If you have materials, one energetic friend, and good weather then a long weekend sounds about right to me, as long as you can keep the pace up! Things slowed down a little for us because my buddy and I both have full time jobs. Saturday and Sunday we got most of the work done then Monday - Thursday we put in 2-3 hours each evening. Not all of that time was spent on the floor either, there were several materials trips, we never actually got started before 10:30, and we decided to do a few other repairs at the same time.<br /><br />So far we're in for (all quoted as $CDN):<br />- one sheet of 3/4 ply for spine, stringers and stretchers @$45/sheet<br />- three sheets of 1/2 ply for floor @$32/sheet<br />- one angle grinder for removing fibreglass / cleaning off burrs @$39/unit<br />- four quarts of fibreglass resin @$15/quart<br />- two sheets (6 sq. yards total) of glass cloth @$25/sheet<br />- a gallon and a half of two part liquid flotation foam @$110/gallon<br />- half dozen disposable paint brushes @$4/total<br />- screws and nails @$9/total<br />That adds up to about $500 with taxes in, still a pretty cheap repair.<br /><br />The carpet is pretty ugly but in good shape so that's going back in today. Then that boat is good for another who-knows-how-many years.<br /><br />Really not a tough job for someone with half decent manual skills. That angle grinder was very valuable, so was having a full box of latex gloves!<br /><br />Good luck, I hope you enjoy fixing your floor as much as I did.

 

[JasonJ]

Re: plywood floor replacement

Thats what I'm talkin' about, just get in there and get 'er done. I was crippled by cold temps when I did mine, but when the weather is good, it can go pretty quick, especially when you have a bro to give a hand. I know nobody who has any manual skill whatsoever, so I was on my own. Lets see some pics....