Plywood for Floor - Resin Coating

scott hamilton

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I am replacing a floor on a 1980 18 ft Sylvan. I am using 5/8 treated ply (too cheap for the marine stuff) and want to coat with resin.

1. Should I thin the resin before application to allow it to penetrate into the plywood? If so, at what ratio?

Thanks
 

ezmobee

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Re: Plywood for Floor - Resin Coating

Is the Sylvan aluminum? If so, you don't want to use treated wood.

You need to use unthinned epoxy resin. You will likely not be able to find it locally and will have to order it from somewhere like U.S. Composites or Clark Craft. Poly resin has no strength by itself and will be a waste of time without adding fiberglass.
 

boatnut74

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Re: Plywood for Floor - Resin Coating

You don't necessarily need marine ply. Any outdoor ply is sufficient as long as you coat it with resin which it sounds like you plan to.
 

scott hamilton

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Re: Plywood for Floor - Resin Coating

Thanks. Yes it is aluminum.

No strength from resin is needed. I am just trying to waterproof the plywood. I was told that by thinning the resin it will help the resin penetrate into the plywood further. And this seemed to make sense.

Any other thoughts?
 

ondarvr

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Re: Plywood for Floor - Resin Coating

I am just trying to waterproof the plywood. I was told that by thinning the resin it will help the resin penetrate into the plywood further. And this seemed to make sense.

The idea of thinning epoxy to help it penetarte deeper seems like a good idea...that is until you understand the chemistry.

The thinners weaken the epoxy and make it less water resistant, plus they only help it to penetrate slightly deeper.
 

jones01m

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Re: Plywood for Floor - Resin Coating

Scott, I am a newbie too and had my doubts about epoxy penetrating given its viscosity. I just finished an application to my transom ply and was surprised at how well the ply sucked it in (with no thining). It will really suck into the endgrain.
 

Scott Chinsota

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Re: Plywood for Floor - Resin Coating

i would never thin epoxy. poly can be thinned, i don't recommend it. others do. i have been told/read that you can thin it up to 25% :facepalm:. elsewhere i read 10% :eek:. if the poly had jellyfish in it and was obviously nearing the end of it's useable shelf life, it might require thinning. even in that case i would only add 5% acetone. it will weaken the resin but it will improve its ability to penetrate deeper into the wood. less is more, none is best :D.
as stated before, resin without glass is worthless. the resin will crack without the reinforcement. water will get in and the wood will rot. :(
 

boatnut74

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Re: Plywood for Floor - Resin Coating

No strength from resin is needed.

What ez meant by the poly having no strength by itself is without fiberglass it is brittle and will break away, leaving the ply vulnerable to water penetration thus wasting alot of time and money.
 

ezmobee

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Re: Plywood for Floor - Resin Coating

What ez meant by the poly having no strength by itself is without fiberglass it is brittle and will break away, leaving the ply vulnerable to water penetration thus wasting alot of time and money.

Absolutely. It will crack and peel in no time. It doesn't not have near the adhesion of epoxy.
 

ondarvr

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Re: Plywood for Floor - Resin Coating

it's best to not thin polyester resin either, and for the same reasons.
 

jigngrub

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Re: Plywood for Floor - Resin Coating

1. The chemicals in your pressure treated plywood will corrode/eat the aluminum in your boat.

2. The pressure treated plywood is more than likely still wet with the treating chemicals and any kind of resin you use won't penetrate further than a gnats butt, will cloud your resin, and will prevent bonding... go buy some untreated plwood!

3. Spar urethane would be better than poly resin for the reasons stated above, but for about the same price you can buy epoxy resin from USComposites and it'll be about 100 times better.

4. If you go ahead and use the poly resin without glass cloth anything you put down on the deck (carpet, vinyl, paint, etc.) will peel off with the resin in short order... but don't take the advice given here, see for yourself and let us know when you want to do the job right.

Cheap is one thing, foolish is quite another.
 

oops!

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Re: Plywood for Floor - Resin Coating

yeah........thanks jig.

im all confused here.....


we got pt on a tinny and we dont know if its poly or epoxy....

we gotta get this boater on track or two major mistakes will be made
 

Kaplooi

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Re: Plywood for Floor - Resin Coating

I agree with all the previous posters. Don't thin any sort of epoxy period, and if you're going to thin poly resin use only styrene and not acetone. You should try US Composites 635 thin epoxy resin if you do not intend to use a layer of cloth. It is thin enough and is meant specifically for layup applications where good adhesion and penetration is needed. You can run the numbers on whether it would be cheaper to use cloth plus poly resin or just a thin epoxy resin. Poly resin alone will harden fairly brittle and will not last long on the sole of a boat without cracking so it will not provide the sort of long term barrier coat you're looking for.

As far as the wood goes, pressure treated is to be avoided primarily because of its high moisture content. You want the driest, straightest ply you can find with as few voids as possible. That's what you're getting with marine ply, a dry, straight and clean piece of wood. You're not getting any particular resistance to rot by injected chemicals like in pressure treated wood, just glue that won't delaminate if it gets wet, but you should be getting that same glue in any decent exterior grade plywood. If you let the pressure treated piece sit for a few weeks to a month it will likely dry out some, but will likely warp severely. Also the copper used in pressure treated wood will cause galvanic corrosion with any part of bare aluminum it touches so, at a minimum you will need to barrier coat the top and bottom completely. Many people ignore the underside, which is a mistake. Realistically, with pressure treated wood you will likely be locking in a fair bit of moisture once you barrier coat since a lot of liquid is injected into the wood and doesn't come out which can weaken the resin bond over time. If you can measure the moisture content prior to coating you will know what you're in for but it's easier to just avoid pressure treated all together.
 

ondarvr

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Re: Plywood for Floor - Resin Coating

One addition, don't use styrene to thin polyester resin either, it will degrade the resin.
 

scott hamilton

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Re: Plywood for Floor - Resin Coating

Thanks. Unfortunately, the plywood is cut and drying so I'm past that. I will go with the 635. Sounds good. Do you think that it would help to put a piece of rubber (like an innertube thickness) or tar paper between the plywood and bare aluminum? I never though of the corrosion issue.
 

jasoutside

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Re: Plywood for Floor - Resin Coating

Just use that treated stuff for another project, don't put it in your boat man. You can pick up a couple of pieces of exterior grade ply on sale at your lumber yard for low $$.
 

zopperman

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Re: Plywood for Floor - Resin Coating

yep get some 5/8 acx or if you really wnat the treated get the good CCA not ACQ stuff. You will have holes in your hull. Unless you perfectly seal the wood... and it has to dry forever, it's just not worth teh risk. Properly glassed/epoxied wood will last a very very long time... I'd take our advice before you're back here with "hole in my pitted hull"
 

ondarvr

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Re: Plywood for Floor - Resin Coating

Yes you can use some kind of barrier, Pipe wrap tape will work, so will rubber, or vinyl strips. If you plan to glass the bottom of the ply wood that will work too.
 

sschefer

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Re: Plywood for Floor - Resin Coating

I used 3/4 ACX Pine (not home depot fir) ply but I only needed 5/8. I coated it liberally with a good marine spar varnish (one part poly) and payed special attention to the edges giving them several coats until they glossed over. Once the edges glossed I give it one more coat overall and then install vinyl decking and carpet using a good water resistant exterior flooring glue. It worked well and the current owner hasn't had any trouble. It's been a little over 3 years of year round use.
 

Yacht Dr.

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Re: Plywood for Floor - Resin Coating

1. Should I thin the resin before application to allow it to penetrate into the plywood? If so, at what ratio?

Thanks

Yup.. Always .. IMO ..

Meh.. treated or not .. I always thin the resin out for the first few coats ( Poly or epoxy with acetone ).

You have to know were your windows of more resin applications are at no matter what ply you use.

MG ply may not take as much resin .. MDO .. MDF might not take as much either .. CDX .. yea burry that wood with as much as it will soak up :) .. top few (2) coats should be Un-thinned ..

25% reduction on the first 3 coats .. then hot coat with 0% reduction resin ( epoxy or poly ).

IF your wood still has to drink .. then your going to have a problem when you Think your ready to Glass. ( you will have delam in the glassing stage if your wood is NOT properly prepped .. Period .. ) ..

YD.
 
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