Repairing diving board

[Evinrude Boater]

What kind of wood is the best to repair a fiberglass diving board? Lumber or plywood? What species?

 

[roscoe]

Re: Repairing diving board

why would you repair a fiberglass board with wood?

 

[Evinrude Boater]

Re: Repairing diving board

why would you repair a fiberglass board with wood?

Fiberglass diving boards have wood inside them that rots just like a boat. I thought this would be the perfect place for knowledge on the subject. The rotten wood I took out was lumber but it was too decayed to determine the spcies. From what I've found so far diving boards are made using laminated Douglas Fir. That sounds like plywood to me. Maybe the manufacturing process has changed from lumber to plywood over the years.

 

[Tim Frank]

Re: Repairing diving board

I'd use Baltic birch plywood....it has way more plies than regular plywood.
Use epoxy instead of polyester resin when putting it all back together.
....and coat the plywood well with the epoxy....

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Repairing diving board

In my former life, I owned and operated a Swimming Pool construction company back in the 80's. When a diving board get's into the condition that your's is in...Toss it in the trash. It is NOT repairable. They are Made in a mold and when they delam like that they are totally unsafe and un-repairable. Trust me on this one, don't even go there.

 

[bigdee]

Re: Repairing diving board

In my former life, I owned and operated a Swimming Pool construction company back in the 80's. When a diving board get's into the condition that your's is in...Toss it in the trash. It is NOT repairable. They are Made in a mold and when they delam like that they are totally unsafe and un-repairable. Trust me on this one, don't even go there.

A++ Been there,tried that,waste of time.

 

[JB]

Re: Repairing diving board

What Woodonglass and bigdee said. That is a very sophisticated spring. Can't be returned to new performance.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Repairing diving board

In my former life, I owned and operated a Swimming Pool construction company back in the 80's. When a diving board get's into the condition that your's is in...Toss it in the trash. It is NOT repairable. They are Made in a mold and when they delam like that they are totally unsafe and un-repairable. Trust me on this one, don't even go there.

I agree, don't risk it.

WOG

We may have discussed it before, but I was in the pool industry for 20+ years. I was a plant manager where we built the pools and I also had my own business doing major renovation on swimming pools and the complexes for resorts and hotels.

 

[dolluper]

Re: Repairing diving board

Throw a plank out there with an old truck spring ....there you go Slivers and everything......just upgrade your insurance FIRST

 

[roscoe]

Re: Repairing diving board

View attachment 146514
Fiberglass diving boards have wood inside them that rots just like a boat.

Shows how much I know.

I guess you can tell how many times I have been off a diving board.

 

[bigdee]

Re: Repairing diving board

Diving boards are a BIG liability risk. Your nerves and the insurance company will be happier if you just leave the board off. A water slide is a good alternative.

 

[Tim Frank]

Re: Repairing diving board

Diving boards are a BIG liability risk. Your nerves and the insurance company will be happier if you just leave the board off. A water slide is a good alternative.

If you've been in that business that certainly trumps my experience, but intuitively there should be comparable (or greater) forces on a typical transom, and the DIYers in here cut out the rotten wood and rebuild those all the time. (did one myself and it is fine).
Is it really that different?

 

[dingbat]

Re: Repairing diving board

If you've been in that business that certainly trumps my experience, but intuitively there should be comparable (or greater) forces on a typical transom, and the DIYers in here cut out the rotten wood and rebuild those all the time. (did one myself and it is fine).
Is it really that different?

There are two completely different forces at play. Without doing the math, I'm guessing a diving board sees something in the magnitude of 20-25 times more stress than a transom.

 

[dlngr]

Re: Repairing diving board

It's already been said: a diving board is a large SPRING. It has to flex just the right amount,without cracking. A good transom will NOT flex. But people don't jump up and down on a transom to be propelled into the air.