Re: Replacing floor
I have torn the floor out of my 15', replaced the stringers, cross braces, reframed the bilge, and replaced the transom. The decks are pre-cut, and ready to go back in. I can only recount what I found. I would not be at all surpised if you found stringer damage. I don't know if your model had poured foam along the keel, if so, if it is wet, it needs to be thoroughly dried before you seal it back up, or else it needs to come out. If you are planning to replace the whole floor, the carpet is a gonner. Another if.... if you're deck is glassed to the sides, (under the carpet) that whole bond needs to be cut out and prepped for the new glass that will seal your new deck. Use extreme care when the hull angle changes to less than a 90. When that happens, up around the bow, imitate the angle of the hull with your grinder. I used a thin, fast cutting blade, (.045), and found that in a split second, I had cut through the hull. Bummer. Hefty patch. Another piece of advice I picked up from Tashasdaddy. If you plan to glass over your new plywood deck, do not use pressure treated. Again, do not use pressure treated. The chemicals used to treat the lumber do not bind well with resin. There has been so much written about which plywood to use, I'm kind of beating a dead horse here. But... it has been recommended many, many times to use a good grade of exterior, 5 ply, sanded, plywood. Plain old B-C. B grade one side, C-grade the other. It goes without saying the B-grade goes up. It's what I used. I've got cedar stringers and braces. The only difference between the $90 dollar a sheet marine grade and standard B-C is that there are fewer voids in the marine stuff. That... and a $70 per sheet price difference. The adhesive is the same. Since you will probably seal it in glass and resin, tiny voids in the plywood are kinda moot. Another tip. If you are using polyester resin, by far the most economical resin available, scuff the heck out of your plywood before applying the layup. 34 grit. Very course. Wipe it down with acetone and look at the rag. Hard to believe that much stuff was on the plywood. The first course of glass and resin is purely a mechanical bond, so give it as much to bond to as possible. Take your time when cutting out your old deck, it will save you in the end. In hind sight, I would not have cut so close to the sides, but would have held off about an 1/8" to get the deck out, then ground the remaining bond off flush with the sides. Mine was fastened with plain old staples. There is nothing you can do that cannot be repaired. But a full floor job is a decent project. A 4 1/2" grinder is the best bet. That, a hammer, 1" wood chisel, and a flat prybar. A 7 1/4" circular saw is only good for splitting the deck into manageable pieces, no good around the perimeter. Set the blade depth accordingly. A jig saw is useless when tearing a deck out. . A $30 mini-grinder is the ticket. Some standard concrete blades, and a couple of thin, fast cutting blades to speed things up a bit. You won't really know what you're dealing with until you get in there and start cutting. Mine will never see carpet. It's a salt water bay-nearshore job. Non-skid, freshwater washdown, cover it, and go again. Good luck. Plenty of good solid advice on this forum. Mine is only as far as it's gotten thanks to the sound input I've gotten here. KR
