Sealing plywood

[Grub54891]

trying to decide what to use to seal the plywood for my pontoon, Should I use epoxy, or vynalester? Seal all sides, top and bottom or leave the bottom open to breath/ dry out? opinions welcome.

 

[jbcurt00]

IIRC, vinylester requires the use of cloth/mat too, just like Polyester does...........

 

[Baylinerchuck]

I like the old timers wood sealer and paint. 2qts mineral spirits, 1qt boiled linseed oil, 1qt spar urethane. Paint with an oil based paint. Seal and paint all sides. Epoxy would also work well, but more expensive I'd guess. I sealed and painted all the bare wood in my boat, not a pontoon deck mind you. Turned out nice.

 

[Grub54891]

I will be putting down carpet as well, planned on laying a layer of glass down also, so poly is ok to? And should I leave the bottom clean to help dry it out if it gets wet?

 

[Scott Danforth]

a few weeks ago, was back up at my buddys place in Door County. going on well over 25 years since the floor was done and there was nothing done to seal it.

Just exterior grade plywood screwed to the aluminum frame and covered in carpeting.

the boat is on the lake the first weekend after ice-out and is the last boat on the lake as he pulls all the marker buoys and swim buoys on the lake

 

[Woodonglass]

Epoxy IS the best sealer especially for long term. Polyester resin and mat would be #2, and the Old Timers Recipe would be 3rd.

 

[bruceb58]

On a pontoon...use nothing.

Use good plywood like this:
https://www.pontoonstuff.com/products/3-4-marine-grade-plywood

 

[Grub54891]

Epoxy IS the best sealer especially for long term. Polyester resin and mat would be #2, and the Old Timers Recipe would be 3rd.

​Ok, so should I leave the bottom side clean?

 

[kcassells]

Nope...finish it with any of the 3 suggested recoomendations from WOG. Never leave raw. I would imagine shipping and material costs are $$ on the prefinished wood. You can finish it yourself for 1/2 the price.

 

[Grub54891]

Ok, will do this weekend.

 

[jbcurt00]

Grub, its roughly 50/50 for and against sealing the bottom of the 'toon decking.

Look thru the toon topics, comes up fairly often.....

Usually ends in an oil/ethanol type debate.

No matter if you seal the bottom or not, well seal any penetrations when you reinstall the fence, seats and etc

 

[kcassells]

Naw....it's 49/51 in favor of sealing the deck.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Usually ends in an oil/ethanol type debate.

:thumb: mix the oil with the ethanol and use it to treat the deck......opcorn:


had to go there. pretty sure its 51/49 with leave the wood raw, go boating. truth is most people sell the boat shortly after redoing it because twofootitus is real.

 

[bruceb58]

No pontoons come with the wood sealed and that includes Benningtons.

 

[kcassells]

Dang nasty, nasty, nasty. I don't know but water and raw wood don't seem to git along. No pontoons come with the wood sealed and that includes Benningtons. I don't care if it's the Swiss Bank,
LOL ... I'm out of this discussion... OH yea what's this category? "Boat restoration and hull repair". Fixin up all the "Great " crap production boat/pontoon mfg's put out there.

 

[bruceb58]

Dang nasty, nasty, nasty. I don't know but water and raw wood don't seem to git along. No pontoons come with the wood sealed and that includes Benningtons. I don't care if it's the Swiss Bank,
LOL ... I'm out of this discussion... OH yea what's this category? "Boat restoration and hull repair". Fixin up all the "Great " crap production boat/pontoon mfg's put out there.

They aren't sealed for a good reason. There are protrusions into the wood after you seal it and the wood never dries out.

You own a pontoon?

 

[kcassells]

No Brucey Biut I got wood.

 

[kcassells]

Like I said I'm done bickering. Got it, get it .

 

[bruceb58]

My suggestion....go to a pontoon forum like http://www.pontoonforums.com and ask there. There are likely a hundred people on there that have replaced their plywood on their pontoons and done many restorations.

I can tell you right now though that none seal their plywood but you can see for yourself.

Also, call pontoonstuff.com. These guys know a lot about the plywood and they sell the best stuff available which is the CCA treated Marine Plywood.

 

[Grub54891]

Well, let the debate continue....lol, I'm setting up tomorrow for sealing with vynalester completely. When installed it will get a layer of glass, and all drilled holes will get a dab of vynalester before installing also. Then the carpet and rails ect..... I'll take a look at the pontoon forums also just to prove myself wrong...?