soft layer glued to sides on inside of fiberglass boat?

[fiberglass93]

Hi everyone,

I'm in the process of restoring a boat and ran into something I'm not sure about. After ripping out the old carpet, I found a soft layer of something underneath. In some areas it already came loose from water getting behind it and weakening the glue, the rest is still very stuck to the fiberglass hull. I've been scraping it off, but that is very slow.

My questions:
* What was this layer for? Do I need to replace it with something similar? I suspect that it may be for reducing noise, but I'm not sure.
* It wasn't on the floor, just on the sides, why?
* Is there a way to weaken the glue to make the layer easier to scrape off? Maybe heat?

My current plan is to sand both the sides and the floor (both fiberglass) and then apply one or two coats of epoxy resin to seal any small cracks and create a good base layer to work with. Does that sound good?

I have attached some pictures and a short recording. The hull looks weird because of all the glue residue, but I will sand that off once I have this soft layer off.

Thanks!

 

[Scott Danforth]

that looks like glue that set prior to carpet going in.

if you have cracks, epoxy resin by itself wont do anything. you need to add cloth at a minimum, however hopefully find the source of the cracks and repair it.

 

[fiberglass93]

Could be glue yeah, but seems a bit thick
I don't see any cracks but I want to coat everything with a layer of epoxy resin to fill any tiny ones if there are any and to give me a nice layer on the fiberglass to work with, doesn't seem like it could hurt to do that, just want to know if its a good idea

 

[MikeSchinlaub]

It looks like the thick adhesive we use for seagrass flooring.

 

[Chris1956]

Some sort of marine vinyl? Pretty beat up though.

 

[fiberglass93]

Some sort of marine vinyl? Pretty beat up though.

Could be it, and looks like warming it up with a hairdryer and using a scraper is the way to get it off Hopefully sanding it all will get the glue residue off

 

[Chris1956]

Acetone is pretty good at dissolving glue.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Acetone does little for the carpet glue
I used a wire knot cup brush in the angle grinder to remove glue and a bit of fiberglass

 

[StewartL]

That's the sound deadening/insulation. It dampens noise and reduces condensation. You don't have to replace it, but the boat will be noisier without it.

It's on the sides to dampen the hull slap from waves hitting the sides, which is louder than noise from the floor.

A heat gun and a wide scraper is the best way to remove it. It softens the old adhesive.

Your plan to sand and epoxy the hull is solid. It will seal it perfectly for whatever new flooring or insulation you install.