soft spot in boat floor

[dhughes49]

Im looking at a 93 model skeeter bay pro .There is a small soft spot in front of center console other wise the boat seems fine . Is this repairable or is this an indictaion of larger problems. Do floors get soft from years of use?
Is the a danger signal ? Should u never buy a boat with such a problem. I would like some input from some more experianced boaters. i Would love to get as many opions as possable on this subject. Thanks for any help i get.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: soft spot in boat floor

That soft spot is rot, and it will only get bigger.

It is repairable, but when you tear it out to replace it you'll more than likely find bigger problems below deck like saturated foam, rotten stringers... and you really should give the transom a good inspection because the tend to rot right along with the deck and stringers.

Fiberglass boats tend to rot from the inside out and from the bottom up with the deck being the last thing to rot.

Take a look around the restoration forum here and you'll see what I'm talking about.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: soft spot in boat floor

90% of the time, the soft floor is just the first indicator of lots of other hidden problems. (rotten transom, rotten stringers, etc...) Yes, its not impossible to have just a soft floor and everything else is good, but its rare.

 

[SDSeville]

Re: soft spot in boat floor

I bought a boat with a very small soft spot. Turned into deck, stringer, and transom replacement. As jigngrub said, it usually starts from the bottom up.

I would not say you should never buy a boat with this problem. However, it should be priced with a restoration in mind.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: soft spot in boat floor

unless you are looking for a restoration project, I would pass on the boat.

As many stated, soft floor is a sign of rot issues.

 

[dhughes49]

Re: soft spot in boat floor

thanks to everyone who answered its good to have good folks to talk to .