Straw Board for a Pontoon Deck?

[Cofe]

My buddy wants to redeck his pontoon. We were looking at different materials since marine plywood is way.....up there. Has anyone used straw board sheets to redeck with?

 

[MinUph]

Re: Straw Board for a Pontoon Deck?

Just read a little about it. It sounds like the equivalent to particle board. "Water resistant" I wouldn't waste the money on it. If you cant afford Marine grade you can go with PT as long as you install it right and isolate it from your framing.

 

[bigdee]

Re: Straw Board for a Pontoon Deck?

IMO PT plywood is crap. A good grade exterior plywood will last a long,long time. Marine plywood is not PT and the only difference from grade A exterior plywood is the inner laminations are free from voids.

 

[5150abf]

Re: Straw Board for a Pontoon Deck?

Keep in mind that the wood on the deck is a major structural member of the boat, it is what gives it its rigidity and the underside of the deck is constanly being sprayed hard with water kinda like a fire hose so no way would I go with any kind of particle board no matter what they say it will do, "water resistant" is fine it gets a bit of rain mist on it now and then but deck wood is constantly soaked.

He may save money up front but will be redoing it next year so tell him to save his pennies and do it right or do it again.

Go with a good exterior grade 3/4'' ply seal it good and seperate it from the crossmembers and you won't touch it for years.

 

[Cofe]

Re: Straw Board for a Pontoon Deck?

Thanks everyone for your help. With all of your suggestions, we have decided to get a good grade exterior plywood.

 

[artistwood]

Re: Straw Board for a Pontoon Deck?

The original owner of my pontoon used the treated plywood. The damage it did to the aluminum was bad enough. After 2 years on the boat, it was delaminating and cracking under the carpet. We used marine plywood even though it costs more initally but i will never have to redeck. Installing a new deck is a huge job and I planned on doing it only once on my party hut......

 

[MinUph]

Re: Straw Board for a Pontoon Deck?

Maybe I should rephrase my mention of PT plywood. In the case of using this straw board stuff. PT wood would be cheap and better. I didn't want to recommend using it in any way just the fact that it would be a better choice over straw board for a low cost product.