Working on Floor Replacement, Have Questions

[teke]

Ok, <br /><br />I have a 20' Bay Hawk with soft spots on the floor. It had old beat up carpet which I am in the process of removing. I am going to replace the floor, probably with epoxy and then paint the deck. I have a few questions:<br /><br />1) The glass has been under carpet for its entire life as I redo the floor I was thinking that I should also put a layer of epoxy over the rest of the boat. Up the gunwales, and the forward casting deck. This would give me the same surface everywhere to start painting. Just making sure this is the right approach. Thanks for ya'lls input. <br /><br />2) I know that you can not use mat with epoxy so how many layers and what weight of fiberglass should I use on the new floor?<br /><br />Here are some pics of the progress so far. <br /><br />

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<br /><br />Thank you for the help.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Working on Floor Replacement, Have Questions

Teke, In answer to your Qs, you want the same surface texture everywhere if posible. This may be achieved in many ways, fairing compound, surfacing putty, resin (epoxy or poly). Also, if the sides of the boat have more texture, unless it looks bad I would think it is acceptable to be different. If it were me, I would use epoxy resin for any stringer or frame repair and poly resin to saturate the cloth covering the plywood floor. I would use at least two layers of a medium weight cloth. It will save a bunch of $$ and be plenty strong. I would be sure and fill the cloth weave of the floor with resin, sand it smooth, prime and paint. If the walls of the boat need some sanding to be a bit smoother, I would do that an then prime and paint.

 

[teke]

Re: Working on Floor Replacement, Have Questions

I have been going back and forth on Poly vs Epoxy. I just want to make sure that the poly will last and not cheap out on the additional strength of the epoxy over a few hundred dollars. I have inspected parts of the stringers through the inspection plates and they seem fine. I will know more when I get the console out and cut out the floor. <br /><br />Those are the next steps. <br /><br />If I use the poly resin then I would use 1.5 oz mat and then 6 oz cloth over it for the floor? Or should I use something heavier then 6 oz? Thank you for the reponses.

 

[sport15]

Re: Working on Floor Replacement, Have Questions

Epoxy is the way to go when you never want to have to worry about it again.. Polyester has proven over time (10-20yrs) to allow water intrusion. There are more sources for Epoxy than there used to be, West, System Three and MAS are the big names, but there are a number of sources on the web for others that are allegedly the same but vastly less expensive.

What do you mean by “soft spots”? If there is any concern about the deck integrity replace it… Cloth on a plywood deck in most cases is for abrasion resistance, unless it is laid up as a cambered composite with a foam or wood core and glass on both sides. Most loads on decks are compressive and glass cloth is strongest in tension. What is down now for a deck and what are the dimensions of the deck beams and stringers? The close the support and the thicker the deck the less glass you need.. You just gotta love the variables with boats !