Suggestions on floor repair.

[Dazed]

I just bought a 1977 MFG tri-hull boat. The floor was rotted so I pulled it all out. I have pressure treated plywood to put down. Do I need to fiderglass over the entire floor? Or can I just fiberglass around the edges?

Thanks

[boatlover24]

Fiberglass the entire floor. Make sure it is only one side though, if you do both sides it will trap moisture in there and cause it to rott.
Tips for glassing pressure treated plywood:
Grind it first!! Most plywoods have oils that will prevent resin and glass from sticking to it. You need to grind it off to open up the wood so the resin can stick. After you open it up, make a batch of resin/acetone to spread over the deck. Use 4oz of acetone for every 1 qt resin, catalize at 1.5% (on a normal day). The acetone will help the resin to soak into the wood and will create a bonding agent for the glass you lay over it. I'd say one layer of 1.5 oz mat should do it. But if you're going to be loading heavy things into the boat (dropping things onto the deck), you might want to double layer it or you risk a delamination.

[Dazed]

How would you go about grinding the plywood? How much needs to come off? When putting down the glass can you just use a roller or is there another way that's better?


Thanks for the tips boatlover24.

[Dutch Peter]

Dazed,

What you call the floor, that's the cabin sole or cockpit sole, the part you walk on? Because when it is, I don't see why you are going to fiberglass it all!?