Wet Marine Ply

[chas underhay]

Greetings All

I have a boat that is nearly 30 years old and is pretty sound but.....

I have removed two layers of floor covering in the wheelhouse the first, watergogged carpet the second, the original rubber matting and I'm back to the marine ply. I think that over the years the floor has had much exposure to sea water and some of it must be salt impregnated because in damp weather the edges of the plywood panels and hatches become very wet. I know salt is hygroscopic and attracts moisture.

Anyone know of the correct way of solving this problem? Can the salt be washed out or do you just get the wood dry then seal it? if so whith what? The ply is still sound so replacing it would be a last resort. I suspect that the wood in the bulkheads below the cockpit wil also be wet.

It my intention to eventually lay teak planking on the floor.

Any suggestions would be gratefully recieved.

Thanks

Chas

[Gilbert]

Keep in mind that I am of a very conservative nature.
I believe what I would do is simply use the boat for a year or two with the bare plywood or if you like paint it. If it has been covered with carpeting it probably doesn't look too great so the paint option might have things looking a little better. Then I would make an effort to make sure that the ventilation of the area under the cockpit is as good as you can make it. If the plywood is part of the original boat and is sound that speaks pretty well for the boat having pretty good ventilation as it is. But it is hard to have too much ventilation on a boat. And salt is actually a pretty good wood preservative.

[wdnboatbuilder]

salt acully preserves the wood it's the fresh water you must watch out for. no i do not believe that you can wash out the salt. gilbert comes to a good point but you better put some sand or some sort of non-skid on or in the paint.

[gonzo]

Salt is a great preservative. In fresh water you should sprinkle some salt in the bilges to prevent rot.

[PAR]

If you're going to lay a teak deck over your plywood substrate, dry your soles/deck and then the ply should be sealed with CPES, after which treated to a sheathing of light cloth and epoxy. When this is dry, you can fasten down a teak deck with reasonable security that the substrate will remain intact. Drill pilot holes for your decking fasteners and wet them out with epoxy as you install the decking stock.

[chas underhay]

I guess that non slip paint would be a good choice for the cockpit but ut I would like something nicer inside the wheelhouse and not carpet again hence thinking about teak.

Just a couple of questions though:-

1. What is CPES?
2. When you say "light cloth" is that woven fibreglass matting? and if so what weight?

Cheers

Chas

[PAR]

Chas, "light cloth" is just as it sounds a light weight fiberglass cloth. The 6 or 8 ounce variety will suffice. Teak requires some special steps (just like all oily woods) to get it to stick to what ever goo you'll be using to bed it down.

CPES is the brand name (and now universally accepted for any product like it) of a particular offering from one company (Smith) and it stands for Clear Penetrating Epoxy Solution. It is a specially formulated epoxy, designed to penetrate wood and remain flexible (like wood) but still seal the surface from moisture and other contaminants. It forms a polymer (plastic) coating around the wood and prevents moisture from getting in (or out) which can stave off rot and other issues. There are many other threads on this site covering CPES and it's use, in the application you will be addressing. Try the "Search" thingie in the upper righthand corner.