Wood or fiberglass for redecking?

[GlassGuy650]

Hi all,
This is my firt time on one of these forumes.
I have a 1995 Crestliner Sabre, 20' fishing boat with a small cuddy cabin.
My boat is all aluminum, but the deck has rotted out. (it was under a cover in Tampa for a few years and it rotted the deck from the high humidity).
I brought the boat to the SF Bay area and I am getting it up and running again.
I was going to use marine ply for the decking, but some people say I should use fiberglass, or wood with a fiberglass coating.
What do you all think? Any tips?
Thank you all for your time

[wdnboatbuilder]

Well if you have the deck beams or can keep the deck shape then certainly Okome or doug fir marine ply with atleast 6oz.-9oz. cloth and epoxy should do the trick. Either method (wood or glass) you will be having to fair some, and it is a lot less itchy with epoxy. should not have to fair too much if you use a non-skid. kinda like a popcorn ceiling in your house, hides alot.

[Guy G]

I'd like to see a picture of what it is your working with? Putting fiberglass of any kind to metal doesn't work. If your going to put in a wood treated with any type of composite material. Be sure to use 5200 on all your screw holes or it will rot again!

[PAR]

Epoxy and cloth can stick quite well to aluminum, if properly prepped.

I'm assuming you had a plywood deck or sole and it was fastened with sheet metal screws to an aluminum support structure.

Plywood can come to your rescue, just as the original manufacture had used it, or you can elect for a more exotic method and material(s) which will likely have an equally exotic cost.

5200 (3M 5200) in the fastener holes will not stop moisture from getting in. Water saturated wood will spit out 5200 like bad tasting soup.

The ultimate protection is penetrating epoxy encapsulation on every edge, surface, cutout and inside each predrilled fastener hole. This can be further protected from abrasion resistance with a skin of cloth (6 or 8 oz. will do) also set in regular epoxy. This can then be painted with an anti-skid or have an appliqué flooring material applied. I would recommend the fastener holes be drilled oversized and properly bonded, so moisture will have a much more difficult time finding the wood through them. This would be a good idea on all penetrations through the decking material. For more information on this and other epoxy techniques, check out the "how to" section at WWW.WestSystem.com they can send you the information in several booklets (free) or you can down load them there.

[Thunderhead19]

try PENSKE BOARD

[Deering]

Why not use aluminum? Take it to a local welder.

[Thunderhead19]

I don't know, but I think theres a reason why it wasn't aluminum in the first place.