Pontoon with Cabin

This will be my first post of a series documenting building a cabin on a pontoon boat.I will be posting details and photographs as needed so as to aid anyone that might want to get an idea of how I went about it.I was inspired to do this build after spending a weekend on my wife's brothers boat, one Randy O''neal of Okeechobee FL;he will be assisting me on my build also.The cabin itself will be constructed using 2"alum. box tube for the frame and 3" structural insulated panels[sip].The windows and doors will be alum.frame with vinyl instead of glass.I will give a materials list as it applies to my build in later post.I started by removing everything from the deck except the console so I could remove the worn carpet.I will tell you this not for the faint of heart,it is tedious and labor intensive.I started by ripping up the carpet using a tool that I had for removing floor tile.This worked great but leaves a layer of glue and carpet fuzz.To remove the glue I used a belt sander,a 3" will work but a 4" is quicker,either one is slow!I used the red oxide belts of 40& 50 girt sanding first with the grain and later across the grain in spots as needed.As I stated,this was a long laborious process,just plain hard work!After sanding all the glue and carpet residue off I gave the deck a good sweeping,even washing off with a hose wouldn't hurt but you will have to let it dry over night before proceeding with the next step,patching.Once the deck is cleared of carpet and glue it will be ready for patching,that is any holes or spots where the wood is cracked or missing.For this I used 3m body filler,the type with glass fibers in it,about $12 at Walmart,it's water proof and works well I've been told.Since I plan on covering my deck with an epoxy type paint I didn't want any place for water to collect.The 2.9 lb. can comes with a plastic lid for mixing and a tube of hardener and should be enough to do your deck.You will need two tools,one to get the filler out of the can and one for mixing and spreading,I used a couple of old putty knives.Don't put the mixing knife in the can,you will contaminate it with hardener.Fill the plastic lid bottom with 1/2" inch layer of filler and a 3" string of hardener,anymore and the the filler will harden too fast,trust me on this! Fill any low spots or holes from seats etc. that won't be reinstalled.Don't try to smooth it out perfect,it will have to be sanded later.In the pics the you can see[greenish]areas where I filled any holes,low spots and the seams.Tomorrow I will sand the filled spots and apply the epoxy paint,weather permitting.This whole process is pretty straight forward and doesn't require that I show it in great detail,also you may choose a different covering,this is what I think is best for me.

 

looks dangerous. but wish you good luck.

 

look urly :-(