replacing boat floor

[carhartt123]

I have a 1969 starcraft 15' the last owner put in cheep plywood floors that are nolonger in the best shape. I am in the process of replacing them and trying to decide on the material. The more I look I cannot find anyone using aluminum is there a good reason for this? As for cost I have found aluminum for about the same cost as marine grade ply. Any thoughts would help. Thank you

[pistnbroke]

I dont think its the cheap plywood floors that could be the problem but did he coat it underneath with resin? and did he put enough resing on the top and seal the edges ..under floor ventilation etc ..Plywood is encased in glass in most boats and will rot eventually ( 25 years ??) and a lot less if its not done well ..use 1/2 ply ...if you try to use aluminium sheet its a problem because the floor is a structural element in a fibre glass boat ...how will you attach the ali to the boat ??.
I found a starcraft boat owners forum on google ..good place to ask ???

[carhartt123]

thanks pistnbroke. the boat is also aluminum so I shouldn"t have a problem attaching the sheet to the boat. Are there any other reasons not to use aluminum?

[pistnbroke]

just concerned that if it was not designed to have an aluminium floor and you weld it in you might find it cracks....most of the old aluminium boats I deal with that are of the 15 ft size have got cracks in the ribs where the design is too rigid....sound silly but you may have to stick thefloor down with silicone to alow some movement ...I really think we need a picture of the under floor area ( easy to post from your computer no hosting etc )

[gonzo]

If they are what I am thinking off, they sit on the frames. There shouldn't be any difference on what material they are as long as they are not too heavy.

[messabout]

In either case, aluminum or ply, make provisions for easy removal. Sooner or later you will want to clean the fish guts and other stuff out from under the floor. You do not need marine ply for such an application. Just soak ordinary ply with resin as Pistonbroke says. Try to avoid the temptation of putting outdoor carpet on the floor. That is a sure route to eventual rot.

[carhartt123]

Thanks guys I appreciate the advise. I was not gonna go with the carpet but am back and forth between the glue down vinyl or just some paint with sand mixed in for traction. Either way the water should not be trapped near the wood.

[gonzo]

Use latex porch paint. It is cheap, easy and self priming.

[dskira]

I was very diaspointed with latex paint on boat, and even on the porch.
I live on the coast of maine and the climat is quite difficult, the latex do not stand very long.
For a boat I will not touch it "with a ten foot pole"
And I don't know in other country, but here it is as expensive as the oil based.

[messabout]

Dskira; one of your Maine counterparts, Harold "Dynamite" Payson, uses Latex paints with good success. Payson advises its use in some of his books. I do not live in Maine but I have used good quality latex in boats with no difficulty at all. Matter of fact the latex outlasts oil based paints on high wear interior surfaces such as cockpit floors.

The big trick for latex is curing time. Paint your boat with that stuff and the paint is dry to touch within an hour or two. Tomorrow you decide to put the boat in the water. Paint will fail for sure. Latex and acryllic latex types need about two weeks of curing time before exposure to the kind of water it will endure on a boat. After a couple of weeks the stuff is as near bulletproof as you can find. If you have time to wait for complete curing, you can use "house paint" with confidence. If you demand pretty, glossy, surfaces then this is not the stuff to use. When esthetics is a secondary matter, for everyday hard use it is hard to beat

[dskira]

Originally Posted by messabout

Dskira; one of your Maine counterparts, Harold "Dynamite" Payson, uses Latex paints with good success. Payson advises its use in some of his books. I do not live in Maine but I have used good quality latex in boats with no difficulty at all. Matter of fact the latex outlasts oil based paints on high wear interior surfaces such as cockpit floors.

The big trick for latex is curing time. Paint your boat with that stuff and the paint is dry to touch within an hour or two. Tomorrow you decide to put the boat in the water. Paint will fail for sure. Latex and acryllic latex types need about two weeks of curing time before exposure to the kind of water it will endure on a boat. After a couple of weeks the stuff is as near bulletproof as you can find. If you have time to wait for complete curing, you can use "house paint" with confidence. If you demand pretty, glossy, surfaces then this is not the stuff to use. When esthetics is a secondary matter, for everyday hard use it is hard to beat

Yes I know Dynamite, and I saw the result some years latter.
Personaly I never seen latex outlatsing oil paint. The almost watertight membrane of the latex impair the wood any change in expension and contaction of the cellulose. Whitch have at least 12% of water.
Now you are certainly right that sometime it works, but I never see it.
I am perhaps biaised since I do not use glue, epoxy or plywood. I design and built mostly for timber building or steel.
Timber building call for a lot of linseed oil, kerosene, asphalt and the like. So the waterbased paint is not very compatible. Althought I saw some new product which you can put on top of crosote oil, and these new product are waterbased. Which is rare since creosote oil do not like to be paint over. I should try one of these day, and let you know.
Also I do my paint myself, I don't buy it, so I get what I want.
Thanks for your input.
Cheers
Daniel

[gonzo]

I really like acrylic latex bathroom paint for interiors. It has mildewcide which works wonders.