Deck reconstruction

[benha]

Howdy.

I'm in the process of redoing the teak sole in my cockpit (a prior owner belt sanded it to about 1/16" thick and it was beyond repair). The core in the glass deck below the old teak had some rot that I've cut out, and in the process of repairing that I've discovered that the bond between the glass and the balsa core is questionable in places. Looks like they did a crappy job of wetting the core in. It's not everywhere, but there are enough places that it's concerning.

I need to add thickness anyway to get the top of the deck above the scuppers, so I'm planning to laminate 1/4" ply over the top of the old deck before teaking.

This will leave me with, in essence, a double cored sandwich. Bottom glass, balsa core, glass (the current "top layer), 1/4 ply, glass. Then I'll teak over that.

This leaves me with a question:

Is there much benefit to adding an additional layer of new glass on top of the existing deck before laying down my new core? My original thought was that it'd be a good idea, but given the price of epoxy and glass fabric I guess I really only want to do it if it's necessary.

[bigjonny9]

A sandwich is a good idea for structural integrity and rigidity however it needs to be well bonded right through. if you have wet, rotted patches they will eventually over time de laminate even further causing no bonding. My suggestion would be to dig out the rotting balsa and replace and re laminate in patch'.Probably be cheaper that way if theres not to much. Have a good look at where water might be getting in. Better to resolve than cover up!!