First boat

[Matt 101]

Hey everyone, I am in the process of fixing up my first boat and in serious need of some advice/direction from you pros. I plan on re-doing the entire boat from the hull up (as everything is rotten). I want to use the boat in salt water, so I don't want to use any wood, therefore I have lots of questions about fiberglass.

-How many layers are needed to make a surface strong enough to stand on?
-Can you use a foam core instead of ply-wood for the floor? Also, if ply wood is used, do you fiberglass both sides?
-Do you have to use expensive woven cloth and epoxy, or is bi directional (non woven) cloth and polyester resin okay/strong enough?
-How many gallons of resin and yards of fiberglass are needed to redo the floor of an average 20' bowrider.
-Where can you get a good deal on glass and resin?
-What's the deal with cloth weights?
-What is the cheapest cloth that can be used for structural work?
I'm in college and on a budget so I may not be able to afford the nicest or the best materials available, so keep that in mind. Thanks for any help you can offer.

[Grant Nelson]

Hi Matt,

The first thing the 'pros' will need to know is more about your current boat. While your question mentions a bowrider and that suggests an outboard, fiberglass, powerboat - you need to confirm this and add any details about both what is it made of, and what is rotting (fiberglass tends not to rot...) and needs to be replaced: hull (is it cored, is that what is rotton?), vertical cross and longitudinal panels and other things that are attached to the hull to give it more strength, floor, deck, seating, and 'cabinets/console, etc.

Extensive repairs can sometimes cost more than buying another used boat in good condition.

[Matt 101]

The hull is solid fiberglass(i think, aren't they usually?), but the floor was just carpeted plywood. The hull, side walls, consoles, ect. are all fiberglass. It is an outboard. My plan was to get down a fiberglass floor with a textured finish (like boston whalers have). It has no seats, so I am planning on getting 3 or 4 for the main area (1 loung type w/2 seats, and 1 captains chair). I was going to make a bow area all fiberglass to sit on(no walk through, just a solid sun pad area). It's 20' long, 8' beam. I don't know the condition of the stringers (if that is what you call the beams under the floor. I know you can often get a better condition boat for little more money, but I like the challenge and the idea of making it from the hull up, my own semi-custom boat. I just don't know too much about the strengths or construction techniques of fiberglass