Floor Replacement??????????????????????

[John Clements]

I am replacing the floor of a 1973 17 ft fiberglass open bow Starcraft. It sat outside without a cover for many years and the floor had some soft areas.When I removed the floor I found 3 Very rotted areas.My Question is.

What purpose does the foam between the stringer serve?
If it got wet does it need to be replaced also or just dried out?
Does it do more than provide support for the floor?

[jimslade]

The foam makes the hull stiffer. Did It out and replace. You may want to check out the stringers, they are probably soft to. Water in the foam means lots of dirty work ahead, If you search this forum you will find how to properly repair the rot.

[bluethunder12]

Jim is right the foam has to go it adsorbs the water, i don't so much agree with the stiffing part my 72 starcraft had no foam at all and the hull was as stiff as it could be solid i mean now i added foam for floation only , idid replace my stringer and floor in mine so if u have any questions i'll be happy to help anyway i can alot great talent on this site so i no anyone here can help goodluck

[dereksireci]

The foam also provides flotation as required by law. I don't know about the laws in 1973, I was in high school and more worried about not getting caught breaking the law. The foam is designed to be closed cell, but has been found to absorb water when allowed to free rise in a space. When the foam is poured into a closed space and compressed somewhat, the closed cell properties are much better.

In any event you have 33 year old foam which you should remove so you can see what else is going on under it. I use a Japanes style pull saw to cut large chunks out and a wonderbar to dig the rest. You can also use a keyhole saw. It is not difficult to replace. Buy it at Merton's Fiberglass 800-333-0314. Joe will ship you what you need and is easy to deal with.

¿Should this forum limit the amount of question marks that can be used in a title? I don't think your three questions merit 22 question marks!

Good luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

djs

[Dagan]

Just took all the foam from mine, almost exact situation. Wear a mask the mold made me sick! If you can do it outside or atleast have plenty of venalation.

Have fun!