replacing deck on a fishing boat

[limige]

hi all, this is my first post, i'm new to the board just found it looking for info on Divinycell.

heres the deal, i got a 1979 24' bayliner saratoga from my cousin i plan on using for fishing mostly freshwater.. current floor is wood and has some peices rotted here and there, so i'm in the process of pulling it all and i'm trying to decide on how to do the new floor.

its a fishing boat, it's gonna get blood and slime on it so my first thought is i want a glass floor. then i found out about Divinycell, but don't know much about it. i was looking for some instruction on how to do a floor in it. what kind of paint and non-skid coatings to use, how much and what type of mat needs to be used. i understand screws have to be backed up?

is there a better way?

thanks
mike

[Corpus Skipper]

Divinycell is a coring material, to be sandwiched in fiberglass. If I were you, I would just replace the deck with marine ply or AC exterior ply and 'glass it in. 2 layers of mat will do, and resin up the bottom side of the ply before installation. You could put a layer or two of mat on the bottom if you like. As far as paints, most any will do, it just depends on your budget and what you want. I've used everything from Wal Mart porch paint to Awl Grip with good results for what was expected. Kid's play sand makes good non skid, or you can buy pre molded non skid patterns. The best and longest lasting solution would be to roll or spray on gelcoat, then shoot a texture and or "splatter" coat for non skid. Screws have to be backed up? Don't know what you mean by that.

[limige]

actually the main flooring is good, it's the inspection hatches and some areas down at the bottom...animals got down there and tore up a plywood peice that held in foam and they tore out the foam and moved it around the engine for a nest...

so i'm cleaning it all out going through everything to make sure there's no rot and everything is repaired properly..i just don't want to do it again and i don't want carpet...

how good are the brush on floor coatings at west marine? i'm trying to figure out if i need to use gelcoat or not, i have absolutely no experience with gel coat. i know nothing about it nor do i know anyone that does...

so if i glass the existing floor i should put a few layers of mat on top? how should i deal with the hatch areas?

i appreciate any help you guys can offer.

thanks
mike

[Corpus Skipper]

so if i glass the existing floor i should put a few layers of mat on top?

You can, but it will just add weight. If you're just doing spot repairs, I wouldn't bother covering the whole deck, just blend your repairs into the existing surface.

how good are the brush on floor coatings at west marine?

I've never tried them.

i have absolutely no experience with gel coat.

If you can fiberglass, you can apply gelcoat. The procedure is the same. The only thing to keep in mind is that for your final coat, you will need to add some surfacing agent (wax) for the gelcoat to cure to a sandable finish. If you want it shiny, you will have to do a lot of wet sanding and buffing, but for decks it looks fine unpolished.

[iamoffshore]

We did a deck on a Bayliner Trophy recently and had the same problem......
Some of the stringers under the deck rot out ..but to get in there we had to cut a 4 x4 area in the deck......so we cleaned this out and beefed up the bad stringers with composite deck material from home depot and glassed it over.....Works great but you have to drill holes in the deck panels so the glass will bite.

The problem on these boats is that you want to be able to inspect and repair below deck in the future so you do not want to glass a permanant floor in.

We just cut a 4 foot by 4 foot section of floor out and installed a lexon panel which is virtually industructable to the elements. The size was a little larger so it fit right on top of the cutout and overlapped about 5 inches all around.......We then installed a white FRP panel on top of this and caulked the seams......this setup will last forever if you do not want to deal with plywood.....Not for everyone but it works and is indestructable and will never rot.

[limige]

thanks for the reply, i know what you mean. the floor thats in this boat has the side floorboards glassed to the boat, whereas the center board is just screwed down. i was thinking about laying resine on the back then doing the top and drilling and screwing it afterward. of course then you would have to seal all your screws as well..

it turns out i have alittle more work ahead than i first anticipated. i may have to gut the entire boat and start over...