Replacing Floor On my 18' Lund

[belsitj]

Hello everyone. I am new to this forum and have found many of the posts informative and interesting. I have an aluminum 18' Lund and the sole (floor) is rotting out. I am going to try and replace it this fall myself and am starting to educate myself. I am on a limited budget (isn't everyone these days) and have seen many suggestions on this forum for various material to use. One of the things I am really concerned with is taking out the consoles to replace the sole underneath. I have a passenger console and a drivers console. The passengers I am not overly worried about. I can probably handle that one. The driver's console has me worried because of all the wires and the steering column(Not that handy). I am wondering if I will be able to cut the sole in front of the console and butt the new floor up against the piece that would be under the console. That part of the floor seems stable. I may have to put some kind of support under the new floor where it butts up. Has anyone done the repair job this way? I know its not the right way. Is it difficult to take the drivers console out? Also, what does the existing floor attach to, are there aluminum stringers underneath?

Any feedback is helpful.

[thudpucker]

Anything one man put into that boat, can be taken out, and put back by another man!
Have faith my son. Go and do what you want and take a lot of photos of your progress and what it looked like before you started.

I've always used Marine Plywood for flooring.
Except in one boat I used Cedar planks, but you'd use Marine plywood.
Exterior ply has some faults you might find troublesome in your future. Some of the Chemicals in that stuff will eat certain metals.
That's my feedback!

[belsitj]

Thanks Thudpucker. I will start looking for the marine plywood.

[thudpucker]

The Bass Boat people somtimes use 3/8" or 1/2" ply in those fancy F/Glass boats. My old Ranger has that thin stuff in it's deck.
In my Tin boats and all my Wood boats I use 3/4".

You'd probable better use what the boat came with.
I had a Lund 14' for awhile. Great boat too.

[belsitj]

thanks. I believe there is 3/4 in there now and will probably use the same. I agree, very happy with my Lund. The motor hardly has any time on it but unfortunately, the previous owner left it exposed to the elements quite a bit.

[thudpucker]

Some of mine spent thier whole life out in the elements. I never noticed if it botherd any thing beyond the paint and the Fuel hose.