99' 1850 Capri - Floor Replacement

[agracing17]

Does anyone have any suggestions? A buddy of mine said that standard wood from Lowe's coated with fiberglass epoxy would work fine.

Are there any How To's, shortcuts, things I need to know before getting started?

Thanks for the help in advance!

[gonzo]

AC plywood will work fine. It's what it was built with.

[Zappi]

If ac ply is original specs... I would consider something better. 1999 and it needs a new floor? Seems to me ac is not a good product for that. Unless you plan to flip it and let someone else deal with the consequences.

[marshmat]

AC ply with epoxy and fibreglass should work fine, as long as you take care to seal all cuts and holes with epoxy. It probably rotted out originally because they never bothered to seal it properly- in which case any kind of plywood, no matter how expensive, will rot.

[agracing17]

I started pulling it up today and it was not sealed on the bottom... just the top side. It rotted from the bottom up. It looks like it was glued to the stringers that run parallel with the hull which looks like its going to be a problem getting it all up and level for the new wood.

My buddy told me to fit all the new wood in there and then pull it out and coat both sides with epoxy.

Anyone have any tips for getting this old wood up?

-it also looks like my seat bracket is made out of fiberglass and is a part of the hull. the floor goes around it.

[gonzo]

You can also do it with polyester laminating resin and mat. The floors are usually bedded in polyester putty. If you are coating it with whichever resin you use, screw down the plywood while it is still tacky and it will give you good adhesion. The edges should be rounded to make it easier to lay the fiberglass cloth or mat.

[Nova SS]

depending on what glue they used to attach the floor to the stringers you might be able to use a heat gun to heat the glue up so you can scrape the remaining bits of resin and wood off the stringers. Normally this works for epoxy and polyester resins, but it might work with othes glues as well.

[agracing17]

Ok,.... well I have most of the floor up, but as anything else goes I have discovered that the rot is worse than I originally thought.

I have two main stingers (fiberglass) that run the length of the hull. the two outside sections of the boat are filled with foam. However, under the passenger and driver side console the foam stops about where my feat would sit. so in front of the foam going towards the front of the boat there is an open cavity under the wood. The problem is that there is water in that cavity.

Now I can't pull up the console because it is part of the top side of the boat. Its all one form. the only way to get it up is to separate the top of the boat from the bottom of the boat. This is not something I'm going to do.

Any ideas?

[marshmat]

Open cavities. Under wood. That can't drain anywhere.

Bayliner......

agracing17, would you mind posting a few photos of your predicament? (The forum has an attachments feature if you use the "Go advanced" reply button.) I'm having a hard time visualizing exactly how everything is joined up under the console area on this boat.

[agracing17]

[agracing17]

Bump?

[agracing17]

anybody?

[marshmat]

Hmm.... wet foam, plywood bulkhead with evidence of rot damage, and is that evidence of moisture intrusion I see on top of that stringer?

This does not look like a healthy hull (hard to tell from two blurry close-ups, though). If you want to make it last this time (boats should last a lot more than ten years), the process will probably go something like this:
- Support the hull from the outside, sturdily, so it won't distort as you make repairs
- Remove everything that's rotted, water-saturated, delaminated or has suffered any other kind of structural failure (this may involve a lot more dismantling than you had hoped for)
- Rebuild with new fibreglass, new epoxy, etc. (Plywood is OK, if it's properly protected- the original stuff was not).

Given that the original evidently had design and construction flaws, you'll probably want to do a bit of re-designing. Dave Gerr's book "Elements of Boat Strength" will help you here.

[Typhoon]

If you're not prepared to pull the hull and deck moulds to work on that rotten area, you'll either have to figure out a way to repair under it, or walk away and get 10c on the dollar at best, on the boat.
Harsh reality, but that's how serious your problem is now.

Regards, andrew.