Cockpit Floor Tabbing & Covering

Discussion in 'Boatbuilding' started by rhewson99, Sep 4, 2013.

  1. rhewson99
    Joined: Mar 2013
    Posts: 7
    Likes: 0, Points: 0, Legacy Rep: 10
    Location: Ontario Canada

    rhewson99 Junior Member

    For the last 8 months I have been building / replacing the cockpit floor in a single-engine 36 foot powerboat that weighs approximately 17,000 pounds. I've had some great advice from many of you before and I need to lean on you once again.

    My goal is to maintain a strong floor while minimizing the amount of fillers and finishing work where possible.

    Background: The floor is about 70 square feet. I made the new floor in 3 sections of 3/4" Meranti plywood using solid mahogany for the (4) hatches and gutters. Everything is epoxy saturated. Reinforcing beams have been glassed-in under high-load areas. All plywood seams are fully supported from below. The new floor has been glued (5200) and through-bolted to floor supports. Any small perimeter gaps have been filled with reinforced epoxy. I am ready to begin with fillets and tabbing into the cabin and hull followed by a FG surface covering.

    Fillets and Tabbing. I plan to use a 3/4 or 1" fillet followed by 4 layers of 9 OZ tape, tapered on the walls and floor per West System documentation.

    Floor covering. I plan to use two layers of 6 OZ cloth for abrasion control. The floor itself is very strong, I see no need for any more reinforcement.

    I need an approach to deal with the edges of the tape / tabbing on the floor. If I lay the floor covering over top of the tabbing, I'll have a strong joint but I'll have a bump / ridge line. If I try and butt-joint the floor covering to the tabbing ridge (methinks very fussy/difficult) I'll have a weaker joint but no ridge. Either way I am into using fillers over these seams to finish things off nicely.

    Alternatively I could use a filler (micro balloons?) on the tabbing / floor seam to create a taper *before* I lay the floor covering.

    I would appreciate any thoughts you might have on the correct approach (or any other comments on my project as well). If there is a thread you can point me to, that would be great as well.

    Thanks in advance.
     
  2. PAR
    Joined: Nov 2003
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    Location: Eustis, FL

    PAR Yacht Designer/Builder

    You've got it, you'll have to "fair" in the edges of the tabbing, making a wee bit of a tapered ramp along the sides. This isn't a big deal and commonly performed. A 4" to 6" wide area along the places where the tabbing is will not be noticeable with floor covering options. A light weight filler (Q-cells, Balloons, etc.) mix, feather the inboard edges and call it done.
     
  3. rhewson99
    Joined: Mar 2013
    Posts: 7
    Likes: 0, Points: 0, Legacy Rep: 10
    Location: Ontario Canada

    rhewson99 Junior Member

    Got it. Thanks again for sharing your expertise.
     
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