Ideas or help on install of hardwood sole in 14' alum. boat

Discussion in 'Boat Design' started by WinnMann, May 22, 2015.

  1. alan white
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    alan white Senior Member

    A pound of copper nails ought to be under $15.00 and you might find them at a roofing supply company. Forget the roves. Bend the ends over as mentioned. Don't spend that kind of money.
    If you can't easily find the copper nails, don't worry. Just find some ringed stainless steel nails at Home Depot or Lowes. They have small heads and will look nice. Bend them with ordinary pliers and then pound flat with a hammer.
    Always avoid, if possible, the super-high prices of traditional bronze and copper parts and pieces. You are not limited to using such expensive materials because you aren't building a reproduction. Also, see how the suppliers sell the stuff at jewelry store prices but you can't buy a quarter pound so you overspend so a box can sit on your shelf for years and then you die and your nephew gets half the profit of a yard sale and he marks those remaining 3/4 lbs with a tag that says 50 cents cause he wants a mountain Dew and he's short a few cents.
     
  2. WinnMann
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    WinnMann Junior Member

    Haha I think you hit the nail on the head with that one, so true. It's not too bad when your on the other end of the stick and find some treasures at the garage sale. But usually that's not the way that this ship sails.
     
  3. WinnMann
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    WinnMann Junior Member

    I'm almost read to start buildining the floor and sole. All I need to do is find some dry PT wood. Does it have to be plywood by the way? And the last thing I need to buy is the Cetol. My local boat shop carries Cetol Marine, Marine Light, Marine Gloss, and Narural Teak. Is there one of these that you could recommend to me?
     
  4. alan white
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    alan white Senior Member

    No-- not plywood! Solid 2x is what you want. Just Cetol Marine will be fine. Frankly, You could also get away with another wood such as fir or spruce as long as it is knot-free or nearly so. I only mentioned PT wood because it's cheap and available and it won't rot. It's high and dry however, so untreated woods will be okay. Just paint the wood before installation. My guess is 2 x 6s before ripping in spruce, hand picked, will be fine. Get lengths twice as long as the longest piece (4 1/2 ft?) so 10 ft., etc.
     
  5. WinnMann
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    WinnMann Junior Member

    Okay, thanks on the Cetol recommendation, I'll grab that tomorrow. I do like the idea of untreated wood, because I don't have to worry about the drying factor. Thank god you cleared that up for me that I should use boards. You sir, are a gentleman and a scholar.
     
  6. WinnMann
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    WinnMann Junior Member

    Finally I was able to cut some wood for the project. :) I found some douglas fir at Home Depot and ripped it down to 1 1/2" boards. I'm just going to run them across the top of the stringers rather than notch them as you first mentioned, just to simplify the process since its going to take me a little while to get the section of the floor that the half-bench seat and livewell secure to cut just right. I included a picture of how I just set the boards over the stringers just to show how I cut them and a general idea on where I'm going to secure them. I'm running back to the store to get another 10' 2x6 to finish the half-bench and livewell floor. Its going to be 3 2x6's laid side by side. I have one laid there, I just need to add 2 more next to it. But I need to cut the sections that the half-bench seat and livewell are actually going to mount to down to 1/2" so that they mount right on their old rivet holes in the side of the boat. I will than leave the section of the boards between the livewell and half-bench seat 1 1/2 to support the sole.
     

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  7. WinnMann
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    WinnMann Junior Member

    Alright, I have mostly all off the fir floor cut and fitted mostly. Their spacings are closer than 18", but it seems like their spaced well to support the sole. Heres a few pictures of where I'm at. I drilled the 1/4" holes for the screws in the boards so I can get the first coat of my polyurethane porch and deck enamel on tonight. My question of the day is all of my floor boards are and inch or two short from touching the sides of the boat. Are they supposed to snug up to the sides(walls) of the boat? I show what I'm talking about in the 3rd picture.
     

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  8. alan white
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    alan white Senior Member

    That's fine and typical too. Some might add margin planks to the sole in the form of angled and curved boards but don't worry about that. I question using full 2 x 6s (weight and poss. rot where the wood is wide), but well painted, it's only something to examine occasionally. Remember to make the boat perfectly level side to side in order to ensure the fir frames are perfectly parallel. Use a straight edge of wood at least three frames long (5 ft is good).
    Private message me if you want to talk on the phone.
     
  9. WinnMann
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    WinnMann Junior Member

    I ended up ripping the 2 x 6s into 2 x 3s and most of it on that section is 1/2 by 3 so it doesn't weight half as much as I was thinking it would. I will keep a good eye on rot and be sure to maintain. It didn't even occur to me to to check how level the floor is, I will definitely be doing that tomorrow. I really appreciate your offer to personally help me out on the phone, and if I feel really stuck on something I will be sure to pm you. Until than, I'll be sure to post pictures as I go along to show anyone else who may be interested in reflooring their boat this way some tips on how to do it. And feel free to yell at me if you see me making any mistakes, you gotta learn someway right? Stupid question of the day, if the fir frames weren't level, would that make the boat more tippy and unstable in the water when walking on the sole?
     
  10. alan white
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    alan white Senior Member

    No, the levelling of he boat side to side allows using a level to check to transverse (crossing) frames. That's all. The fore/aft levelling isn't required because the stringers already establish the levelling that way. Just a straight edge is sufficient to make sure the tops of the frames are even.
    Looks like you're doing fine.
     
  11. WinnMann
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    WinnMann Junior Member

    I've gotten the fir floor prepped and the first coat of deck and porch enamel on. Do I give it a light sand between the coats, maybe with my random orbital sander and high grit? Also, as I'm redoing my boat I've noticed a hand full of small spots that look to be some kind of rust in the bottom of the hull. I know aluminum boats can corrode, but I'm not sure what I'm looking at. I can post a picture tomorrow, because that would probably help with identification. But it looks to me kind of like rust.
     
  12. alan white
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    alan white Senior Member

    Yes, sand the first coat lightly. Random orbit is okay. Aluminum rust is white. See if it is pitted deeply. If only whitish, a light sanding and a spot of paint should be fine.
     
  13. WinnMann
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    WinnMann Junior Member

    Heres what it looks like. I sanded them off just fine but the first was a little deep where you can see the black line in the middle.:confused:
     

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  14. alan white
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    alan white Senior Member

    That's iron rust. Somebody set something down that rusted. I'm not sure how to get the stain out but you can look it up on Google.
     

  15. WinnMann
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    WinnMann Junior Member

    Okay thanks, I didn't know aluminum could rust when in contact with iron. You learn something new everyday. With a google search I found a recommendation of "Eagle One Mag Wheel Cleaner" which works because of the dilute hydrofluoric acid which my Autozone carries. For the part where I did sand it down a little, do you think I should touch that up with some paint? And if so what type?
     
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