Cabin sole replacement

Hey all,

As i go through my rebuild I have been pondering this one for a while. I rebuilt the stringers due to rot and have just some cheapo plywood on the floor while I figure out what I was going to use for the cabinsole.

I've decided I'm going to go with T&G Maple as I like the durability(hardness) of maple and the bright color of it. I am hoping that if I seal all surfaces of the maple prior to adhering down with thinned WEST Systems that it will stay "relatively" stable and not absorb moisture at rot.

My biggest question to figure out now is, what would one recommend for securing the boards down? The bundles come in a range of lengths, ranging from 10" to 42" long. Each board will be 23/32" x 2 1/2".

My current thought is to use 3/8" marine ply(have access to a few sheets of good quality ply of this thickness), something like sika 291 to adhere the T&G planks to the ply before cutting out along my templates.

Basically the process would be:
#1: template out the area with thick templating paper
#2: using the 3/8" hydrotek ply do a "rough" cut of my template
#3: get maple put together to fit the templated subfloor ply
#4: Epoxy the heck out of ply on all edges with 4-8 coats
#4a: Using wood glue, put the maple T&G together to create solid surface
#5: Epoxy the heck of out the maple on all surfaces(including edges) - 4-8 coats
#6: Smear Sika 291(or similar compound) on top surface of ply
#6a: Lay maple down and toss some sandbags ontop to evenly distribute out the downward pressure for adhesion
#7: Clean up any ooze out and mark template
#8: Route along template for prefect cut

The Other process I may follow would be to basically follow what I describe below, but instead after step 4, i would tab in the epoxy coated ply floor in place, THEN install the maple sole ontop of that which as been put in place.

 

Why work so hard. Do the second option of tabbing down a sub-sole then covering with decorative flooring.

No matter how careful you are, the templates will shift.