Amount of Strength - How many layers of cloth

olmpilot

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Jul 28, 2004
Messages
80
I'm finally finishing my floor rebuild project. Originally, the guy at Boater's World said to use 1 layer of cloth, a layer of mat and finish with another layer of cloth on top. However, due to budget, I didn't have enough cloth for both layers, so I started with the first layer of mat, and was going to finish with a single layer of cloth over the top. The wood is 1/2" marine ply with two coats of epoxy resin on both sides.<br /><br />Do you folks think that the single layer of mat and single layer of cloth should do the trick and be strong enough?<br /><br />Also, I was thinking about sealing and finishing the entire thing with epoxy resin concrete floor paint before putting the carpet back in. Would that be good or will the contact cement for the carpet stick better to the straight epoxy/resin?<br /><br />Thanks!
 

Ralph 123

Captain
Joined
Jun 24, 2003
Messages
3,983
Re: Amount of Strength - How many layers of cloth

Well, I put the Rustoleum epoxy garage floor stuff in my garage and the beauty of it is, nothing sticks to it once it cures, so I'm not sure it would give you a good substrate to glue to... If that stuff bonds well to fiberglass it would make a good final finish...
 

olmpilot

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Jul 28, 2004
Messages
80
Re: Amount of Strength - How many layers of cloth

Ralph, that is what I was thinking. The only reason I considered it is that there was a portion of the bilge that was originally painted with something similar, and when I rebuilt I repainted it with this garage paint. So now that I have used the 1 pint of paint out of the gallon I had to buy, I was looking for other uses (since I have an apartment and no garage floor to paint).
 

ondarvr

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Apr 6, 2005
Messages
11,527
Re: Amount of Strength - How many layers of cloth

I take it the plywood is for the floor, if so, you should be fine with two layers.
 

olmpilot

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Jul 28, 2004
Messages
80
Re: Amount of Strength - How many layers of cloth

Ooops, the small details... Yes, the ply is the main cockpit flooring. As with most boat "repair" projects it started out as being a "small" 1'x1' area and progressed to the entire 6'x5'cockpit area.
 
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