Bedding Deck Hardware

[waterbill]

I bought a used CC skiff and have discovered some areas of softness on the fiberglass-over-plywood floor. My friend tells me its probably due to failure to properly bed the console, seat, and deck plate screws with a bedding compound. My questions are 1)what is a good compound to use, and 2)when attaching a piece of hardware such as a cleat, is the compound to be used only around the screw holes, or between the cleat's bottom and the deck? At this time, I don't want to cut out the floor. The soft areas are limited to a couple spots. Any advice will be appreciated.

 

[bhalsdorf]

Re: Bedding Deck Hardware

You may also have a floor that is rotting out from the underside. That boat may have taken on water in the bilge and soaked the plywood. This happens alot with older boats. The only remedy for that is to pull the floor up and put a new one in....but then while the floor is up you may want to check the stringers as they may be starting to rot also. Can open a whole new can of worms.