Boat Floor / Deck questions .

[JulianL85]

I am in the process of putting down a new floor in my boat . I was wondering if it is necessary to fiberglass over the plywood I use . I would rather not . Could I just put polyurethane over the plywood and then put some type of white paint over that ,are would i have to sand down the polyurethane first . I really dont know exactly what I'm doing but I have a idea. My main goal on this project is to save money .

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[jigngrub]

Re: Boat Floor / Deck questions .

Money is not in the equation.

I'm not a glass guy, but I can see you're doing it wrong. Did you remove the old decking or just lay the new on top of the old deck?

Your deck needs to be "tabbed" into the hull for structural purposes, "tabbed" means tied in with fiberglass cloth and resin. Then you also need to glass over the entire deck to tie into the tabbing and to waterproof the deck.

If you did indeed just cover over the old decking, your new deck will not last. Not only that, you have rot problems below your old deck that need to be addressed NOW!

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Boat Floor / Deck questions .

A few questions. Why are you replacing the Deck/Floor? Have you Checked the Stringers and Bulkheads underneath? If not you could be covering up potentially dangerous problems.

Bottom line is... If you want the deck to last more than a couple of years it needs to be at the very least Epoxy coated and preferably glassed with fiberglass cloth as well.

 

[Georgesalmon]

Re: Boat Floor / Deck questions .

Almost looks like it was a laminated hull liner made in a mold?

 

[Georgesalmon]

Re: Boat Floor / Deck questions .

what year, brand,model?

 

[JulianL85]

Re: Boat Floor / Deck questions .

I cut off the cabin and i am going to put a floor down and make it a center console . I just wanna know if any of you have ever put down a floor without having to put fiberglass over the plywood . I dont need the floor to last 20 years . I just wanna get at least 5-10 years out of it . Picture # 2 is how it looks as of now . I still have to cut out a couple more pieces . Im not gonna redo the whole floor only the front part that is tore out .

 

[JulianL85]

Re: Boat Floor / Deck questions .

if I were to go thefiberglass route which is the cheapest and where do i buy the supplies cheap also .

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Boat Floor / Deck questions .

Polyester resin is cheaper than epoxy resin and USComposites has about the best online prices.

It'll be a lot less than a tank of fuel for that boat... are you going to be able to afford fuel for that boat?

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: Boat Floor / Deck questions .

us composites or composites one

 

[JulianL85]

Re: Boat Floor / Deck questions .

grub I'll be in the gulf with a full tank of gas the day after i finish this project . Also whats the best way to get a non-skid floor / cheapest way . I'm all about saving a buck .

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Boat Floor / Deck questions .

grub I'll be in the gulf with a full tank of gas the day after i finish this project . Also whats the best way to get a non-skid floor / cheapest way . I'm all about saving a buck .

Porch and deck paint with sand mixed in, make sure the sand is very dry sand.

 

[JulianL85]

Re: Boat Floor / Deck questions .

I was on the US composites website and I saw the 435 Standard Polyester Layup Resin (Marine Grade Resin) and I figure i would get that but when i do the floor do i need the fiberglass cloth or mat. Im a rookie at this stuff but I want to learn so let me have it . oh yea How would yall recommend me to tie the floor in to side of the hull .

 

[rickryder]

Re: Boat Floor / Deck questions .

Hi Julian,

435 resin is the right stuff! You will need fiberglass as poly resin alone will just crack. You will need at least 1.5 oz csm...one on the bottom of the deck and 2 layers on top....You will need to grind the gunwales(sides of boat) about 6" above the deck line and run tabbing to attach the deck to the sides..

I know your all about saving a buck but this must be done correctly for it to last even a few years.

Myself I would do csm on the bottom of the plywood deck then bed the deck down with PB....run 12" 1708 biax tape to tab deck in and layer of 1708 biax on the top of the deck....

There are thousands of deck restos here in the forums.... I would read a bunch so you can learn how we all do it

Good Luck!

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: Boat Floor / Deck questions .

start by reading the stickies. here is the one for the restoration sub-forums

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=288451

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Boat Floor / Deck questions .

The First link in my signature below has a diagram and instructions for the proper method for glassing a deck.