Boat Floor Question - Replace or Not Replace?

[jmw129]

Hey Guys,

I'm posting this to see if my gut is right about this one.

Recently purchased a boat that appears to have a solid floor when I walk on it. Now the kicker is for roughly a month or so before I bought the boat the seller took the cover off and gave it to another buyer on this other more expensive boat he was selling.

The floor has been rained on during the last month, rained bad the day I drove the boat home. I let it sit for a couple of days to air out, now is properly covered and 4 days later the carpet is still full of moisture. The boat cover is allowing proper air flow.

Now with the highs only being in the low 40's and low's in the 20's should I be concerned the floor will freeze or ice up?

Will the floor on it's own loose the moisture without serious floor problem's?

Do I need to shop vac the carpet as much as possible to remove moisture?

I was hoping natural evaporation will allow the floor to breath and heal without the floor having any major problems / defects come spring..

Your thoughts?

 

[GT1000000]

Re: Boat Floor Question - Replace or Not Replace?

Welcome jmw129,

Several factors come into play.

The biggest is the boats age.

If it is fairly new, 10 years old or less, been properly stored out of the weather, you are probably are OK. You can put a small space heater, an electric ceramic type, and keep an eye on it, you wouldn't want to start a fire... in there or even just a fan, and let everything get dried out...

If it is much older than that, been put away wet after playing, been out in the weather, etc. you may have other issues...

You might be able to pull up a section of the carpet and check the wood underneath, if it seems the least bit wet, you might want to take some core samples...

Check your bilge area for standing water, if you have any access hatches, remove them and feel around for moisture...

As far as getting wet for a month with rain, if the sub structure was in great condition before, as in well kept, it should not matter too much.

The bad news is that the floor can "feel" solid, but could actually already be rotten...I hope not, but it is possible.

If you spot anything that you are not sure of, take some pictures and post them here. Some of the more knowledgeable guys here will help you out.

Best of Luck,
GT1M

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Boat Floor Question - Replace or Not Replace?

If she were mine, I'd be shop vac'ing all the moistur out of her that I could.

 

[jmw129]

Re: Boat Floor Question - Replace or Not Replace?

If she were mine, I'd be shop vac'ing all the moistur out of her that I could.

My gut was telling me to get out there and shop vac the carpet until I couldn't anymore. Appears to be taken care of and not original.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Boat Floor Question - Replace or Not Replace?

Don't shop vac the carpet! You don't know what kind of glue was used to install the carpet, and if it was a water resistant glue like indoor outdoor carpet glue the moisture drastically weakens this stuff and the vac will suck the carpet off the glue. The indoor/outdoor carpet glue will regain it's strength as it dries out.

Look at this experiment a guy did on another forum:

http://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=22430&start=15

Shop vaccing my boat carpet wet was my big mistake, and it didn't take long afterward for it to look like this:

Instead, put a heater or a fan in your boat and keep your boat covered.

Leaving a boat uncovered out in the elements is the road to ruination for it. Always cover your boat when not in use.

 

[jmw129]

Re: Boat Floor Question - Replace or Not Replace?

Don't shop vac the carpet! You don't know what kind of glue was used to install the carpet, and if it was a water resistant glue like indoor outdoor carpet glue the moisture drastically weakens this stuff and the vac will suck the carpet off the glue. The indoor/outdoor carpet glue will regain it's strength as it dries out.

Look at this experiment a guy did on another forum:

http://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=22430&start=15

Shop vaccing my boat carpet wet was my big mistake, and it didn't take long afterward for it to look like this:

Instead, put a heater or a fan in your boat and keep your boat covered.

Leaving a boat uncovered out in the elements is the road to ruination for it. Always cover your boat when not in use.

Thanks for the pic. Very good point about the glue. I did try to shop vac for a bit and the floor didn't come up or from what I can tell so hopepfully I'll get lucky.

I did notice that the floor has less moisture compared to the day the boat came to my drive way before using the shop vac. I may use a space heater to heat up the inside of the boat to draw out mositure and walk on the carpet to help the adhesion beween the glue and plywood.

Just don't want the wood to soak up the water and eventually turning to "Slow Rot" resulting in a soft floor 1-2 years down the road or worse yet have soft / rotten stringers.