Commercial Foam Pumpers and plastic floors

[SeaMasterZ@aol.com]

Jason made a comment about aluminum boats not needing the floor to be part of the superstructure, which makes sense to me<br /><br />and as USUAL, my tired brain lit up and came up with an idea<br /><br />if I used 3/8 inch plastic and had some commercial outfit spray foam insulation under it, would it expand up to the floor and act as a support?<br /><br />I am a near 400 pounder, and my buddy goes 5 bills, would the foam be up to this sorta wieght? or should I go with stringers and 3/4 ply? (and foam, something to keep er afloat should something happen)<br /><br />does anyone know what sort of outfit does spray foam? tank insulators, house insulators, what type would work if any as a structural support?<br /><br />thanks

 

[JasonJ]

Re: Commercial Foam Pumpers and plastic floors

I don't see why you couldn't just buy however many kits it would take to fill the void under the floor and just do it yourself. A commercial foam pumper (if you could even find such a service) is only a benefit for a place that does a lot of foaming, like a boat factory. If you have enough 2 part foam kits, you would accomplish the same thing, if you are careful. You would need to get a dense foam if you are looking for more structure, and of course it would cost more, but I think if you got the most dense foam you could get combined with the 3/8th plastic, it might work. Now, you would have to hope that there isn't a warpage issue if that plastic gets to hot when it is sitting in the sun. King Starboard would be a great material for an aluminum boat, but that is some cash too. In the end, if I had an aluminum boat, I would just use marine ply and seal it even further and not worry about it....

 

[SeaMasterZ@aol.com]

Re: Commercial Foam Pumpers and plastic floors

One of the many factore in all this is a limited cash flow situation, (as always, lol) I was wondering (there I go wondering) if ext sheathing properly sealed would hold up well if the boat was properly secured against rain and snow etc<br /><br />Ive heard you say its all a matter of how well you take care of the restored product, again, makes sense to me! I have an idea for making a frame of 1/2 inch pvc to drape a tarp over, that way it wont "belly" and cause pooling, with the attendant dripping<br /><br />I could see if it was a hull, but its just a floor, hit with some polyurethane or some such sealer and go ... did you use sheathing when you made your seats and floors and such?