GENERAL CURIOUSITY...Would a boat with a soft or rotten floor have any chance sinking

[Lukelona]

Re: GENERAL CURIOUSITY...Would a boat with a soft or rotten floor have any chance sin

Ok thanks everyone. Im gonna tear into it asap. im crossing my fingers stringers are ok. if not im gonna go ahead and do the rebuild.

i do have a random question for later on and i know its not important now...but if it does need stringers will i need to "cradle" the hull to keep from flexing? Or is that only need on bigger boats?

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: GENERAL CURIOUSITY...Would a boat with a soft or rotten floor have any chance sin

finally someone that is helping me instead of just putting it down.

Seems like I recall putting quite a bit of time into helping and pretty sure I didn't once put it down........ In fact I suggested the circular saw thing (though I would go all the way across the floor to avoid the seems over the stringers.

 

[SigSaurP229]

Re: GENERAL CURIOUSITY...Would a boat with a soft or rotten floor have any chance sin

Ok thanks everyone. Im gonna tear into it asap. im crossing my fingers stringers are ok. if not im gonna go ahead and do the rebuild.

i do have a random question for later on and i know its not important now...but if it does need stringers will i need to "cradle" the hull to keep from flexing? Or is that only need on bigger boats?

If it is sitting on a BUNK trailer AND you DON"T remove the cap you may not need to build a cradle.

 

[Lukelona]

Re: GENERAL CURIOUSITY...Would a boat with a soft or rotten floor have any chance sin

If it is sitting on a BUNK trailer AND you DON"T remove the cap you may not need to build a cradle.

cool:joyous: It is on a bunk trailer and i hope i dont have to remove the cap. haha

at least i get a break somewhere. thanks!

 

[Lukelona]

Re: GENERAL CURIOUSITY...Would a boat with a soft or rotten floor have any chance sin

Seems like I recall putting quite a bit of time into helping and pretty sure I didn't once put it down........ In fact I suggested the circular saw thing (though I would go all the way across the floor to avoid the seems over the stringers.

You did help a ton! More than anyone yet in fact! i was just sayin to the people with these new/er boats are so fast to tell us "low budget" guys to junk our boats.
like we can all afford to run out and buy another. lol

And now after the last 3 junky boats ive owned im convinced any used boat has great potential to be a nightmare! :facepalm:
Im gonna build this little booger of a bayliner better then new and then take care of it, unlike most boat owners who make them the way they are by the time we get them 20+ years later.

 

[SigSaurP229]

Re: GENERAL CURIOUSITY...Would a boat with a soft or rotten floor have any chance sin

You did help a ton! More than anyone yet in fact! i was just sayin to the people with these new/er boats are so fast to tell us "low budget" guys to junk our boats.
like we can all afford to run out and buy another. lol

And now after the last 3 junky boats ive owned im convinced any used boat has great potential to be a nightmare! :facepalm:
Im gonna build this little booger of a bayliner better then new and then take care of it, unlike most boat owners who make them the way they are by the time we get them 20+ years later.

I am actually a low budget boat builder as well, as most of the people on here, and its great that you are willing to take that leap. Everyone here just wants to make sure that you are prepared for what you are getting in to. 50% of the guys on this site will agree with me when they say we didn't want to do a resto on a fiberglass boat so went searching for a tinny.

I would suggest, a realistic budget on a fiberglass build like this is around $2000-$2500 to do it right.

There are a wealth of great resources on this site, unfortunately when it comes to glassing I am not one of them.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: GENERAL CURIOUSITY...Would a boat with a soft or rotten floor have any chance sin

OHHHH ok... I'm with ya now......

On the budget thing, let's hold off till we find out what the damage is... this still COULD turn out to be only a floor patch.

I can also say first hand that I have replaced 2 rotten stringers (only 6 foot long) with 4x6 lumber shaped to match the hull and glassed over for about $200.... I didn't have to deal with flooring and didn't have to go full length because there were sister stringers in great condition but just an example that it CAN be cheaper...

 

[Lukelona]

Re: GENERAL CURIOUSITY...Would a boat with a soft or rotten floor have any chance sin

OHHHH ok... I'm with ya now......

On the budget thing, let's hold off till we find out what the damage is... this still COULD turn out to be only a floor patch.

I can also say first hand that I have replaced 2 rotten stringers (only 6 foot long) with 4x6 lumber shaped to match the hull and glassed over for about $200.... I didn't have to deal with flooring and didn't have to go full length because there were sister stringers in great condition but just an example that it CAN be cheaper...

Cool, do you happen to still have any pics? id love to see it for reference.
Ya im gonna get down to look at the floor asap. I have time now but of course its been raining for 2 days :facepalm:
Weathers supposed to be decent late morning tommorrow so im gonna try to go then.

So just to review i need to just cut the floor back (carefully) until i get half way across the stringers?
Then drill holes for core samples. And while cutting the floor it should be cut at a 30 deg. angle to make it easier to seam right?

Thats the general idea right?

im just double checking because unfortunately my marina is about 25-30 mins from my house/computer lol

 

[Lukelona]

Re: GENERAL CURIOUSITY...Would a boat with a soft or rotten floor have any chance sin

Everyone here just wants to make sure that you are prepared for what you are getting in to. 50% of the guys on this site will agree with me when they say we didn't want to do a resto on a fiberglass boat so went searching for a tinny [/QUOTE

Just for the record. i already have a tinny! :laugh:
Bad thing is its only a 12-13 ft v bow and its tippy as crap and strictly for fishing the rivers.
I love that boat, it never costs me money! lol (knock on wood)

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: GENERAL CURIOUSITY...Would a boat with a soft or rotten floor have any chance sin

I don't have any pics... I lost thousands of pics and thousands of songs when my comp crashed a while back

I would cut the floor ALL the way across exposing the entire hull and both sides of the stringers... the repair will be stronger and imho easier that way

 

[Fishin Magician]

Re: GENERAL CURIOUSITY...Would a boat with a soft or rotten floor have any chance sin

I may be wrong but if I were a gambling man I would put odds that there is rot in the stringer from looking at that pic, if that hull fractures it will sink like a rock, I also see no emergency flotation foam.

I hear you and I'll take those odds... but I also run that thing like I stole it
walleye season is coming to an end..... use what you got to get what you need

 

[Lukelona]

Re: GENERAL CURIOUSITY...Would a boat with a soft or rotten floor have any chance sin

I would cut the floor ALL the way across exposing the entire hull and both sides of the stringers... the repair will be stronger and imho easier that way

Ok, ill do that. whats the best tool to cut it?
Circular saw set to depth? Grinder with cut off wheel?

 

[ezmobee]

Re: GENERAL CURIOUSITY...Would a boat with a soft or rotten floor have any chance sin

Circular saw set to depth

This ^^

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: GENERAL CURIOUSITY...Would a boat with a soft or rotten floor have any chance sin

As stated above ABSOLUTELY the circ saw

 

[Lukelona]

Re: GENERAL CURIOUSITY...Would a boat with a soft or rotten floor have any chance sin

OK, so i finally made it to the marina to check out the boat.....
i cut the floor a little further until the stringers. drilled straight into them downwards,
the wood that comes out is bright "wood color" and seems very dry.
i also did a sideways drill hole through the stringer and same. i checked both stringers right around my problem soft spot.

everything should be good right? As far as rotten strigers go?
I also did a check at the transom, near the bolt holes first (figured thats what would rot first) and down near the bottom

The wood ships that came out didnt seem rotten, but were not quite as bright as the stringer wood chips.
Should i worry about this? Is it normal? I tried to flex the transom by pushing on the leg of the engine. It didnt seem to flex at all.
In fact it actually lifted the front of the boat without noticing flex.

So with all this said, what should i do next? Should it be safe and usable? I obviously need to repair the floor, I will need some tips and pointers on how to do that.

Like always, ANY help is GREAT!
Thanks in advance!

 

[ezmobee]

Re: GENERAL CURIOUSITY...Would a boat with a soft or rotten floor have any chance sin

In my opinion, you have done your due diligence. Fill the exploratory holes with 5200 and button her back up (and you might want to buy a powerball ticket).

 

[Lukelona]

Re: GENERAL CURIOUSITY...Would a boat with a soft or rotten floor have any chance sin

In my opinion, you have done your due diligence. Fill the exploratory holes with 5200 and button her back up (and you might want to buy a powerball ticket).

Lol, so does that mean its ok to use? And im lucky by not needing stringers?

What do yall think about the transom?

 

[Lukelona]

Re: GENERAL CURIOUSITY...Would a boat with a soft or rotten floor have any chance sin

Where did you go smokeonthewater ? I need advice guys! Haha

 

[ezmobee]

Re: GENERAL CURIOUSITY...Would a boat with a soft or rotten floor have any chance sin

Yes I mean ok to use. On this boat, if the transom shavings don't look obviously wet, and more importantly there is no flex, I would cease looking for problems. And yes, you're lucky.

 

[Lukelona]

Re: GENERAL CURIOUSITY...Would a boat with a soft or rotten floor have any chance sin

Sweet! Im glad, so how much glass resin should Ineed for a 4x3 section of new ply?