Odds of having bad floor and good stringers....

[Aquaman-PSD]

Re: Odds of having bad floor and good stringers....

Yes but I don't have a whole lot of money to put into this. I have a voice in the back of my head telling me to buy a tinny... guess I should have listened! anybody interested in a 200 hp johnson???? just give me what I have in the boat ($4000) and I'll throw in the VRO for free kidding of course

 

[jasoutside]

Re: Odds of having bad floor and good stringers....

I have a voice in the back of my head telling me to buy a tinny...

Metal boats are excellent

http://www.x-entertainment.com/pics/kool1.jpg

 

[Aquaman-PSD]

Re: Odds of having bad floor and good stringers....

to reply to jigngrub I know there is fiberglass on the area around the console but I haven't checked the back. If someone put 1/2 plywood ontop of the original floor then that floor would sit roughly 1/2 higher where the plywood is I don't think someone could cover a 1/2 elevation with carpet and glue.
What do you mean glassed into the hull? Do I have to put fiberglass on the plywood before I lay it down and then again to tie it into the hull once its down? Would I just lay a 18'' strip around the intersection at a 90 degree angle and resin over it then use the trim boards to cover the verticle section? Again I don't have any clue how to fiberglass things so I'm sorry if these are dumb questions

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Odds of having bad floor and good stringers....

On a fiberglass boat there are no screws or nails, everything is tied together with glass mat and resin... and there isn't any bare wood or wood with just carpet over it.

Look at this thread:

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=510077&page=2

On page 2 starting at post #47 on you can see how the deck is tied into the hull (sides) and how the deck is glassed in afterward.


Everyone that is planning on buying a used fiberglass boat needs to come to the restoration forum here on iboats and read through the FG boat restorations before they buy any used FG boat. You will learn what to look for so you don't make a bad purchase.

Don't feel bad, there's more than a dozen people a year that show up here with the same exact thing that you're going through. Some choose to restore their boats while others part them out or sell them for a loss.

 

[Aquaman-PSD]

Re: Odds of having bad floor and good stringers....

Well I guess I'll just have to see and find out. I am in construction and I think I have the skills to do the work, I am more worried about having a place to do it and affording the materials. I read through the post that you copied in your post and also one about a 89 wellcraft that lays out exactly what needs to be done pretty well and I'm sure that if I do need to and decide to to a full restore I can get plenty of help from here. If not then I have a early 70's alumincraft canoe that would look great with 200 ponies strapped to the back

 

[oops!]

Re: Odds of having bad floor and good stringers....

jig.... some builders use screws in lots of contact areas of the deck... some do ...some dont.

aqua man......lets not guess here.....we are jumping off the deep end..

dont pull up the rug....just look at the edges of the plywood in the ski locker area. look for thickness.

from the pic...everything looks ok.

as well....that hatch up front.....look at the edges of the plywood there too..

one other trick you can do....

is to weigh the boat. empty it out.....totally.....drain the gas...]

then take it to the scales and weigh it against the manufacturers specs of the boat...if you are 100 lbs over....uh....well....then start looking for rot.

 

[Tthomp3]

Re: Odds of having bad floor and good stringers....

hmm an 89 wellcraft... haha Tear up the carpet and stop all this guesswork!

 

[Aquaman-PSD]

Re: Odds of having bad floor and good stringers....

Ah glad to see you in here T! I am a fellow young boater... not quite as young but still. Reading yur thread calmed me down a little plus I just can't see It being that bad when the boat looks like it has been garage kept its whole life, and I'm pretty sure it has. Also there is no, NONE, ZERO water that comes out when I pull the plug even after five and six hours on the water. Plus, from what I have heard rot is like cancer, it speads once it gets into the hull. I am nearly sure that the transom is sold simply because there is no movement, even when I accidentally jumped a barge wake while looking for movement . but again nothin is for sure. I will look at the sides of the ski locker tonight. I will just peel up a little corner of the carpet to see if there is fiberglass. Either way the boat is a lot of fun and I will most likely run it this season the way it is. I hope you get your rig on the water soon!

 

[Aquaman-PSD]

Re: Odds of having bad floor and good stringers....

to give an update.... i pulled the carpet back and the floor underneath is fiberglasses very heavily and besides the cracking and stuff the soft spot doesn't really look rotten.... its it possible that it just broke? I also found something very interesting... the floor, or atleast the carpet has been replaced. When I pulled back the carpet in the corners i could see where someone had run a razor blade down the joints between horizontal floor and verticle structures. I guess this is good because like i said it is fiber glasses really heavily from what i could tell through the carpet glue. Any thoughts?

 

[Aquaman-PSD]

Re: Odds of having bad floor and good stringers....

Oh and I forgot to mention that the floor, whether its orginal or not is fastened with screws. there is no rust on them and they look to be SS.

 

[jasoutside]

Re: Odds of having bad floor and good stringers....

Any thoughts?

Yah, I'm not a glasser but...

If the fiberglass "broke" than likely the material it was originally attached to (plywood) gave way. And, if it gave way, there is a reason, probably rotted out.

I could certainly be wrong though. How about some photos of what ya got there?

 

[Cadwelder]

Re: Odds of having bad floor and good stringers....

Screws are quite commom for attaching decks, as well as top caps to the deck. I've also seen staples to attached wood to wood at the factory, so seeing screws doesn't mean it's been repaired.

Lets stop all the guess work....you know you have some rot behind the seat right? Well move over a couple feet and take a test hole to see what the wood looks like there, if it's rotten or watersoaked there then you've got a rotten deck (floor) and the entrie deck needs to come out....once it's out you can see the stringer system very well and can easily see what kind of sahape it's in too.

Like Oops! said lets not overthink it, just take some core samples and see what you got. Simple.

Oh and I'll take the 200 off your hands.....LOL

CW

 

[Aquaman-PSD]

Re: Odds of having bad floor and good stringers....

Ok will I be able to do that now and wait to do any work? I want to run it like it is for the summer since the boat as a whole is still solid. One more question. Is it weird that I heard cracking (i'm guessing wood) when I step there? I would think that if it is rotten and soft it wouldn't be cracking but maybe it is the fiberglass ontop the wood that is cracking. I will keep you guys posted as I find more out. I know a guy locally that owns a fiberglassing bussiness.... kind of convienent! and I will talk to him the next time I see him too. He may let me do it myself under his professional guidance.