Pulled up carpet, All fiberglas underneath

[harrisg]

I am planning on restoring a 1983 16ft Invader I\O that had been sitting for four years. Threw out the back to back seats and boxes they were on. Underneath, the full length of the box is filled with foam and the foam is attached to a 3/4 piece of plywood which, it looks like it is epoxied to the floor.<br /><br />Here's my questions: <br /><br />1) I hear about dry rot and soft spots in plywood floors. I don't seem to have any soft spots in the fiberglas floor and everything looks o.k. Do they use wood along with fiberglas to make the floor? Am I missing something?<br /><br />2) I plan to cut out the foam and build my pedestal seats off the plywood that the foam was attached to. The problem is that I can't get underneath the floor to attach nuts to the bolts that would go through the bottom holes of the pedestal base. I can feel through the bilge that there is room between the floor and hull but I can't reach the area to spin the nuts on. Any ideas on how to anchor the base to the floor?

 

[Wimperdink]

Re: Pulled up carpet, All fiberglas underneath

Personally if it was me.. (I am no pro.. Just a figure it out kinda guy) I would build the floor up with another piece of thick marine grade plywood and coat it with epoxy, glass it in place .. cover in carpet, predrill and fill the holes with 5200 and lag bolt the pedestal through everything. Once again I'm not a pro, its just what I would do unless of course someone else shared a better idea.

 

[AMD Rules]

Re: Pulled up carpet, All fiberglas underneath

They make toggle bolts specifically for that purpose. You can drill from the top. Just make sure they are very well sealed to avoid trapping moisture beneath your floor.<br /><br />Garelick Toggle Bolt Anchors<br /><br />Another method is similar to Wimperdink's idea, and was used by Realgun, to avoid possible water entrapment issues... check out his project log here: Pedistal seating<br /><br />I'm sure there is 101 other ways to accomplish it as well.

 

[dakk1]

Re: Pulled up carpet, All fiberglas underneath

The seat pedestals on my Stratos were screwed into the floor and fiberglassed over. When I replaced the floor I put it back that way. No problems.<br /><br />Dave..

 

[harrisg]

Re: Pulled up carpet, All fiberglas underneath

Thanks for the info on installing my seats. I sure would appreciate a reply to the fiberglas floor question also. Are fiberglas floors usually laid down over wood floors or are they made like the hull? Are there possible problems with a fiberglass floor ie. dryrot underneath?

 

[swimmin' for shore]

Re: Pulled up carpet, All fiberglas underneath

Wood is pre-treated with thin resin. It's called penetrating resin. Boatbuilders use polyester resin. Epoxy resin is a better product, but far more expensive. <br />With either kind of resin, you pre-coat that plywood. Let it dry, and rough it up with sandpaper a bit. Then, roven woving or biaxial mat(the actual fiberglass part of the mixture) is laid down over the wood and coated with a laminating resin(just a little thicker than the penetrating resin). The bubbles are rolled out. When the mat or roving dries, it gives considerable strength to the floor, and the floor gives support to the remainder of the hull. The roving or mat can then be coated with another layer of mat or roving, or you can work down to a lighter cloth. This will give it a smoother appearance for a finished look. <br />Any hole in the fiberglass that has been taking on water for the last 10, 20, or 30 years(sometimes more) may appear dry on top, but will definitely be dryrotted underneath. Furthermore, if your floor has foam under it(flotation foam), that will be wet as well and can become heavy. <br />You'll have to decide how much money you want to put into your floor, but if you want to know if it's dryrotted, drill some small holes in a couple of places. Back corners should be checked particularly well. Anywhere you see that a screw has been drilled through is another. Check these, see if it's wet in there, and then make a decision to spend the money or not. If you don't want to rebuild the floor, fill those holes with a little bit of putty...this is resin with fiberglass mixed in, or microballoons. You can buy a small amount at a local marina. Fill those holes back in.<br />If you want to replace the floor, use the red search button on top. A lot of floors have been done, and you can see what others have gone through. Also, you can get a much longer and better dissertation on the different resins, cloths, methods, and so forth. Good luck.