Rotted deck repair>>>

[skizman]

Hello. The deck on my 16ft tri-hull was saturated with rain water between the fiberglass deck and hull. I cut out a few 1 ft squares of the deck to let it dry since the spring and it's finally dry now. The plywood covering the foam is soft like cardboard, and the whole deck is separated from the plywood. I do not plan to replace the whole deck....only the places that I cut out.
What should I use to fill in low spots in the foam?
Should I just pour epoxy in and then place the squares back in and then glass the seams?
What do you guys recommend?
Your info is appreciated!!

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Rotted deck repair>>>

I recommend you rip out and replace all of the decking, wet foam, stringers, and transom and make your boat safe and seaworthy... anything less is just a waste of time.

 

[Georgesalmon]

Re: Rotted deck repair>>>

you might want to at least core the foam all thy way down to the hull. I bet its not dry down there.

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: Rotted deck repair>>>

What do you guys recommend?
Your info is appreciated!!

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news: Removing & replacing the deck, no less.

If the deck is as bad as you describe, it's also likely to have other water damage you can't see w/out pulling the deck.

If the deck has become water logged, typically, the foam has too. If not at the top where you removed the squares of deck, but at the bottom where it's in contact w/ the hull.

Read thru some resto threads, the majority of 'I have a small soft spot on my deck/transom/ski locker area' involve much more work to be done then originally expected. And the majority of those turn into complete teardowns to a bare hull.

 

[metriccrescentwrench]

Re: Rotted deck repair>>>

I recommend you rip out and replace all of the decking, wet foam, stringers, and transom and make your boat safe and seaworthy... anything less is just a waste of time.

Exactly. I've been around the block enough times to recognize the description of a boat in need of a total rebuild when I hear it, and your boat sounds like a poster child for the boat rebuild club. Don't try to go cheap or cut corners, you'll just be throwing money away (and it won't be safe).

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Rotted deck repair>>>

Welcome to iBoats!

Sorry to hear about your troubles with your boat! It's a common problem with a lot of older boats. You don't mention how old she is, or what size she is or how she's powered. All these details would really help us to help you. Pics are always a big help too. They allow us to See what you see and help us to guide you to the best solution to your issues. As others have stated, what details you have given would lead us to believe that what you propose to do would not be the best solution at this time. There's probably a lot more going on than what you might suspect or be aware of an more inspection needs to be done to ensure the overall seaworthiness of the boat. We're here to help you do that. Try an post up some pics and give us more details about the boat and what your long term plans for her are and we'll give you all the help we can.

\

 

[skizman]

Re: Rotted deck repair>>>

I did mention the length of 16 ft...tri-hull. It's a 76 FishMaster with a 45 hp Chrysler. I fish on the lake about once a week.
The thickness of the deck is only 1 1/2 inches. It's not wet at the bottom of the foam. I've been watching it dry since last spring.
Thanks for your replies!

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: Rotted deck repair>>>

I did mention the length of 16 ft...tri-hull. It's a 76 FishMaster with a 45 hp Chrysler. I fish on the lake about once a week.
The thickness of the deck is only 1 1/2 inches. It's not wet at the bottom of the foam. I've been watching it dry since last spring.
Thanks for your replies!View attachment 217871

The plywood decking in that pix ^^ doesn't look like it's 1 1/2" thick... Or do you mean from the plywood topside down thru the foam to the hull is a 1 1/2" thick.

That's a pix from 6mo ago +/-?

It's wet in the pix...........

Not really enough info to support changing my previous advice.

Every inch of foam is dry? Top to bottom, stern to bow, port to starboard?

Maybe it is, but there's no way for you to know that w/ a few random holes cut in the deck. Unless you're in a very high heat, extremely low humidity environment for a very long time.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Rotted deck repair>>>

Are you Certain the Deck material is 1 1/2" thick. This is Highly unusual. Never seen any more than 3/4" thick. Foam will dry out on top but if it's saturated it will NEVER dry out completely and saturated foam can add hundreds of pound of weight to your boat. Up to 500 extra pounds. I'd highly recommend you core sample the foam to ensure that this is not the case. Have to investigated the condition of the stringers or the transom? Why are you not planning on replacing the entire deck? Do you realize it plays an integral part in the overall structural integrity of the boat? If it's not sound the safety of the boat is totally compromised.

 

[skizman]

Re: Rotted deck repair>>>

The thickness of the deck is between the deck fiberglass and down to the hull. Looks like quarter inch plywood and the rest is foam. But I'm wrong. I checked the last couple of feet of the aft deck and the foam is wet. Damn.
Well....sooner than later I will have to pull the deck out. I'll be reading posts on restoring a deck ect.
Thankyou very much!

 

[bajaunderground]

Re: Rotted deck repair>>>

...I'll be reading posts on restoring a deck ect.
Thankyou very much!

And stringers, bulkheads, transom...you've got the top guys ^ ^ ^ who can get you thru this!!


Good Luck...that boat will be far superior to original if done properly!!

~Brett