Stringer replacement....materials needed?

[water_rat03]

OK, in my other post I got some very valuable information, and discovered I have major problems. I have been trying to post some pictures of the project, but my camera batteries are dead and I won't be to town to buy more until the weekend.
Here is the situation. I looked down the ski storage hole in the deck and found 1 stringer bad. The fiberglass appears broken, and the wood inside is rotten. This is up toward the bow. The stringer I can reach on the other side looks good, and probing with a drill came out good dry wood.
Reaching back as far as I can the stringer looks good, probing looks dry. The bulkhead in front of the storage hole also appears broken. Probing with a drill bit brought out brown mush.
So, next step is to take up the deck and get a better look at everything.
My question is, when I go to replace the stringer what will I need for materials?
Marine grade or outdoor plywood of course but for fiberglass what do I need?
What do I use to glass or attach the stringers to the hull? Can I find this at Menards? What do I use to coat or laminate the deck? Can this be found at Menards? Or maybe Home Depot?
How do I apply any of it? The fiberglassing I have done so far, the stuff dries so fast I don't know how I could do a long run like a stringer.
I have been searching and found some good videos on youtube on boat restoration, but most of them are pushing products or show different stages of the property. I have not found anything showing the work as it is being done.
I am a long ways from attaching stringers, still have to remove the seats and carpet, remove the floor, remove the stringers and grind everything down but I want to have all my materials on hand while I work. It is too far to travel to get anything.
Thanks for any information, it has all been helpful so far.

 

[westexasrepublic]

Re: Stringer replacement....materials needed?

dont over think it. you need exterior plywood, roven fiberglass, and resin, also filler to make peanut butter

 

[water_rat03]

Re: Stringer replacement....materials needed?

Filler to make peanur butter?

 

[JAFO1]

Re: Stringer replacement....materials needed?

Filler to make peanur butter?

Peanut Butter is a filler made from resin, cabosil/aerosil, milled fibers, and glass bubbles. I couldn't get the glass bubbles, so I left them out. Cabosil or aerosil is a thickening agent for the resin. It is very light. A 10# bag is larger than a 40# sack of feed. I've seen many different thickening agents used. Everything from talc to wood flour. I even tried drier lint. It worked, but I decided to go with proven stuff.

For your stringer you can use exterior grade plywood. A/C grade exterior is a good choice. I wish I had used dimensional lumber for the stringers. It is better to screw to than screwing into the end grain of plywood. If you use dim. lumber, make sure it is kiln dried.

I think the general purpose resin sold at home stores has wax in it. Try to find a fiberglass supplier and get un-waxed resin.

 

[westexasrepublic]

Re: Stringer replacement....materials needed?

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=414590

 

[water_rat03]

Re: Stringer replacement....materials needed?

Thanks for the information. I started pulling things apart this afternoon. So far all I am finding is a spot on the floor, about 3 foot square where the wood is busted. It looks solid, not rotted, but broken. The stringer on one side is rotted for a distance of about 2 feet, right under the broken floor board. The bulkhead is gone, nothing but wet mush. Not sure what it will look like under the open bow, is there stringers or bulkheads up there? I am certain any wood under the front will be rotten as well.
I also found what looks like a hole, the size of my pinky in the hull. It looks like someone filled it with weather seal spray foam and gelcoated over it on the outside.
I am pretty sure when I get the floor pulled up I will find some rot where it is broken, but what I can feel reaching under the storage it is solid. Probing as far as I can reach with a screwdriver and/or a drill but it looks good. BUT like I said, on the other side of the stringer I am sure I will find some wet rotten wood.
I have some treated dried lumber that I might use for stringers. It is 16 foot long a little thicker than a 1x6, used for the surface of my deck at the house. I am planning on using that to build the stringers out of. I am hoping it will be strudier to mount to than plywood, and will hold the screws better.
I will try to get pics loaded when I can.
Thanks again, any other advice would be great!

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Stringer replacement....materials needed?

Welcome to iBoats!
A lot of us hve been in your shoes. Take about an hour and read thru this guys thread. You will SEE everything you need to know about what you are doing. He did a GREAT job on his boat and had to do everything you are talking about.

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=355668

WWW.USComposites.com is a GREAT place to get ALL of your glassing supplies. HarborFreight is a great place for tools. You will need a 4 1/2 in grinder, some 40 or 60 Grit Sanding Flap pads, Nitrile Gloves, Goggles, Respirator, Tyvek suit, and of course BEER!!!!

Make sure and check your transom too! It is probably bad and needs to be replaced as well. With that hole in the hull your entire superstructure has been compromised and needs to be inspected and most likely replaced.

Good Luck

I'm just sayin...

 

[water_rat03]

Re: Stringer replacement....materials needed?

Thanks for the site, I will definately check it out.
I am planning on pulling the entire floor up and checking everything, especialy the transom. I did install a fish finder on the boat last Sunday, before I found all the problems. In drilling through the transom doing that I found good wood, but that was 4 inches to the side of the drain plug hole. I will be checking the wood all the way across especialy around the drain hole.
The large soft spot I found under the seat near the windshield turned out not to be as bad as I thought. It is where the front deck wood and rear deck wood seams meet. The stringer under it is bad, allowing the seam to sag and break loose. Expoloritory drilling, the decking appears to be decent. Still will be replaced though, right at the seam it is delaminating and rotting for about a half inch. I believe when I get it pulled and flipped over it will tell a different story though.
Hopefuly I will be able to get some pics soon to show the progress!
Again, thanks. It looks like it will be a fairly easy, but time consuming project once I learn all the details and how to work with the different materials.

 

[westexasrepublic]

Re: Stringer replacement....materials needed?

go ahead and start a restoration thread....

just so you know, this "soft spot" just needed a little "TLC" according to the previous owner, that is what started my restoration...

 

[water_rat03]

Re: Stringer replacement....materials needed?

The links posted above have been great for info. I have been pouring over them for the past 4 hours!
I am still curious about the peanut butter.
It is used to spread or seal around the deck, between the deck and the hull on the edges? Is it used to bed the new stringers into? What is the proper way to mix it? I found some links in the links posted above telling what goes into it, but what parts of each (just an example). I assume that mixing measurements would depend on a lot of things.
All the reading is realy making me think of doing a complete restoration, but I know I can't afford that and not too sure the old girl is worth the money. The gelcoat on the hull has a lot of dings and digs where it has hit docks and other things over the years. It looks like it will take a lot of time and money.

Looking forward to pulling the old deck up tomorrow to see what I am in for!

 

[JAFO1]

Re: Stringer replacement....materials needed?

The links posted above have been great for info. I have been pouring over them for the past 4 hours!
I am still curious about the peanut butter.
It is used to spread or seal around the deck, between the deck and the hull on the edges? Is it used to bed the new stringers into? What is the proper way to mix it? I found some links in the links posted above telling what goes into it, but what parts of each (just an example). I assume that mixing measurements would depend on a lot of things.
All the reading is realy making me think of doing a complete restoration, but I know I can't afford that and not too sure the old girl is worth the money. The gelcoat on the hull has a lot of dings and digs where it has hit docks and other things over the years. It looks like it will take a lot of time and money.

Looking forward to pulling the old deck up tomorrow to see what I am in for!

For the filler, I think it is pretty close to a 1:1:1 equal parts ratio. 1 part resin, 1 part Aerosil and one part fiber. Since I didn't use the glass bubbles, I don't know about them. You're looking for a certain consistency, so you may need to adjust your ratios (Aerosil and fiber). I suggest pouring your resin first so you know how much catalyst to use, then mix in the Aerosil and then the milled fibers, or what ever filler you choose, and then mix the cat in last and then mixed VERY well. oops! used a beater on a drill for mixing putty.

I think you can use putty in just about all the places you asked about.

Like WestTexas said, if you have a 'soft spot' you probably have more, hidden issues.

While a complete resto is not cheap, it less expensive than a new boat. And, you can work it as time and money allow. As far as worth, that's up to you. I wouldn't trade this first boat redo for anything.

 

[water_rat03]

Re: Stringer replacement....materials needed?

Got some pics taken, going to start a thread on my progress soon.
Thanks again for all the help.