To tear up the floor, or not to tear up the floor

[Thuffjr]

LOL that is my question
I have a 87 Thunder craft 16' bow rider
Hopefully it was worth the motorcycle trade
I ran it a little last summer everything ran fine, and I haven't noticed any soft spots in the floor. I need to redo the entire interior, so I am starting to strip seats and carpet. If i don't find any noticeable soft spots should I just re-carpet? The floor seems to be fiber-glassed quite well, and i didn't really want to drill holes into a perfectly good floor. Should i still drill test holes? It seems like everyone on here has boats around that age and all are replacing stringers and foam. Not sure if this is something i want to have to do this close to the season.

Could the stringers be bad and the deck not show rot?

 

[osborn159]

Re: To tear up the floor, or not to tear up the floor

yes below deck can be mulch and the floor ok, if you suspect this figure on a stringer and floor rehab possibly transom as well, if your in it that far and there is any ? about the transom do it then,if your not ready to do it use it till the floor gets soft, then get out the tools, hope for the best and plan for the worst. maybe a yr maybe more who knows.
id leave out the carpet, it just holds water and assists the decay, paint the floor w/ a non skid paint, i am anti carpet in boats, so im biased, get other points of view weigh it all out and do your thing, its your boat.
good luck, D

 

[TitanTea]

Re: To tear up the floor, or not to tear up the floor

i am about 3/4 the way through a complete rebuild/restoration of a 1986 Thundercraft tri-hull. The floor and stringers were in very poor shape. The main stringer felt solid but when I removed it is was water logged and rotted and weighed 25-30lbs. The floor foam was water logged as well. Do ya have any pics of your boat?

 

[Ironpig]

Re: To tear up the floor, or not to tear up the floor

Plan for the worst and hope for the best. Like it has been said, if the floor is soft, the rest is mush. On the plus side, I took out 600 lbs of water logged foam from my boat and it will ride a lot better now.

 

[pete44]

Re: To tear up the floor, or not to tear up the floor

If it is a bowrider like mine you can get a shop light and a mirror and go diving underneath the ski well and fuel tank mount (if it has a belly tank)..Mine has a hatch that can be screwed out to access fuel tank area. Good Luck!

Pete

 

[tmcalavy]

Re: To tear up the floor, or not to tear up the floor

Get a long drill bit and drill a few core sample holes here and there...if mush comes out, you've got water under the deck. If not, and the deck is solid proceed with your refit/reconditioning. Another way is to do some research, looking for the hull weight as listed by the manufacturer. Then estimate the weight of your trailer and motor, and pull that puppy across a public scale. Compare the weights...if it's way heavier than your estimate of hull/trailer/motor, you probably have water trapped under the deck. Good luck, trihulls rock.

 

[mytoyz]

Re: To tear up the floor, or not to tear up the floor

Is there any way to dry out wet foam short of removal?

Thanks for the scale idea, seems like a reasonable way to estimate if a boat is carrying a whole bunch of extra weight.

 

[Cadwelder]

Re: To tear up the floor, or not to tear up the floor

Is there any way to dry out wet foam short of removal?

Thanks for the scale idea, seems like a reasonable way to estimate if a boat is carrying a whole bunch of extra weight.

mytoyz....this thread is over a year old. You'd be better off to start a new thread with your questions.