Re: What did my wife get me into?
hello....
i was asked to jump in here.....i actually thoght i had allready replyed to this one.
ok,,,,(edit...sorry for the bad spelling but im at work waiting for glass to cure at -8 degrees)
1.
take all the wood out till its dry.
even if this is a full section of the deck under both seats...the wood is wet...it will rot.
grind, cut,...just remove it. get rid of it. (i dont care if its plywood or not...its still a fibeglassed reinforced product)
2.
dont know what the metal is.....but i would just think it is a cheap back up for the pedistals. dont worry about it.
3. after the wood is out....you will have a niced hole in your deck. take core samples of the foam in the hull. if wet....(at the bottomclose to the hull) read bob vt's comments).
4. i am guessing the foam is not wet and you just need to replace the deck due to bad care of the boat.
around the entire perimeter of the cut out area....place fiberglassed gellcoat reinforced flanges. (the flange is a "lip" to place the new deck on).
just screw them in from the top side. this will give you a 2 inch lip to place your new deck on.
5. make a new deck.
fiberglass both sides......now....here is the trick.....the area under the pedistal seats must be re inforced with either thick ply under the deck surface...or any other stiff material you can put under there. i like the diamond plate idea, but im also guessing this is what the metal you have found was supposed to be for.
the area to be reinforced must go at least one foot forward and aft of the seat base.
if the area is directly over the stringers...post here again and we will guide you from there. i would forget the plastic stuff.....go cheap...tryed and true....no need to get crazy and epoxy the entire hull, poly will be fine. use unwaxed resin for the surface or surfaces that will contact another fiberglass/gellcoat surface....but add wax to any underside surfaces.
place the new re inforced fiberglassed plywood in the hole and let it rest on the flanges you have allready glassed into place. and screw the deck on to the flanges.
make a peanut butter mixture.....(just search peanut butter or use the index on my thread for the directions to making this stuff) and smear it into the crack around your newly installed deck. let cure
grind the deck so its flat at the joints/edges.
using 2 layers of 1.5 oz csm amd a 6 oz finishing veil, glass in the new deck so that the new fiberglass over laps the old deck.
(you will need to grind off the gelcoat off the old deck edges about 4 ins around the perimeter, and grind the old plywood deck down 2 layers to accomidate the thickness of the new glass.)
after the glass is cured.....sand/fair the edges till smooth and any high points of resin in the new deck.
i am also guessing that the deck was gellcoated.
no big deal.....just re gellcoat the area with a paint brush....gellcoat is not a paint, but a pigmented fiberglass resin with wax ...so you must add an activator @ 2% just as you did the poly resin on your fiberglassed in deck.
you also might want to add sand to the gellcoat to give it a non slip surface but a fuzzy roller will give you a really good non slip surface. just goop the stuff on and roll it smooth.
wait till cure.
sand fair the high spots. so its comfy on bare feet but not so much that it removes the non slip finish.
ok....now your deck in installed and gellcoated......but you still need to add the seats and carpet.....
so.......for each hole you drill for the seat base....fill each hole with 3m 4200 then screw the base down....to be short......each hole MUST be filled with 4200....then add the screw.
as far as your carpet......i would use snap in. you can get stainless screw snap bottoms....but again.....each screw you put in the new deck MUST be filled with 4200 before you place the screw.
if you are wondering how to place the bottom snaps in the correct location....i have used chalkline chalk with great sucess....
another way is throw the rug on the deck where you want it....place weights on the corners and use a felt pen on the gellcoat to mark your spots.
there ya go bud...
cheers
oops
