When do you know if you need new stringers

[Thuffjr]

Hello All
I'm new to boating, last year i traded my bike for a 16 ft 87 thunder-craft bow-rider. I need to replace the carpet and all seating, plus completely redo the engine doghouse and jump seats. My fist step this spring is to remove the carpet. I ran the boat a little, as is last summer and i didn't seem to find any "soft spots" in the floor. After reading some threads on restores it seem like everyone is replacing stringers. My question is if there is no noticeable damage to the deck should i just re-carpet or should i replace the deck just to be safe? At least then i will know the condition of the stringers.
Any input on the entire project is greatly welcomed
Thank You

 

[MTribe08]

Re: When do you know if you need new stringers

Hello All
I'm new to boating, last year i traded my bike for a 16 ft 87 thunder-craft bow-rider. I need to replace the carpet and all seating, plus completely redo the engine doghouse and jump seats. My fist step this spring is to remove the carpet. I ran the boat a little, as is last summer and i didn't seem to find any "soft spots" in the floor. After reading some threads on restores it seem like everyone is replacing stringers. My question is if there is no noticeable damage to the deck should i just re-carpet or should i replace the deck just to be safe? At least then i will know the condition of the stringers.
Any input on the entire project is greatly welcomed
Thank You

Thats a sorta "up to you" type of thing. Is it going to bug you? How long do you plan on keeping the boat? Ect ect.

Replacing the deck and stringers is a BIG project in most cases, and when done right will cost a good chunk of change. I suppose you could take some core samples of the deck in various areas and see what you find. If it were me and the boat wasn't worth that much or I wasn't going to keep it long, I'd fix up the interior, throw some carpet down and be done.

After you pull up the carpet and have a look at the condition of the deck, if all seems ok, you might consider cleaning up the surface really good (Sanding/Acetone) and laying in some fiberglass and Epoxy or Poly resin if you are going to re carpet the whole thing. The experts around here will tell you that Epoxy doesn't hold up to UV as well as Poly, buts its stronger. Or you could just role in a few layers of Epoxy to seal up the deck good. Another road, would be to put down a good Marine paint like Durabek.

Good luck, I'm sure you'll figure it out.

 

[Thuffjr]

Re: When do you know if you need new stringers

Thankx alot I was only going to keep the boat another season or two unless the funds for a new one come sooner.
Guess il know when the carpet comes up
Thank you

 

[made in china]

Re: When do you know if you need new stringers

I wouldn't do much to it. Many people will tolerate a certain amount of softness or rot. Only when it gets bad, or you want to keep the boat should you consider such work.
If the floor is solid as-is, just take care of the boat. New carpet will look nice. Don't go digging around looking for rot, you'll probably find it and it may bug you out.

My floor is partially rotted, and at least part of one stringer is a goner. I just replaced the rotted floor parts, braced up the stringer for now. At the end of this summer, my wife and I will decide if we get a different boat, run this one into davy jones locker or redo the wood. If we redo it, we'll do it right so it lasts at least 20 years.