Searched but didn't find anything to here goes.
The time has come for me to have to replace my wooden carpeted floor on my 21-footer. Before I go down the usual route of using plywood, I was just wondering if anyone had tried an alternative. Fiberglass is the first thing that comes to mind. After all, a lot of new deck boats use fiberglass floors. Anyone got any ideas, suggestions, pictures?
Thanks in advance.
Even to do a fiberglass floor, you will need something to form to. Obviously, you cannot make a mold of the floor, and make it out of the boat very easily, so you would probably still have to use some sort of wood, and the glass over it, I would imagine.
Don't bother. The plywood in your Sleek probably wasn't resin coated on the bottom and then it was covered in 'glass on top. Excellent recipe for rot. When you make your new floor, use QUALITY Plywood (the stuff that's plugged and sanded on both sides, no knots 7 or 9 ply 3/4") and before you install it, resin it on the bottom several times and use surfacing agent in the final coat (it's repels water) then when you install it, just tab it in with 8-12" wide strips of mat and 1708 woven composite. Then sand off the burrs and repeat the flow coat process. What you will end up with is plywood encapsulated in resin with a wax barrier. It will probably outlast your boat
Don't bother. The plywood in your Sleek probably wasn't resin coated on the bottom and then it was covered in 'glass on top. Excellent recipe for rot. When you make your new floor, use QUALITY Plywood (the stuff that's plugged and sanded on both sides, no knots 7 or 9 ply 3/4") and before you install it, resin it on the bottom several times and use surfacing agent in the final coat (it's repels water) then when you install it, just tab it in with 8-12" wide strips of mat and 1708 woven composite. Then sand off the burrs and repeat the flow coat process. What you will end up with is plywood encapsulated in resin with a wax barrier. It will probably outlast your boat
I agree with Ducky. Use plywood. 3/4 inch is not necessary, remember weight effects boat speed. The wood floor is part of the boats structure, but 5/8" plywood is plenty for your 21 footer, just coat both sides with 3 coats of resin. You don't need the best plywood, since your covering it in resin and carpet??? If your fuel tank is under the floor, it might be a good time to pull it out and clean it.
Good luck...about a 40 hour job.
Chance's are you interior is rotten. Be sure to match it up to the original interior for the classic look of a sleekcraft. I just went through the whole floor and interior replacement. The floor is the easy part of the job.
Nidacore-3/4 inch two layers of 1810 glass. very light and will never rot.
Coating a piece of plywood with resin will do nothing to prevent rot. Plywood will expand and shrink and resin alone will simply crack the same way that gel coat does. You can make fiberglass panels using a flat stock table. It's going to cost a lot more in materials and also more time. Also you will need to add a lot of mini bulkheads because the fiberglass will not span an area as big as a 5/8 piece of plywood will.
www.bowkersfiberglass.com
Coating a piece of plywood with resin will do nothing to prevent rot....
Are you nuts? Why don't you take two pieces of wood, seal one with resin/surfacing agent, and leave one bare. Throw them outside and say that again in about 6 mos.
Now then, I am not going to argue the point that there are not better materials out there if you are simply trying to prevent rot in a new boat, because there are. Your idea of making preformed panels is a reasonable one, as is "Slade"'s nidacore, but properly treated quality plywood is simply the best "bang for the buck" from a repair situation. This guys boat lasted over 20 years with a plywood floor that probably wasn't even sealed up worth a damn (knowing his vintage of SleekCraft pretty well). I don't mean to come off harsh here, because I am really a pretty agreeable guy, but incorrect statements like the quote above don't do any good for anyone.
Searched but didn't find anything to here goes.
The time has come for me to have to replace my wooden carpeted floor on my 21-footer. Before I go down the usual route of using plywood, I was just wondering if anyone had tried an alternative. Fiberglass is the first thing that comes to mind. After all, a lot of new deck boats use fiberglass floors. Anyone got any ideas, suggestions, pictures?
Thanks in advance.
If you were to cut through the fiberglass floor on many of the new deckboats you are referring to you will most likely find plywood under the glass and gelcoat, covered by more fiberglass on the back side, especially if it is one built here on the west coast. There are a few companies using the nidacore and similar materials, and if I were building new boats I probably would as well. The main problem with the honeycomb materials (for floors, stringers, or transoms) is trying to fasten anything to it. If you through bolt, you will crush it and you can't run screws into it as they will just pull out. There is a drag boat that I work on that has honeycomb aluminum stringers covered with carbon fiber. To mount the motor cage, they had to make interlocking aluminum bushings that go all the way through and have a .060" crush limit built in, so they could actually tighten the bolts without destoying the stringers.
Are you nuts? Why don't you take two pieces of wood, seal one with resin/surfacing agent, and leave one bare. Throw them outside and say that again in about 6 mos.
Now then, I am not going to argue the point that there are not better materials out there if you are simply trying to prevent rot in a new boat, because there are. Your idea of making preformed panels is a reasonable one, as is "Slade"'s nidacore, but properly treated quality plywood is simply the best "bang for the buck" from a repair situation. This guys boat lasted over 20 years with a plywood floor that probably wasn't even sealed up worth a damn (knowing his vintage of SleekCraft pretty well). I don't mean to come off harsh here, because I am really a pretty agreeable guy, but incorrect statements like the quote above don't do any good for anyone.
I guess being in the repair business since the late 80s and replacing transoms and stringers and floors on boats as new as only 5 years old makes me a little nuts. I see boats more than 40 years old with the original wood still intact and ya know why? Way back then they only tabbed wood into place. The wood is allowed to breath and water does not get trapped. Are you really trying to say that coating a piece of wood with resin makes it water proof? If it doesn't make it water proof then what does it do? Wood will draw moisture in if it is able and resin won't stop this from happening. What resin will do is stop the wood from being able to dry out. I've been doing it long enough to know what works and what doesn't. If you're going to put anything on the wood it better be able to completely seal it or it's going to cause it to rot.
www.bowkersfiberglass.com
I'm done here...
Although I do understand your train of thought, it just doesn't work in the real world, and arguing on the internet is like running in the special olympics....
Have a nice day!
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