Question about core replacement

Justin Larsen

Justin Larsen

Member
Oct 9, 2019
50
Canada
Boat Info
220 Overnighter SS 1994
Engines
5.7 w/alpha
I have some significant rot in the deck of my 220 OV. There is also wet foam which I plan to dig out and replace through access holes. What I am wondering is if I can maintain the integrity of the glass on the bottom of the deck can I just remove the rotted core, then replace it and glass over the top again? I'm sure there is a reason not to do this I am not thinking of right now.

Also, I am planning to check the stringers and may rethink my entire approach if they are soft. I believe the floor was compromised by holes from old battery tie downs and I am hoping that because the stringers are glassed independently from the deck that they may be okay. (Emphatic finger crossing) I just bought this thing and it passed all checks with flying colours and I didn't pay project price. Not fun so far

Thanks
 
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I assume you are referring to the deck (what you walk on) when you say the “floor”, correct?

How far reaching is the deck rot? Or do you not know this yet? It seems how much of an area needing replacement would be important to know in whether you would need to remove both skins of the deck and install a new one.

Your boat is likely designed with an upper deck, foam and stringer/subframe all tabbed to the hull, like mine. Your upper deck will be part of the rigid ness of the whole structure.

Have you started cutting and stripping out the rot?
 
DWABoat said:
I assume you are referring to the deck (what you walk on) when you say the “floor”, correct?

How far reaching is the deck rot? Or do you not know this yet? It seems how much of an area needing replacement would be important to know in whether you would need to remove both skins of the deck and install a new one.

Your boat is likely designed with an upper deck, foam and stringer/subframe all tabbed to the hull, like mine. Your upper deck will be part of the rigid ness of the whole structure.

Have you started cutting and stripping out the rot?
Click to expand...
Yes the deck sorry. I have started to peel back the top layer of glass and gel coat and the rotten/soaked wood underneath approximately 2 sq ft so far. Is it possible to bond the new marine ply to the existing glass to rebuild that structural integrity? Would a coat of resin before the wood went down achieve that?
 
Captn TJ said:
pictures would be helpful.
Click to expand...
I. Don't have much yet, only had a hour to poke around yesterday. Hoping to get back the the warehouse for a few hours later to get more stripped and cleaned up. I will post more then. Here is this for now but it's not a great pic. It blows my mind the the floor was solid as a rock in that area. Thick glass doing it's job but also covering up giant red flags during purchase.

IMG_20191109_144729.jpg
IMG_20191109_150223.jpg
 
Search you tube for Frisco boater. He did the same project. Be forewarned, it kept expanding as he found more and more rot. Good luck.
 
Golfman25 said:
Search you tube for Frisco boater. He did the same project. Be forewarned, it kept expanding as he found more and more rot. Good luck.
Click to expand...
Seen friscos. If this goes to the stringers then I am either floating it over Niagara falls or sending it to someone. That said the other sample holes you see in the picture have shown some solid wood so I am hoping it's contained and was truly caused by someone not dealing the screw holes from the old battery trays
 
Justin Larsen said:
Seen friscos. If this goes to the stringers then I am either floating it over Niagara falls or sending it to someone. That said the other sample holes you see in the picture have shown some solid wood so I am hoping it's contained and was truly caused by someone not dealing the screw holes from the old battery trays
Click to expand...
In order for it to leak through the screws holes you had to have a wet bilge. Correct?
 
Captn TJ said:
In order for it to leak through the screws holes you had to have a wet bilge. Correct?
Click to expand...
Correct. Current theory is leaky mooring and Bimini covers lead to water coming In the engine compartment on the starboard side as evidenced by water in the cavities on the top of the battery as well as the battery trays. I just bought the boat in September and none of this was evident during the purchase. The tip off was the discovery of a starboard list after we brought it home.

http://www.clubsearay.com/index.php?threads/i-may-have-screwed-up-listing-to-starboard.95427/page-2
 
Yes, you could leave the bottom layer of glass intact. It may be quite thin - I can't say for sure on your boat, but often that bottom layer is only one, thin layer of lightweight glass.

You need to know upfront that this project WILL end up being 3 times as big as you think it is. That's the just the way it goes with this kind of stuff. Don't bother removing little pieces like you are. Take a full section off. Get the trim pump out of the way and cut enitre sections. Go close to, but not all the to, the starboard edge of the floor. Leave the "corner" intact. It's just as easy to epoxy large pieces of removed floor/fiberglass as it is big pieces.

Here are some pictures from a Grady that I rebuilt to wet your appetite. The initial "soft spot" was about 1 or 2 square feet. I removed sections about 2' square at a time, then epoxied them back down afterwards. I also ended up redesigning the floor layout different from the factory, but that was a personal preference as this boat was also converted from a stern drive to an outboard.



















 
Yeah when I get a chance I am going to head back and remove the trim pump and the wall between there and the engine to get the rest up. The glass on the bottom is surprisingly thick, maybe 5mil.
 
Lazy Daze said:
That's good - it'll make your job easier as you don't have to worry about punching through the bottom layer.
Click to expand...
I do have some wet foam to remove in the outter compartment so I was figuring a couple access holes to do that and then glass them closed before the ply
 
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