advice—floor soft/gives in state room

R

Roch Speiser

Active Member
Sep 9, 2019
196
Tuckerton NJ
Boat Info
1995 SeaRay 370 Sundancer
Engines
2
3D778115-9B8D-40E5-9331-5BDBE8DF06BD.jpeg
need some advice—-I have a 1995 370 Sundancer and I am removing carpet, starting in the forward state room. The small area of flooring near the foot of the bed and the return for the AC is soft and gives. it is the only part of the boat flooring that does it. The wood does not appear to be cracked. my question is what is underneath that flooring and do you think I would need to rip it up to replace? My assumption is it is from the condensate from the AC unit or God forbid a leak in the fresh water tank that I am not aware of. the wood is dry and the bilges are water free.

thanks!
 
Do the core samples. Drill some 1/4" holes in various places, starting at about the center and work your way out. I'm not sure if that's 1/2" or 3/4" plywood under there - just don't go deeper. Look at, feel and smell the shavings - they'll tell you what's going on. IF there is core damage - just know that the affected area will likely be 3 times as big as you think it is. Once you know what's going on, a proper fix can be talked about... which could range from nothing, other than filling the holes back in... to just adding a layer of 1708 glass... to cutting out the affected area and replacing... etc.

FYI, if that "toe kick" carpeted area at the 12:00 and 9:00 of your picture is like all of the other ones I've seen... there's just a few screws hidden in the carpet (buried) that you can feel for and remove to get it out of your way - and possible see more of what's going on or give a way to get your snake in there.
 
wouldn’t I be right in assuming that there is some type of void under that plywood with 2x ‘s under the plywood supporting it?
 
also...that is the only area in the boat with the “soft or give” area. that stupid small area...lol...
 
Sound it with a hammer and/or get a moisture meter on it. You could just be fat, like me. :)
 
moisture meter...have one didn’t think of that slim...lol..good idea. weird the wood seems just fine on the top side. loving all this input tho. keep it coming. thank you
 
Roch Speiser said:
wouldn’t I be right in assuming that there is some type of void under that plywood with 2x ‘s under the plywood supporting it?
Click to expand...
Correct - there will be a ladderwork system of stringers and bulkheads under the floor.
 
Last edited:
My 310 had the same bounce right in front of the forward V birth right where you would come down off the bed with your foot. Like you I found it when I was pulling up the carpet. The floor support are roughly 20" apart in this area. I poked around with a ice pick and the condition of the floor showed no signs of delamination . As far as I know the original owner could have be short and hefty and jumping down had stressed the floor over time. With the carpet removed in bare feet walking around the cabin you could tell when you were near the floor supports by how the floor felt under foot. We took care of this problem by complete surface gluing of in a 1/2" sub floor. We went this direction because we went back in with a sheet vinyl product from Plasteak so a flat surface was required and it was quicker to use a sub floor. Carpet hides a ton of sins.
 
dvx216 said:
My 310 had the same bounce right in front of the forward V birth right where you would come down off the bed with your foot. Like you I found it when I was pulling up the carpet. The floor support are roughly 20" apart in this area. I poked around with a ice pick and the condition of the floor showed no signs of delamination . As far as I know the original owner could have be short and hefty and jumping down had stressed the floor over time. With the carpet removed in bare feet walking around the cabin you could tell when you were near the floor supports by how the floor felt under foot. We took care of this problem by complete surface gluing of in a 1/2" sub floor. We went this direction because we went back in with a sheet vinyl product from Plasteak so a flat surface was required and it was quicker to use a sub floor. Carpet hides a ton of sins.
Click to expand...
so....no rot under existing flooring just de-lamination or shift off of floor joist most likely? thats my guess as well so far until i camera it...also you laid a subfloor on existing to “finish” floor for new materials? basically starting with clean slate..
good to know that it may be a some-what common problem with some of these older boats.

thanks for chiming in it was good to hear of somebody else having same exact issue.
 
So here are a few pictures from under the soft area...opinions? I believe part of the stringer is gone in this area. Almost seems also that this void should have foam insulation? I don't know anything about this so...

upload_2020-3-8_20-55-57.jpeg
upload_2020-3-8_20-56-27.jpeg
upload_2020-3-8_20-57-33.jpeg

upload_2020-3-8_20-59-6.jpeg
 
dvx216 said:
My 310 had the same bounce right in front of the forward V birth right where you would come down off the bed with your foot. Like you I found it when I was pulling up the carpet. The floor support are roughly 20" apart in this area. I poked around with a ice pick and the condition of the floor showed no signs of delamination . As far as I know the original owner could have be short and hefty and jumping down had stressed the floor over time. With the carpet removed in bare feet walking around the cabin you could tell when you were near the floor supports by how the floor felt under foot. We took care of this problem by complete surface gluing of in a 1/2" sub floor. We went this direction because we went back in with a sheet vinyl product from Plasteak so a flat surface was required and it was quicker to use a sub floor. Carpet hides a ton of sins.
Click to expand...
Quick question did you not worry about the soft area and just sub floored over it? I found some smaller areas after removing carpet in salon. Nothing bad.
 
Please refer to what I mentioned above for a more accurate assessment. I can't tell squat from those pics :) Also, a stringer doesn't just "disappear".
 
Roch Speiser said:
Quick question did you not worry about the soft area and just sub floored over it? I found some smaller areas after removing carpet in salon. Nothing bad.
Click to expand...
Poked around a little bit with any ice pick nothing soft. I had the boat for 2 yrs. no water problem to be concern about rot. 3/8" floor over time just got weak in my case. Did roughed up the floor where the weak spot was made sure there was plenty of glue and put down the subfloor.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
113,118
Messages
1,426,467
Members
61,034
Latest member
Lukerney
Back
Top