Swim Platform

J

joegag

New Member
Mar 2, 2009
65
Yorktown, VA
on my boat by the ladder is "spongy" when I step on it. It looks like the ladder has made a small indentation in the top of it, causing water to leak in and evidently rot the "balsa wood" inside. Anyway, that's what the fiberglass repair guy told me it would cost me for repairs to the tune of $1k (out of water)...he also mentioned this is not unusual for Sea Ray's like mine...anyone have any words of wisdome for me...or do I bite the bullet and spend the $$ for repairs? Appreciate your help!
 
My swim platform has a small crack the ladder has made in it (from maybe having too much weight on it?) I have not had a problem with the platform structure as of yet, but greatly appreciate you posting this. I will be sealing the crack when I get home before it becomes a problem. I know this does not help your situation, but thanks again for the tip, you've saved me from going through it.
 
I had a similar problem on mine - slightly spongy when stepped on. What I think happened is the swim ladder was moved for some reason and the screws were not sealed when put in so water was allowed to seep in. I drilled a couple of holes and found water in the top layer of the plywood used to strengthen the platform. I cut out the top of the swim platform to preserve the actual top and then removed the first layer of wood - not that hard since it was soaked. I used a scraper and removed all of the rotted wood and then let dry for a few days with a fan blowing on it. It helps that it was in the 80's last September when I was doing the project and had no rain and low humidity. The bottom layer of plywood was solid and did not flex when stepped on so I used that as my base - your situation may be different.

Instead of putting more wood in, I used fiberglass to build up the layers. I used chopped strand mat and fiberglass cloth in alternating layers to build up the area I needed. I then mixed another batch of epoxy and glued the original top layer back on. The gaps left from where I had to cut the top were filled in and I then sanded the whole platform down. I used a non-skid paint and a roller to refinish the platform and it looks good except for one spot where a bit of the paint appears to not have cured correctly and someone stepped on it and must have turned and it lifted and wrinkled the paint slightly. I plan to refinish it this spring - but otherwise you cannot tell something happened. The ladder is back in the original location and very solid.

If you have the ability I would try it yourself - I spent about $120 in materials - just the paint was $40 for a quart from WM and took about 4 hours of actual working time over a period of about 5 days - giving epoxy and paint, etc time to dry.
 
That's a real big help...appreciate it! At least I know it's happened before, and the guy at the yard wasn't shooting me a line....I guess I'll watch the "big" people on that side, and then work on it toward the end of the year...hopefully, no one will fall thru it!!
 
the shop doing the work is going to repair similiar to how tdapplman described, but for the money you are paying they will then glass the seam back where they cut it, do the bodywork, match the color exactly, mask and spray the non-skid on so that the boat looks as good or better then it did before the work was started.

Yes it can be done by yourself obivously for less money, but a shop doing the work is going to take longer then 4 hours to make the boat look like no one repaired it.

Your problem is super common on any part of any boat that has any core in it, water enters through loose hardware and then its only a matter of time before the damage is done.
 
RobF300 said:
the shop doing the work is going to repair similiar to how tdapplman described, but for the money you are paying they will then glass the seam back where they cut it, do the bodywork, match the color exactly, mask and spray the non-skid on so that the boat looks as good or better then it did before the work was started.

Yes it can be done by yourself obivously for less money, but a shop doing the work is going to take longer then 4 hours to make the boat look like no one repaired it.

Your problem is super common on any part of any boat that has any core in it, water enters through loose hardware and then its only a matter of time before the damage is done.
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As a guy with a repair shop I thank you for the above statment. Mike http://farmersfiberglass.com/
 
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