water under fiberglass on floor?

[specialk342]

I recently purchased an 89 sea ray 200 bow rider and upon further inspection noticed the floor was in great shape (no rot or soft spots) but it there seemed to be water trapped between a layer of fiberglass and the wood. I looked closer and noticed that the fiberglass layed over the floor had stress cracks in between each wood plank. I am a boat newbie so please pardon the dumb questions. What should i do now? Pull up the fiberglass and reglass the floor or pull up the fiberglass and leave the treated wood? I attached some pictures and one is me pulling up the fiberglass where its cracked.

 

[tobnpr]

Planks?
That's not the original floor, which is understandable given it's an '89.

But that's a lousy replacement job for two reasons (at least)...

First, the planks are spanning long distances between the stringers and are going to flex-individually as they're walked on. This in contrast to a solid sheet of plywood...All that movement of the boards is eventually going to break any bond between the wood and fiberglass.

Second- you can't use pressure treated lumber in this application and fiberglass it- resin won't bond well to it.

The whole repair was the perfect recipe for a "do over"...

Unfortunately, I can't see any fix other than to pull it up and start over. Re-glassing won't hold up, and if you strip the fiberglass off, water will seep through all the seams between the planks and cause a disaster in the bilge.

You could go with pressure-treated 3/4" plywood- and just stick carpet over it for a quick, cheap, and easy fix. If you're going to carpet the deck, that's the way I'd go.

If you want a non-carpeted deck with paint/gelcoat and non-skid, you'll need to go with fir plywood and glass it top and bottom. Hopefully when you pull up the old floor the stringers will be in decent shape...

Good luck.

 

[Redhook98]

Planks?
That's not the original floor, which is understandable given it's an '89.

But that's a lousy replacement job for two reasons (at least)...

First, the planks are spanning long distances between the stringers and are going to flex-individually as they're walked on. This in contrast to a solid sheet of plywood...All that movement of the boards is eventually going to break any bond between the wood and fiberglass.

Second- you can't use pressure treated lumber in this application and fiberglass it- resin won't bond well to it.

The whole repair was the perfect recipe for a "do over"...

Unfortunately, I can't see any fix other than to pull it up and start over. Re-glassing won't hold up, and if you strip the fiberglass off, water will seep through all the seams between the planks and cause a disaster in the bilge.

You could go with pressure-treated 3/4" plywood- and just stick carpet over it for a quick, cheap, and easy fix. If you're going to carpet the deck, that's the way I'd go.

If you want a non-carpeted deck with paint/gelcoat and non-skid, you'll need to go with fir plywood and glass it top and bottom. Hopefully when you pull up the old floor the stringers will be in decent shape...

Good luck.

Dead on! :thumbsup:

 

[specialk342]

WOW!! thanks for the quick replys but this seems a little out of my league to be pulling up a the floor and replacing it. I understand what your saying completely but i dont see myself keeping the boat for long and this seems a little overboard (forgive the pun). What about layning a peice of plywood over the existing planks? Thanks for the help.

 

[tobnpr]

Well, sure... if you're planning to put the boat in a chipper a few years down the road that'll work. You could just screw down the plywood (stick with 3/4" pressure treated, and use stainless steel deck screws)- just keep in mind all this stuff is heavy- you're going to be adding a lot of unnecessary wieght to the boat. If you're sure the underlying planks are sound I'd overlay with 1/2" pt ply to keep the weight down. Then glue carpet over.

 

[DougLas]

If that boat is filled with foam under the flooring that could be another problem showing up. The problem would be the water soaked foam releasing the water that is in it into the wood floor where the repair work was done. If this is the case then the floor would need to be fully removed along with all of the foam that is wet and then the hull dried out. Check for any bad stringers, repair work done that is needed then the foam reapplied before replacing the floor

 

[specialk342]

Thanks for all the input. I purchased this boat for $650 and was told it needed the interior reupholstered. I figured it would make a fun and easy project for me and my father :smt009. Im going to weigh out my options and cost, then go from there. I'll keep you guys updated. Thanks again.

 

[specialk342]

Update

I pulled the fiberglass layer up and found out there is one solid piece of pressure treated wood. Where should I go from here? I cant seem to find any seams where water could have gone below deck..... Thanks for any help!

PS. Im really tired of watching the other boats cruise up and down the New River as I sit on the dock :smt089