24ft 1988 Lowe floor replacement

[Suzn]

Hi everyone! Happy to finally join this forum. I've read several very old threads when I was Googling how to replace a pontoon floor and figure out what to seal it with. My plan is to Glass it. I have experience with fiberglass repairs and I thought this would be a great way to seal it, it's been the majority opinion on the best route to take. I bought marine plywood so I'm good there. There was one thread that I read though where a guy said not to Glass it because water WILL eventually get in and it won't have any way to get out so it won't dry properly. This is been bugging me for a while because it kind of makes sense. I mean I'm to the point where I need to figure out which direction to go with it because I've taken the first 4x8 board off.
I have no intention of putting carpet back on it because I see the damage that it did to the floor that's there now. Lots of wet dirt under the remnants that were still there. The floor is in bad shape, most of the carpet is gone and the top layer of the wood had peeled back. This might have been the original floor. The reason I think that is because this boat has channels for those floorboards to slide in on and the very top skin was routered off where they slide in the channel so that it would easily slide in. Just a guess on that though. I'm having difficulty adding pictures. I've added pictures in other forums so i know how but it doesn't seem to be working here. :/

 

[snowseeker]

I always figured if I had to replace a deck I would use composite boards and leave the top bare like a deck on a house.

 

[Suzn]

Hi snowseeker, thanks for responding. I thought about using composite boards too but was told that they get super hot in the Sun. That it would be comparable to or possibly worse than painting the inside of your boat black.

I forgot to mention in my original post that I just bought this boat.

 

[ahicks]

Just finished our total re-deck w/vinyl floor covering. Early on, when still collecting my thoughts regarding the project, I considered the composite boards. I thought it was a pretty cool idea at first! Reasons I didn't go the that way -
Weight, that stuff is heavy.
Ability to seal against wave/splash action coming up between boards
and the biggest -
Structure. I was concerned over loosing the structural stiffness the plywood provides. With the boards, I think it a safe bet you'll need to add side to side stringers. That stuff is not designed to span 24" like most boats are set up.
and last -
As out boat is 24' with a deck length of about 23', we would have a seam, or seams, someplace as full length composite isn't available, not around here anyway. Any seams further compromise rigidity.

We ended up going the safe way, with the expensive plywood, as I was into it, and didn't want to have to do this job again any time soon. Now that it's behind me, I sleep better knowing there is no possible way I could have done it any better than I did.

 

[ezmobee]

I'd seal it with epoxy resin on just the tops and edges. I'd use marine vinyl as my flooring. I put that in my boat and love it. It's really tough stuff and provides a good bit of extra protection.

 

[Suzn]

Hello ahicks and ezmobee, thank you for your input. Much appreciated. I spoke with an Awlgrip distributor this afternoon and he told me that everyone that suggested glassing the floor was on the money. I'd love to do Marine vinyl but I don't know that I'll be able to afford it. The floor is only the beginning of this project. I think I'm going to Glass it all and then paint the top with Alwgrip paint. I ran across this cool additive that works well with their paint. It's called soft sand, have you heard of it? http://www.softsandrubber.com/

I like how the finished product looks and you can actually be very creative with this. It all depends on the total cost with the epoxy, paint and additive.

This distributor told me that when they put holes in marine board for bolts and nuts that they actually drill somewhat of a larger hole and fill it with epoxy and then pre drill a hole for the screw through the epoxy. I thought that was pretty interesting but I also wonder what happens if that epoxy in that hole breaks? I don't know, I'm starting to think that I'm overthinking this whole process maybe. I just don't want to have to do it again in 5 or 6 years. I don't think that will happen though because no matter what I choose to do, I plan to keep this boat covered and take care of it. There are so many options though it's almost overwhelming.

 

[ahicks]

The thought of having to do it all again way too soon is exactly the thought I used to justify the high dollar (90. per sheet) ply I used. Our carpet was terrible. When I peeled it off, the existing ply wasn't all that bad - but again, I didn't want to have to to do this again in a few years because I was trying to save a buck now. So I bit the bullet and sprung for new ply as well as floor covering.

 

[ezmobee]

I also don't know about the whole overdrill the holes and fill with epoxy thing. I'd just make sure I sealed all my screws with 5200 real well.

 

[bernptl49]

Just finished our total re-deck w/vinyl floor covering. Early on, when still collecting my thoughts regarding the project, I considered the composite boards. I thought it was a pretty cool idea at first! Reasons I didn't go the that way -
Weight, that stuff is heavy.
Ability to seal against wave/splash action coming up between boards
and the biggest -
Structure. I was concerned over loosing the structural stiffness the plywood provides. With the boards, I think it a safe bet you'll need to add side to side stringers. That stuff is not designed to span 24" like most boats are set up.
and last -
As out boat is 24' with a deck length of about 23', we would have a seam, or seams, someplace as full length composite isn't available, not around here anyway. Any seams further compromise rigidity.

We ended up going the safe way, with the expensive plywood, as I was into it, and didn't want to have to do this job again any time soon. Now that it's behind me, I sleep better knowing there is no possible way I could have done it any better than I did.

I agree! I did the same thing and there are no noticeable bumps or seams in the floor. Plus with the vinyl on top its easy to use some simple green and a mop to clean at the dock.

 

[Suzn]

I scrapped going with the Awlgrip distributor. He had the Awlgrip paint but his resin was simply polyester resin and I was lucky to find the one and only company in my city that sold the same stuff. That and the correct fiberglass mat. It's a company that actually specializes in aircraft builds.

The plan for this 4 day weekend was to get the floor panels glassed. I've been temporarily halted on that because of the weather. We've had Storms Come Through often enough where the ground is wet. I'm doing this outside on my patio, which is covered but that has no effect on the humidity level at the moment.

There are plenty of other tasks that need to be done as well. I'm polishing all the aluminum on the fencing and painting the existing fencing. I'm not going with anything special on the paint on that part because these fencing panels are seriously old and not in great shape anyway. I'm in the process now scrubbing them all down with bleach and soap after I polish the aluminum on each panel. I'm also still in the process of polishing up the toons. I've got a mirror finish on one of them so far.. it looks odd to me and after reading tons of threads on polishing the pontoons I see that lots of people opt for the dull finish. I would have been happy with that too but they were awful dirty. Oh well..it's a learning experience as I go. I'm going to rebuild the console, glass it and hand it to the motor repair guy to see if he will attach it for me because I'm not even going to attempt all those wires.

I did go with non-skid deck paint. It sits untouched at the moment.

Once the floor is done I'm going to take it to the boat mechanic and have him check the motor out and do any servicing that's necessary. He and I will probably become very good friends. Ha!

Once all that is done... I found a place to get aluminum poles very cheap and all the attachments that I'll need to build a cover on about half of the boat. I'll end up using a tarp for the cover to start with but will be creating my own hardtop by glassing maybe quarter inch thick wood or wood laminate because quarter inch might be too thick to bend. I can't find a hardtop for this pontoon anywhere so I'm going to have to make it myself. It will be easily removable for travel, everything will be threaded so i can just screw together once I get where I'm going. I want to be able to tent the sides of a hard top so I can put A.C. on board to sleep on the boat. I love night fishing.

I'll be going with box benches so I can stow stuff and have a place for people to sit while the boats in motion. There won't be but two or three because this is a fishing boat and I want plenty of room to walk around.

Anyway..that's where I'm at so far..

Cheers!

 

[clemsonfor]

Hi everyone! Happy to finally join this forum. I've read several very old threads when I was Googling how to replace a pontoon floor and figure out what to seal it with. My plan is to Glass it. I have experience with fiberglass repairs and I thought this would be a great way to seal it, it's been the majority opinion on the best route to take. I bought marine plywood so I'm good there. There was one thread that I read though where a guy said not to Glass it because water WILL eventually get in and it won't have any way to get out so it won't dry properly. This is been bugging me for a while because it kind of makes sense. I mean I'm to the point where I need to figure out which direction to go with it because I've taken the first 4x8 board off.
I have no intention of putting carpet back on it because I see the damage that it did to the floor that's there now. Lots of wet dirt under the remnants that were still there. The floor is in bad shape, most of the carpet is gone and the top layer of the wood had peeled back. This might have been the original floor. The reason I think that is because this boat has channels for those floorboards to slide in on and the very top skin was routered off where they slide in the channel so that it would easily slide in. Just a guess on that though. I'm having difficulty adding pictures. I've added pictures in other forums so i know how but it doesn't seem to be working here. :/

This forum likes small pics. I had the same problem a few months ago. I joined years ago but hadentry put pics up or they were small back then and had not been into boats in years ,but when I had an issue with this newer boat I couldn't get pics to load. You have to majorly reduce their size. I think k 5mp is the max?

 

[clemsonfor]

Wouldn't marine vinyl be similar to glass on all sides. But not as bad. Water cannot dry from the top like carpet as the vinyl holds the moisture that gets under the floor there forever. At least carpet breathes. Sure it's wet on the weekend I use it but it drys out and stays dry for days until next use as its in a shed

 

[Suzn]

Here's all the pics I have so far..

https://www.facebook.com/Pontoon-Rebuild-323899054729502/

 

[bigdee]

.
This might have been the original floor. :/

If the original lasted 29 years why re-invent the wheel and spend all that time and $$? Put down marine grade PW and be done with it. Mine is original too (27 years) but is getting soft in spots. IMO sealing is a mistake. Let it breathe and sunshine will dry it out. The underside of mine still looks new even with all the splash it gets. My carpet has been replaced twice but deck is original.

 

[Suzn]

If the original lasted 29 years why re-invent the wheel and spend all that time and $$? Put down marine grade PW and be done with it. Mine is original too (27 years) but is getting soft in spots. IMO sealing is a mistake. Let it breathe and sunshine will dry it out. The underside of mine still looks new even with all the splash it gets. My carpet has been replaced twice but deck is original.

You are probably right but like I said before it's just a guess that it was the original floor although I think it was. It's too late I've already started the process and I've almost finished. I didn't want carpet anywhere on this boat because I like to fish and I don't want worm guts and fish scales and all that stuff hung up in the carpet. I'm using West Marines non-skid paint for the top side. I chose this route because I read too many threads saying if you don't glass it it won't last more than 5 years and I don't want to do this again. I'm hoping I made the right choice, time will tell.

 

[bigdee]

If your not going to install carpet I guess you chose the right option....time will tell. Carpet shields the plywood from the sun which is worse than getting wet. 4x8 sheets of diamond plate 1/8 aluminum would be a sure fire solution for fishing!

 

[clemsonfor]

If your not going to install carpet I guess you chose the right option....time will tell. Carpet shields the plywood from the sun which is worse than getting wet. 4x8 sheets of diamond plate 1/8 aluminum would be a sure fire solution for fishing!

Slippery as all get out and hot though.

 

[Suzn]

Guys...I'm using West Marines NON SKID paint with UV protection on the floor.

We got 4 out of the 5 full size floor boards on. I'm leaving the last full size board off until the mechanic drops the new used motor and wires the console I'm finishing up building. We ended up taking the nuts and bolts off stringers as we went so they'd slide in easier. It's true what they say that something worthwhile is rarely easy. We got em though.

I finally feel like I'm on the downhill stretch.

Here's some pics of our struggle yesterday and today haha..let me know if you can see them.
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?sto...23899054729502