What is better, Seal the Deck or Not?

[kskomro]

I bought a 14' aluminum boat only to find 2 decks and Foam Water soaked and rotted. I'm in process of removing all. I'm replaceing Foam, and Deck. Should I replace deck with 1/2 or 3/4 outdoor grade plywood? I will resin coat, paint and vinal the deck. Stringers are pretty close together. Should I seal the new deck completely on all sides or should I let it breath and not worry and let the bilge do it's job?

 

[oops!]

Re: What is better, Seal the Deck or Not?

id seal it.......

if you leave it it will rot unless your immaculate with care...and even then...its just a matter of time

 

[Robj]

Re: What is better, Seal the Deck or Not?

Seal all sides with a few coats of resin. On the top, I would also add a layer of matt.

Have a great day,

Rob.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: What is better, Seal the Deck or Not?

agree ^^^ 1/2 inch 5ply exteroir , it's a little more expensive, but stronger. standard is 3 ply.

 

[sasanm]

Re: What is better, Seal the Deck or Not?

Seal all sides with a few coats of resin. On the top, I would also add a layer of matt.

Have a great day,

Rob.

Rod, What type of resin? where do you buy it online? I checked HD and Lowes they did not carry anything accorfing to the paint guys only thopsoms. I am doing a wood transom and floor on a aluminum boat and I am stuck at which type sealant to use. I also and planning on just brushing it on the surface. Any ideas? Thanks, James

 

[txmntman]

Re: What is better, Seal the Deck or Not?

Kskomro,
we need to be sure we are all talking about the same thing. The Deck is the layer of wood (usually plywood) that fits above the stringers on an aluminum boat. The wood itself is usually sealed with resin and fiberglass mat, or resin alone. You must seal the wood on the top, the bottom, and all the sides. The sides are particularly hard to seal, and very important.
You do not, however, typically create a seal between the wood and the inside side of the aluminum boat. This is done on a fiberglass boat, but not typically done on an aluminum boat. You need to make sure that any water brought on board (rain, wet swimmers, etc) has a relatively unobstructed way to get to the bilge pump where it can be pumped out, and that may be above or below the deck. Some quick rules:
1. store the boat, if on a trailer, bow up where the water can drain to the back of the boat to the drain plug, where it will be drained or pumped out.
2. allow any water collected to drain to the back. This means you need to pay attention to areas that might collect water,
3. if you currently have the deck off, there should be a way for all water to flow under the aluminum stringers, usually at the very bottom of the boat. If you are repacking the foam, keep water movement in mind, as water will likely gather to the bottom of the boat. Give it a place to go, and then out of the boat. You'll have a drier boat, and one in which the deck will last longer.

 

[oops!]

Re: What is better, Seal the Deck or Not?

yup...and keep the foam away from the water.....

rob j was refering to giberglass resin.....and not the stuff they sell at home depot.... (bondo type)......

go to an auto body supply store or pick up the phone book and look under fiberglass supplies.......
you will need about one gallon.....

a very light fiberglass chopped strand matt...very light....1 oz max...and a very light cloth...it doesnt matter what kind cept bi ax is too thick for this little job.

you can just use resin by it self...however....resin by it self is very weak and will crack like peanut brittle if hit hard...(drop an anchor)

there is many types of resin.......i would just use polyester resin for this.....you will need to put a catylist in the resin....

read the manufacturers directions and mix it a little colder...(a tiny bit less catylist.....)...you will want the resin to soak into the ply wood....just paint the resin on the botton side of the board and the edges...let it soak in...half hour...then paint the stuff on again...three coats...is good...

then when thats cured...put the deck in place and paint the top side with resin...again let it soak....before it kicks...lay down the matt..(light chopped strand ) and glass it in....saturate the glass totally...no more resin...no less...
then add the cloth and do the same.....

you will have to do this in sections.... so you dont paint your self into a corner....

after its fully dry...pre drill the holes holding the deck down...and fill the holes with good marine sealant...like 5200...and screw down your new ...hard as steel...light as a feather deck

cheers
oops

 

[jtexas]

Re: What is better, Seal the Deck or Not?

I used B/C EXT ply and poly resin from West Marine (BPS has it too), one coat (no hardener) all around, one coat (w/ hardener) then a layer of fiberglass cloth on top.

It's a pretty good non-skid surface. Might paint it one day, might not.

 

[kskomro]

Re: What is better, Seal the Deck or Not?

I will resin the top, sides, and bottom, but I was not sure weather or not to seal the deck to sides. The previous owner siliconed all the sides to the deck except the rear. Along with the rotted deck under the new deck. It's now all be stripped out. If I seal the sides only, the water should flow to rear and into the bilge right?

 

[ondarvr]

Re: What is better, Seal the Deck or Not?

I have a friend doing the floor in his aluminum boat at my place right now, it's a Smokercraft Alaskan and we were discussing it a great deal. I'm torn between a couple of options on doing a floor in an aluminum boat. You can either do it with all of the best products and spend a great deal of money, or you can do it with very inexpensive materials. Spending a lot of money may get you many years if done correctly, "may" is the problem and most people don't keep a boat that long. I'm sort of leaning to the least expensive method and just maybe change it out one more time in the future. Aluminum boat floors are so easy to replace that I would most likely do it with painted plywood and get 5 or so years out of it if not taken care of, and more years if kept covered. For less than a $100.00 you could do the whole thing in an afternoon and be done with it for many more years and if the paint takes beating then just touch it up when needed.

I say that, but my aluminum boat has a honeycomb floor and is totally sealed with no penetrations, has that "evil foam" under it and is kept inside 100% of the time when it's not on the water.

Fiber glass boats are a different story, they're time and money consuming, so if you plan on keeping it for any time at all, the floor needs to be done correctly, which means more time and money.

 

[kskomro]

Re: What is better, Seal the Deck or Not?

Yes, I see your point. Someone has patched this boat, a few times over, the very inexpensive way, and never took care of it, and it lasted several years. I guess do somewhat of a decent job, take care of it, and get several more years out of it. A Friend of mine keeps his under cover all 100% of the time not in use, and just found his floor to be soft, in need of replacement.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: What is better, Seal the Deck or Not?

How old is his boat and what kind of floor covering is in it now?

My friends boat has plywood covered with vinyl, a very common floor in an AL boat. The problem with this type of floor is they just put the vinyl over plain unsealed plywood, so the wood gets wet from the under side and through screw holes and never dries out. If you paint all sides of the plywood and do a good job, it would most likely last much longer than a vinyl covered one.

 

[John_S]

Re: What is better, Seal the Deck or Not?

FWIW: The original deck in our '67 Starcraft was just 1/2" ext plywood and painted only on top. When I replaced it a few years ago, it was still walkable except for the port stearn area. It was removable as one piece (except corner) to use as a pattern.

After contemplating my replacement options, I ended up just slightly improving on the original. While the sealing and fiberglass would probably last forever, it lost out for the additional weight in small boat along with additional cost and labor. Also, if I wanted to change the design a few years down the road, it would be much more involved.

Given that the original deck lasted 30 years with decent care, my replacement should last as long, since it is getting even better care now. I used 1/2" 5-ply ext plywood which was primed and sealed on all surfaces, followed by a coat of ext poly floor pait. The top received two additional coats, with the last having traction additive. The boat is used mostly for fishing and the painted decks make for easy clean-up. During spring clean-up it is also easy for touch-up paint.

One thing I did, which will need to change, is I sealed the edges with silicone sealent. I did this to prevent pine needles, dirt, and water collecting near the edges. After a couple of years the dirt accumulated on the silicone is very ugly. I haven't removed it yet, because still considering what to replace it with. Maybe a paintable version of 4200.

 

[jtexas]

Re: What is better, Seal the Deck or Not?

when I first acquired my boat 5 years ago, it immediately needed a section of flooring in the stern (about 30"). Right over the bilge. This floor is no more than 2" off the bottom of the boat - I could've removed the old floor with an ice cream scoop it was that mushy.

To "get by until" I used 1/2" EXT ply painted with one coat of rustoleum oil-based primer and one coat of rustoleum water-based topcoat. This is the paint rustoleum recommends for wood.

I later used the same finish on the rear deck, but accidently bought interior instead of EXT ply.

The deck was delaminating within a year, but the floor is still there.

It was so much easier and quicker than dealing with fiberglass!

Downside to finishing the deck like that: it's slippery. But there are solutions for that.

I re-did the deck and the balance of the flooring in the manner described above. (Front deck is still original - carpet glue disintegrated from age and I won't replace it, it's too easy to wash down uncarpeted surfaces.)

I haven't glassed in any floors or the deck I built, but I did get some composite trim to keep lures & keys & leaves & debris from getting trapped under the floor.

One interesting thing I did with that first section of flooring. Instead of stringers, I cut cross sections of 2" pvc to the right height, drilled 4 holes at 90? intervals near one end and put a "cross-hair" of thin wire in there, and filled 'em with fiberglass. Drilled a starter hole dead center of the fiberglass and screwed 'em to the floor. An interesting project, and it worked, but it was a lot of trouble. The next floor I did, I just used pieces of hardwood trim fastened to the floor with bits of fiberglass tape.

Good luck, and show us some pics.

 

[kskomro]

Re: What is better, Seal the Deck or Not?

Update, I removed the old decking, and soaked foam, installed new closed cell foam. I'm currently installing new decking 3/4'' CDX. I will be useing Govit Epoxy Sealer, Paint then a vinal floor

 

[ondarvr]

Re: What is better, Seal the Deck or Not?

Gluv it is just epoxy, so if you can get other epoxy for less money it will work just as well. If you use vinyl, there's no need for paint over the epoxy, so to save time and money and skip that step. If you add non skid (sand) to the paint, there's no need for the vinyl. Just some options for you.

 

[kskomro]

Re: What is better, Seal the Deck or Not?

Thanks, sounds good to me. One less step to worry about.