[joelaurencemk3]

Hi guys i live in england and have recently bought a 14 ft simms super v hull speedboat withan evinrude 50hp engine, i was changing the seats for some better bucket seats when i noticed if i jump up and down on the floor, water came out the old screw holes . . . . uh oh!

Anyway im gonna replace the floor and foam then glass it all back in to be sure of stopping the rot completely. Questions are, where do i buy the plywood, what plywood do i need, where do i buy replacement foam? plus any other tips?

All help is very much appreciated

joe

[oops!]

hi....welcome to i boats....

sorry bout your boat......

you may have stringer issues as well.

plywood....you have three choices....the first two are available at local home stores

exterior grade...cheepest option...good all the way around, as long as it is sealed by fiberglass resin. (i recommecomend drying it for a week or two)

pressure treated plywood....more expencive than ext.....good wood, can sit in water for fourty years and not rot.......drawbacks...reacts badly with aluminum....needs to be fully dry.....(that means at least a month ) and you need special screws to use it.
still needs to be encapsulated by resin

marine grade ply......best choice..... comes in various degerees of dryness....
has less voids between the plys. still needs to be encapsulated in resin.
you will have to look at plywood mills for this grade.

any one of these three, will get you 20 years (if used properly)

as far as foam.......the most popular type is a two part pour in foam.
it may be available at local boat centers......if you choose to replace it at all.

i fear you will have more than a deck and foam to replace. but you wont know till you get in there.

in the mean time .....your in the right forum......use the search feature....and search rotten wood,,,,,,stringers,,,,,,wet foam.....

cheers bud
oops

[Solittle]

Start off by spending a few hours reading posts that cover what you asked. This entire section is loaded with posts on rotten floors, stringers and transoms. As to where to get the "stuff" I suspect that you have sources in England that will have it all. Check with a local marina.

OH and welcome.

[joelaurencemk3]

i dont think ill have more to replace, ive dug into the foam a little and it seems as if its only the top inch or less thats wet, shall i bother digging it all out and replacing or just see if it will dry out with the floor off?

also is it possible someone could look at this english website

http://www.cfsnet.co.uk/

and tell me what products would be best for re-fixing the new floor as im really not sure!

[Chinewalker]

The foam will not dry out. Period. I had a warterlogged hull indoors, near a potbelly stove for most of a winter. Other than the top 1/8-inch that was actually exposed, the rest was still soaking wet. Dig it ALL out. Check the structural members thoroughly...
- Scott

[erikgreen]

Probably the top inch is wet due to contact with the deck, and new water coming in that way.

I'd be willing to bet you'll find more water down at the bottom in contact with the hull and stringers.

At this point you definitely want to take a bunch of the foam out, since once the water gets into it it's not going to come out. Once that's done, you can assess what else needs to be done.

FYI, you're following the same path many of us have... you start to work on a nice new interior for your boat, and find many things that need fixing first.

Erik

[joelaurencemk3]

ok today ive finshed ripping out the wood floor, cut some wedges out of the foam and towards the front of the boat as suspected the foam is wet at the bottom grrrrr.

Its been such a mission so far, lying on wet foam, boat half in my parents tiny garage out the rain and just hacking away with the angle grinder and crow bar! Surprisingly though i hav'nt holed the hull yet!

I also bought a sheet of this 8mm thickness to make the new floor from, does this look like good wood to use?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...MEWN:IT&ih=011

give me a minute and ill post some pictures of my progress

[oops!]

8 mil......what is that.....in canada we use standard with wood....

1/2 inch?......

that stuff just saved you a ton of work......remember, the edges need coating too....even mpre than the top...so when you cut the sole, dont set it in till the edges are fully sealed.

re read all the above posts....twice.....those guys know....btdt

[joelaurencemk3]

ok pictures, first up the boat



the 'pilot' deck whole where i found wet foam



then the deck removal




hope this gives an idea of what im doing, if anyone sees anything im doing drastically wrong please let me know as im pretty much guessing how to do this!!

[oops!]

the tools to get foam out are many.....

my buddie uses a pik axe with a wide flat blade.......

once you get in there, look at the stringers.....

and btw.....how many sheets of thet ply did you buy?

[joelaurencemk3]

i bought like 10 bits, cost quite a bit but reckon i can sell it on for more ;-)

8mm = just over 1/3 of an inch, its the same thickness i took out

does it look like im doing the right thing so far?

[erikgreen]

You're doing well so far, keep at it!

Keep posting pics if you have questions/concerns about where to go. Asking someone could keep you from creating extra work for yourself, so if you're unsure, ask.

Cute little boat, bet it's fast.

Erik

[joelaurencemk3]

does 1/3 of an inch thickness sound ok for the deck, or should i get 12mm thickness 1/2 inch?

[oops!]

its tough to say....id go 1/2 inch.

but the variables are......the beam of the craft, and the amount of frames you have under the sole.......(frames, not stringers)

if you cut the sheets wide, and use three sheets with frames on two foot centers youll get away with it......

one way to tell is.......lay three 2x4's on the ground. thro a sheet over them and walk on them. if it flexes...no good.....try different configurations till its solid

(that is assuming you have a three stringer system......the 2x4's are to simulate the stringers)

[oops!]

there is pics of frames over stringers on the hull extension thread

[oops!]

those are frames

[joelaurencemk3]

sounds weird but i dont think my boat has frames, the floor literally sat on top of the foam im removing? is this normal?

[i386]

You won't know for sure 'till you dig deeper, but they're not all made the same. Mine's a tri-hull of sorts and has no stringers or any other support below deck. The hull is the "stringers".





No stringers and a very strange "transom". Part of the challenge of this project has been a search for the proper vocabulary to describe just what the heck I'm working with here.