How much wet foam is normal

Badweed · Feb 15, 2010

Ok, so in the 1988 Searay seville OB rebuild post, I have outlined what I have done so far with my boat.

I have removed a section of a stringer that was up against some rotten ply. The bottom of the foam between this stringer and the hull is wet. Up front, maybe the bottom couple mils, but towards the back, with the bow raised, maybe the bottom inch or so.

How much of this is normal?

Would you replace the deck and the stringers and frames if you found the foam was wet, even if the deck was solid with no soft spots? The wet wood I'm removed is indeed wet, but not rotten. Why?

Thanks

Steve

Spinnaker · Feb 15, 2010

Re: How much wet foam is normal

Get all the foam out! That's a start. That foam holds water and will never go away.

Badweed · Feb 15, 2010

Re: How much wet foam is normal

the water actually comes out when i hit the foam with the grinder. lol. removing the foam means removing the deck...i'm just not there yet as long as i believe the deck is solid.

btw, spinnaker, i see ur in cloverdale....i speny my youth growing up in sardis,,,small world.

Spinnaker · Feb 16, 2010

Re: How much wet foam is normal

Badweed said:
the water actually comes out when i hit the foam with the grinder. lol. removing the foam means removing the deck...i'm just not there yet as long as i believe the deck is solid.

btw, spinnaker, i see ur in cloverdale....i speny my youth growing up in sardis,,,small world.

Yes it is a small one. Where are you now? Also, if you don't get that wet foam outta there you will have to remove more than just the floor.

tashasdaddy · Feb 16, 2010

Re: How much wet foam is normal

water = rot & extra weight. the deck may be solid, but substructure will not be for long. GET ALL THE FOAM OUT,!!!! i have seen 700lbs of wet foam come out of a boat.

Badweed · Feb 16, 2010

Re: How much wet foam is normal

For a 20 year old boat, why do you think the ply used for the stringers isnt in worse shape? The wood I'm pulling up may be wet, but not rotten.

Badweed · Feb 16, 2010

Re: How much wet foam is normal

I'm in Coeur d'alene, Idaho now Spinnaker. Forgot to answer that question.

tinkeringwackyone · Feb 16, 2010

Re: How much wet foam is normal

Just a note, my deck "felt" solid, last night I finished tearing up my deck and the stringers were still wet/rotten clear to the front of the boat.... if it were mine I would continue to tear apart until dry wood has appeared or everything is out. this will give you a much more piece of mind knowing its structurally sound.Good luck

stylesabu · Feb 16, 2010

Re: How much wet foam is normal

that foam isn't a sponge, it only holds water after a long exposur to water,submerged.I cut mine out with a drywall saw, and small prybar. But mine is aluminum, I don't have much experience with glass. good luck

oops! · Feb 16, 2010

Re: How much wet foam is normal

how much wet foam is normal.....???........answer.......none.

the question is .....how much are you prepared to live with?.
are you going to sell the boat and play stupid to the buyer?

the wet foam will eventually rot your boat....if you are keeping it, take it out.
its not too hard to remove it.

as stressed above....i would get rid of all the water sucking foam asap....but its your boat and you can do what ever you want with it

cheers
oops

cc190cc · Feb 16, 2010

Re: How much wet foam is normal

From my recent experience these projects all snowball. If the foam is wet remove it all, the boat will rot from the inside out. If the wood is wet, it will rot shortly. Im not sure where you are from, but does the deck seem solid because it is frozen??

I guess your plan of action really depends on how long you plan on keeping the boat. I just removed all wet foam from my boat. 26 garbage bags worth at approximately 25 pounds per bag. Due the math, 650 extra pounds of weight.

Chad

Badweed · Feb 16, 2010

Re: How much wet foam is normal

I'm in north idaho, but its warmer than the rest of the country right now. The deck definetly isnt frozen.

I'm obviously trying to prevent ripping up the whole deck and replacing the stringers. But, like I've said in the previous posts, the entire foam isnt actually wet...just the bottom couple mils in the middle of the boat and a centimeter or so in the back.

I cant figure out why the wood isnt rotten if its been wet for a period of time.

Steve

Bondo · Feb 16, 2010

Re: How much wet foam is normal

I cant figure out why the wood isnt rotten if its been wet for a period of time.

Ayuh,... Maybe the guy who bought her brand new, kept reall nice care of her....
Maybe the guy before you left her out.....

Unknown History is just that,....

Btw,... as noted above,... I'd be rippin' the danm Foam outa her too...

cc190cc · Feb 16, 2010

Re: How much wet foam is normal

I actually ran into the same thing with mine. The wood was soaked but not rotted, replaced anyways. There is a chance that the wood is preasure treated or marine quality, that may be why its not rotted yet.

Chad

lowkee · Feb 16, 2010

Re: How much wet foam is normal

Although your wet wood mystery may be puzzling, it doesn't remove the fact wet wood rots (certainly the types of wood used in boat construction). The only debate is when you are going to have bad wood. It will rot, you will have to replace it, the deck will come up. The only question to ask yourself is when you want to do it, now or later.

As for the foam, others have stated it clearly. If you don't mind a heavier, slower boat, keep the foam in there. It's your boat.

Spinnaker · Feb 16, 2010

Re: How much wet foam is normal

stylesabu said:
that foam isn't a sponge, it only holds water after a long exposur to water,submerged.I cut mine out with a drywall saw, and small prybar. But mine is aluminum, I don't have much experience with glass. good luck

Aww man! Use a shovel. Seriously! You're not going to hurt anything.

MTribe08 · Feb 16, 2010

Re: How much wet foam is normal

If you look at my thread, you'll see I'm in the midst of doing a pretty major restore to rotted stringers and a rotted deck. When I pulled up my deck I found that 95% or more of my foam was completely dry..large pieces weighed a few oz's. I found a little bit of it was wet near the back but not much. I ended up using a wire wheel on a drill and cut out any foam within about 3-4 inches from my stringers all the way to the back. I now have a nice channel for any water to flow through the bulkheads/side supports, and exit through some limber holes into the gas tank housing and out to the bildge.

SOOOO..just because you have dry foam, doesn't mean much.

good luck.

sprintst · Feb 17, 2010

Re: How much wet foam is normal

I thought my foam was dry too...until I got to the bottom where it was mostly wet. It was also blocking the passages to get to the bilge pump.

I pulled it all out to get a good look at was underneath so I could be sure I knew what I was dealing with. My hull is alum so there was some corrosion underneath that I`m glad I dealt with. My need to pull the foam was also to get at coating the rivets and seams with Gluvit.

Your nagging subconcious will be wanting to know how your stringers are under the foam. If it turns out to be bone dry then at least you know for sure and will have a chance to re-glass or beef up some areas and can count yourself lucky.

If it`s wet in some areas and hasn`t been holding moisture against the wood and you catch it in time then you`re laughing as well.

If it turns out it`s holding water then the debate turns into do I just drive it as is and fix it in a season or two.

It drives me crazy not knowing so I just did it. I`ll have way more fun cruising around knowing I took care of everything I could.

There are various levels of obsessive compulsive behaviour here so it`s easy to fit in if you want go whole hog and redo it all

Check out Oops`s thread where too much is not enough

jonesg · Feb 17, 2010

Re: How much wet foam is normal

Timber often doesn't rot as long as its submerged and saturated, it will rot pronto if just wet.

They often pull 16th century wrecks out of the English channel that are intact but start to rot quickly once exposed to air. They have methods to preserve the wood before it falls apart.

My transom was rotted to pulp along the top but lower down was a bear to remove because it was just saturated wet. When I drilled a hole in the lower transom the water all drained out.

So I'd say your substructure isn't rotten because its been fairly saturated, anyway once it gets that wet its gone.
Even if dried out it will start to dry rot, ya can't win.

noworries79 · Feb 18, 2010

Re: How much wet foam is normal

Spinnaker said:
Aww man! Use a shovel. Seriously! You're not going to hurt anything.

I second that! A short-handled shovel works great. Just be sure not to put too much pressure on the hull when your prying that damn foam out. I never want to remove foam again! Glad I'm not the only one.

How much wet foam is normal

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