I had a rotten section of floor behind the starboard seats on my 1984 Bayliner Capri 1900 and I really feared the worst. I have been putting it off but decided today to tackle it before it gets too hot here in AZ
Despite the worst fears, it turned out great - I think that the previous owner must have had a leaky cover that let rain water in and rotted the floor from the top down because apart from the surface rot - underneath was dry as a bone. I tested the stringers with bore holes and they are also as dry as a bone - thank goodness! I pulled out a huge chunk of foam and it was completely dry.
So I laid a new piece of ply over the damaged area and using the circular saw set to 1" depth, I cut a square into fresh floor. I then pulled out the old floor and using strips of new ply, I screwed the old floor edges into the new ply to create a shelf for the new main piece. I used construction adhesive between the two and then repeated the exercise using adhesive and screws to tighten the new piece into place. It had about a 1/8 gap all around that I filled with a waterproof silicon.
That's all now setting and I have ordered a gallon of epoxy resin. I have some fiberglass mat that I am going to cover over the whole area.
So does that sound OK? I didn't want to replace the whole floor as it is pretty sound.
My questions now relates to the fiberglass and resin
I am going to sand the surface of the whole floor with 60 grit sanding blocks and then lay down a layer of resin, allowing to impregnate the wood.
I will then cover the new area with resin and mat - how many layers of mat do I need?
Do I roller the new area of mat with a hard roller or will it be ok just stippling it with a brush?
How many layers of resin can I put down afterwards? I'd like to ensure that the whole of the floor is completely waterproof.
Any thoughts? If there is a thread with pictures of this process maybe someone can point me at them
Despite the worst fears, it turned out great - I think that the previous owner must have had a leaky cover that let rain water in and rotted the floor from the top down because apart from the surface rot - underneath was dry as a bone. I tested the stringers with bore holes and they are also as dry as a bone - thank goodness! I pulled out a huge chunk of foam and it was completely dry.
So I laid a new piece of ply over the damaged area and using the circular saw set to 1" depth, I cut a square into fresh floor. I then pulled out the old floor and using strips of new ply, I screwed the old floor edges into the new ply to create a shelf for the new main piece. I used construction adhesive between the two and then repeated the exercise using adhesive and screws to tighten the new piece into place. It had about a 1/8 gap all around that I filled with a waterproof silicon.
That's all now setting and I have ordered a gallon of epoxy resin. I have some fiberglass mat that I am going to cover over the whole area.
So does that sound OK? I didn't want to replace the whole floor as it is pretty sound.
My questions now relates to the fiberglass and resin
I am going to sand the surface of the whole floor with 60 grit sanding blocks and then lay down a layer of resin, allowing to impregnate the wood.
I will then cover the new area with resin and mat - how many layers of mat do I need?
Do I roller the new area of mat with a hard roller or will it be ok just stippling it with a brush?
How many layers of resin can I put down afterwards? I'd like to ensure that the whole of the floor is completely waterproof.
Any thoughts? If there is a thread with pictures of this process maybe someone can point me at them