Floor repair - am I doing it right?

steveclv

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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 :)
 

Woodonglass

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Re: Floor repair - am I doing it right?

Sounds like your methods are sound. How big of an area are we talking about? What oz. of Fiberglass mat/cloth do you have? Apply the epoxy with CHEAPO Chip Brushes. If you're using mat, dab it, Cloth brush it. If cloth you will need a plastic putty knife to squeege out the air. I would use a minimum of 2-3 layers of 1.5 oz mat or 1 layer of 1.5oz mat and 1 layer of 6-8oz cloth. OR I suppose since you're using epoxy you could just use 2-3 layers of epoxy and call it good. One problem though the epoxy will NOT stick to that SILLY Cone that you used. You shoulda just left those cracks empty and filled em with the epoxy. I'd dig that stuff out an fill em up with epoxy.:rolleyes:
 

Cadwelder

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Re: Floor repair - am I doing it right?

Almost.
1. The silicone wasn't needed, be sure you get it all off the new surface.
2. How did you seal the new wood under the deck (floor)?
3. A layer of cloth with your epoxy will be fine, not sure what weight you need as I'm not an epoxy guy. (1.5 oz Matt and poly would be fine.
4. How large a patch are we talking about.
5. 36 grit would be better
6. Brush, plastic spreader, roller....any are fine.

Think I got them all.

Good luck. Congrats on solid stringers.
 

steveclv

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Re: Floor repair - am I doing it right?

Ugg, ok, I'll pull out the silicon between the gaps.

The new piece was 18" wide and 22" long that I cut in.

Not sure of the weight of the cloth - it's the stuff that comes in a 8 sq ft pack for car repairs etc - I have 3 packs of it. It's a woven cloth with the weave going in both directions if that helps - quite soft to the touch.

The new ply is some 'old' marine ply that a friend had stored - it's very dry (we are in AZ and humidity was 6% today) so I soaked it on the underside with some wood varnish (minwax) that I had lying around. Didn't treat the top yet as I didn't want to use something that the epoxy/fiberglass would not adhere to.

Thanks for the info and advice.
 

Woodonglass

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Re: Floor repair - am I doing it right?

OK, Well I suppose the varnish will work for a while. Better than nothing. That cloth is typically 6 oz, Coat the wood with epoxy, let it dry, Coat it again while its wet lay the cloth, use the squeege to smoothe and saturate the cloth. When dry sand with 80 grit, wash with acetone. Repeat for next layer. Done
 

steveclv

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Re: Floor repair - am I doing it right?

Thanks!

Do I wash the wood and area being epoxied with acetone before I start or will it soak into the wood and cause adhesion problems?
 

Cadwelder

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Re: Floor repair - am I doing it right?

Looks like Wood and I answered at the same time (post 2 & 3), so a little bit of repeated information. But I think you got the jest of it.

You don't need to wash the bare wood with acetone, just make sure it's dust free.
 

steveclv

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Re: Floor repair - am I doing it right?

Couple more questions if you don't mind :)

Some areas I am redoing have been covered by the original builder with fiberglass and what I assume is a general purpose polyester resin. How do I prepare this for the epoxy resin and fiberglass mat

Whilst browsing eBay I came across this carbon fiber/kevlar fabric. Has anyone ever tried using something like this? With a clear epoxy finish it would look super cool but how would it work with an epoxy resin?

Thanks yet again!
 

Cadwelder

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Re: Floor repair - am I doing it right?

On the previously glassed area's grind them with the 24 or 36 grit disc to prepare for the new resin. then wipe throughly with acetone. As for the carbon fiber, yes epoxy resin is fine but a WAY WAY WAY overkill.
 

Woodonglass

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Re: Floor repair - am I doing it right?

If you ever got in a gun fight in the Boat at least you would know the Deck would be protected:eek:
 

steveclv

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Re: Floor repair - am I doing it right?

LOL

Well after some thought I decided to stick with the CSM and epoxy resin - I ordered it tinted white which should give me a nice clean deck but now I'm thinking whether I should roller some Gelcoat over the entire deck and bind the edges of the carpet and use snaps to hold it down. Then I can remove the carpet to clean it.

As I'm in AZ where we average < 10% humidity (it was 101F yesterday) I'm not sure whether that would be a real advantage or not. Everything dries out super quick.
 

ezmobee

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Re: Floor repair - am I doing it right?

Epoxy is not typically UV resistant......
 

ondarvr

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Re: Floor repair - am I doing it right?

CSM is not the best product to use with epoxy, use cloth, it will cut down the amount of epoxy needed by a huge amount and be stronger.

Even tinted epoxy has very little UV resistance, it needs to be painted or covered.

Gel coat can't be used over epoxy.
 

steveclv

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Re: Floor repair - am I doing it right?

Phew, glad I asked THAT question! :)

OK, in that case it's going to be glued down carpet over the epoxy, as I said, AZ weather dries everything real fast.

Thanks!
 

steveclv

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Re: Floor repair - am I doing it right?

Sorry, one last question - promise!

If I have a layer of CSM that has been glassed in with Polyester Resin, can I then just apply 2 layers of Epoxy over the top to waterproof it all? I will sand the polyester layer and wipe it over with acetone first, but would that then suffice or must I use mat with the epoxy?
 

Yacht Dr.

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Re: Floor repair - am I doing it right?

You can put epoxy over poly yes.. 2 layers of epoxy I really dont understand..

I would do one more layer of poly/mat instead of 2 coats of epoxy..just me..

YD.
 

steveclv

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Re: Floor repair - am I doing it right?

It's just that I have the epoxy so will use it rather than buying more poly.

Thanks for confirming that

Steve
 
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