should hubby and I buy this boat with soft floors ???? HELP

My husband and I looked at a 1987 marine trawler double cabin(twin diesel) we noticed the floors on the upper decks soft, but down in the living quarters everything is solid,teak needs to be cleaned and oiled ,some minor cosmetic work ,run great 1700 hours on the motors ,but motors maintained ,one owner only $ 25,000 we looked at several of this type of boat online and seem to think the price is to good to be true? should we buy it with soft floors?????please help

Re: should hubby and I buy this boat with soft floors ???? HELP

If you think this is the boat, get a marine survey done. It will cost $500 to $600 or so, but will be worth it. The surveyor will be able to tell you what it will take to fix it. But, definifely do not buy a boat of this type without a surveyor.

Having said that, everyone here wll want to see pictures in order to give you an opinion on the soft deck.

Good luck...

Re: should hubby and I buy this boat with soft floors ???? HELP

Ahoy, tarabell.

Welcome to iboats.

Not unless you are prepared to replace the upper decks and supporting timbers. Rot is like cancer or rust. . .if you can actually see or feel it there is another 90% hidden.

Re: should hubby and I buy this boat with soft floors ???? HELP

CaptainKickback said:

If you think this is the boat, get a marine survey done. It will cost $500 to $600 or so, but will be worth it. The surveyor will be able to tell you what it will take to fix it. But, definifely do not buy a boat of this type without a surveyor.

Having said that, everyone here wll want to see pictures in order to give you an opinion on the soft deck.

Good luck...

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Thanks for your advice ......as far as pics it would be hard to photograph,you would not see it ,you would only feel it when you walked on it?

Re: should hubby and I buy this boat with soft floors ???? HELP

JB is right about rot being like a cancer.

When you say upper deck, do you mean the deck above the cabin or above the engine compartment? If engine compartment, you could get pics from underneath. On my 81 Sea Ray rebuild, the cockpit deck (above the engines) flexes a bit. There is no wood in it. Just wasn't built super strong to begin with.

Re: should hubby and I buy this boat with soft floors ???? HELP

CaptainKickback said:

If you think this is the boat, get a marine survey done. It will cost $500 to $600 or so, but will be worth it. The surveyor will be able to tell you what it will take to fix it. But, definifely do not buy a boat of this type without a surveyor.

Having said that, everyone here wll want to see pictures in order to give you an opinion on the soft deck.

Good luck...

Click to expand...

Absolutly the best advice anyone can give you! Make sure you pick the person doing the survey and that they are certified. The cost is usually around $18-$40 a foot depending on your location and how in depth the survey is. There maybe nothing wrong or there maybe several things wrong and the survey will key you in on this.

Just a quick idea on what a new floor costs, I just had mine repaired and paid $1600 to have around 16 feet of wood replaced and had extra beams installed along with supports for new seats and tables.

Hope it works work for you guys!

Re: should hubby and I buy this boat with soft floors ???? HELP

The answer is NO. Unless you want a project replacing a bunch of rotten wood, or can get a HELL of a deal. Negotiate that and see if you can get it for 15,000.

Re: should hubby and I buy this boat with soft floors ???? HELP

hi....

welcome to iboats !

need more info on the boat....

is this a liveaboard?

wood or glass or metal....

if you take pics of the boat....and the suspect area....we may be able to guide you before you decide to pull the trigger on the marine survey.

this could be as simple as replacing a few pieces of ply and some support

but as mentioned above.....do not buy a boat of this size with out a survey,

so let us giude you before you spend the money on the survey

Re: should hubby and I buy this boat with soft floors ???? HELP

File this under "If you have to ask, the answer is no."

You would have to know enough about the cost of repairing the entire deck, the substructure that holds the deck up and provids rigidity to the hull, and you'd have to be confident about how far the problem goes.

Even a marine surveyor is guessing in the end. They look for evidence that there is substantial risk, but they can't be spot on as to how widespread the problem is. They are not gods. They might get you grounds to negotiate 7,500 off the price, and you might get a deal only to find it needs 10 g's in work, and you ain't boating for a long time... then ya gotta depend on someone doing the work right... and in this day and age, craftsmen are scarcer than manners.

It's always better to find a vessel that's in proper order from the start.
.

Re: should hubby and I buy this boat with soft floors ???? HELP

As oops! said, pics will help us guide you. For example, several posters believe there are stringers under the deck and those could be rotten. Since you originally upper deck, I am envisioning more of an all fiberglass, or fiberglass and core structure. That's one reason why I asked for pictures so we could see what deck you are talking about. Aslo, if an upper deck, I assumed you could get pictures from beneath that deck.

Everyone, the OP said the price was too good to be true. This tells me the seller may have already discounted for the needed repair. So, it could still be an attractive purchase for them, as long as they are sure what they are getting into.

Re: should hubby and I buy this boat with soft floors ???? HELP

Philster said:

File this under "If you have to ask, the answer is no."

You would have to know enough about the cost of repairing the entire deck, the substructure that holds the deck up and provids rigidity to the hull, and you'd have to be confident about how far the problem goes.

Even a marine surveyor is guessing in the end. They look for evidence that there is substantial risk, but they can't be spot on as to how widespread the problem is. They are not gods. They might get you grounds to negotiate 7,500 off the price, and you might get a deal only to find it needs 10 g's in work, and you ain't boating for a long time... then ya gotta depend on someone doing the work right... and in this day and age, craftsmen are scarcer than manners.

It's always better to find a vessel that's in proper order from the start.
.

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Couldn't agree more. Well said, Philster.

Re: should hubby and I buy this boat with soft floors ???? HELP

Although I'm unsure exactly how Marine Traders are constructed, I am going to guess fiberglass over a balsa or other type of wood core. With that assumed, and the statement that this is the upper deck, my instinct would be to use it as a negotiation tactic more than a run away tactic. A rotten flybridge core, unlike a rotted floor in a bow rider, could be no more than just a flat rotten area. I'm not sure exactly but from what I gather, the decks will be cores, but the actual structure of the house may or may not.

I have been aboar a good 10-15 flybridge boats in the past year and a lot of them had soft areas (aft, fore and bridge decks). Not a single one had severe structural issues in the stringers or major framework. That's not to say a rotten deck core isn't an issue, it is, it to me though is not a deal breaker or makes the boat not safe to take into the water.

In my opinion, this type of boat is not a simple run away, but still worth considering. Does the owner assume the price reflects the soft floor condition? I say make your offer assuming a replacement of the core (after researching it a bit) and go from there. Hire a surveyor and then decide what to do.