rotten floor replacement options

need to replace floor on early 80's pontoon looking for a option that is less weight.

Re: rotten floor replacement options

Its my understanding their are a few choices. In my case I used marine grade plywood, the original floor on my boat was a 1988 so thats what I went back with.

Re: rotten floor replacement options

I just re-did the floor on mine this year. I went back and forth on what to use. I considered aluminum sheeting, and the new 4x8 sheets of composite material offered by some pontoon specialist websites, both of which were way more than I wanted to put into a 1988 boat. So I went with marine grade plywood. Instead of carpet, I installed the Mari-dek vinyl flooring and glad I did.

Re: rotten floor replacement options

Lonnie, keep in mind that the deck of a toon is a major structural ellement of the boat and there is a reason you can't find many substitutes, going lighter and maintaining the same strength means going with a composite which also means big dollars.

You really want to go with the 3/4 marine ply, you can use regular 3/4 plywood but it needs to be glassed in so it last more than 3-4 years so the time to cost ratio is about the same, the plain ply is cheaper but all the work and expense to glass it make it a draw.

Once you strip this boat down, redeck and reassemble it you will be glad you listened to all of us at iboats and went with the marine so you don't have to do it again for another 30 years.

Re: rotten floor replacement options

Look at the Advantec flooring. I'm giving it a try on my pontoon. In the process of coating it with an oil based paint right now. It's definitely not as good as marine plywood, but I had none available within a reasonable driving distance. It's only $25 per sheet, so I thought it was worth trying. I was reading some reviews on it and someone had built their boat dock out of it and it is still good as new several years later. It is saturated in resin rather than the glue that is used in plywood, so it can withstand moisture much better.