A few more floor questions

mwe-maxxowner

mwe-maxxowner

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http://forums.iboats.com/boat-restoration-building-hull-repair/my-minor-boat-restoration-first-boat-budget-84-dixie-ski-19-runabout-569875.html

So I had a boat here I bought cheap. Then I discovered what a rotten floor really means. I bought a new boat because I was overwhelmed. I still have the old boat lying around, and am considering slowly amassing supplies and doing a restore with my little bro and giving it to him when we are done. I have a few more questions though.

When doing the floor, can I use epoxy to coat the bottom, but poly resin to glass the top (so I don't need to glass the bottom) ?

When I add new foam, if I pour too much and it rises above the top of the stringers, can I just cut it flush with where the floor will sit? Or must I make sure I don't put so much in it rises too high?

When attaching floor to top of stringers, can I used 3m 5200? Will resin and csm make a suitable pb?

Thanks guys.
 
jigngrub

jigngrub

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Re: A few more floor questions

Epoxy is fine and an excellent choice for the bottom of the deck.

Foam cuts real easy with a carpenters hand saw, you just need to make sure you have some decent guides to go by to keep your cuts flat.

PL adhesive is a better choice to bond the deck to the stringers... and it's what all the really cool kids are using.:cool:

There's some good PB recipes around hear, do a site search for them.
 
mwe-maxxowner

mwe-maxxowner

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Re: A few more floor questions

I found a few good recipes, but I can't figure out what cabosil is or where to buy it, and I can't find glass beads. I know epoxy is more expensive, but if it saves me from laying a layer of glass so be it. Do I roll the wetted glass to flatten it out? Want to durabak it so I need it to be smooth. Any guesses as to the cost for just foam and glassing a floor into an 18' bow rider? Not including stringers and transom.

After cutting the old floor out, what do I do to prepare the hull for tabbing the floor in? So the glass will stick properly.

Can I seal and glass the floor while in a shop, then let dry, place in the boat and just tab the floor to the hull? Or should it all be done at once?

Edit- sorry I see you said pl adhesive is best to attach deck to stringers. Sooooo what is the pl?
 
jigngrub

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mwe-maxxowner

mwe-maxxowner

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Re: A few more floor questions

Us composites is where I priced all my stuff so far and started figuring out which materials I would use. I guess I just didn't navigate their site well enough because I never found glass beads. I greatly appreciate it.
 
mwe-maxxowner

mwe-maxxowner

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Re: A few more floor questions

Pros and cons to using pl to fill the gap at the hull/deck joint versus mixing up some pb?
 
jigngrub

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Re: A few more floor questions

If your deck to hull tolerances aren't fairly tight it may be too runny for a vertical application in larger voids, you can mix up PB as thick as you want to overcome this.

You have to wait 72 hrs. for the PL Premium to cure and quit off gassing, you don't have to wait that long with PB... it's the same as bonding the stringers to the hull, 72 hr. wait time.

The good thing is the ease of application with shooting it out of a caulking gun and you don't have to mix it.
 
mwe-maxxowner

mwe-maxxowner

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Re: A few more floor questions

That's what I was thinking. I can find it locally so I don't have to be so precise figuring just the right amount to purchase. I have plenty of time. I have my good boat to play with come summer so the old project doesn't have to be on any time lime. I've ordered half a gallon on epoxy I think I'll take most of that under my deck.
 
Woodonglass

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Re: A few more floor questions

PL gets air bubbles in it pretty bad. I'd recommend NOT makeing your coved fillets from it. You can bed the stringers and fill the deck gap, if it's not to wide, but I'd try and keep the squeeze out to a minimum. After the cure of 72 hours ( and that's with temps at or above 70?, double that for cool temps) I',d use PB to make the coved fillets and then glass over it. JMHO.
 
mwe-maxxowner

mwe-maxxowner

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Re: A few more floor questions

I will keep that in mind. If I wind up with enough of a gap I'll bite the bullet and experiment with some pb. At least where it'll be visible.
 
mwe-maxxowner

mwe-maxxowner

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Re: A few more floor questions

Silly question. Do I wipe down my plywood with acetone before I epoxy coat it u spread my first coat of poly for glassing?

I think I've decided I'll use arauco (sp?) Bbx if I can find it. I can't use mdo with poly without more prep work correct?
 
jigngrub

jigngrub

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Re: A few more floor questions

mwe-maxxowner said:
Silly question. Do I wipe down my plywood with acetone before I epoxy coat it u spread my first coat of poly for glassing?

I think I've decided I'll use arauco (sp?) Bbx if I can find it. I can't use mdo with poly without more prep work correct?
Click to expand...

Just wipe any dust off with a clean dry rag, the epoxy will be absorbed into the wood so it's not that critical.

Are you going to epoxy now?... or when do you plan to start epoxying?

The Aruco will be best if you plan to use poly resin.
 
mwe-maxxowner

mwe-maxxowner

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Re: A few more floor questions

Not yet. I tend to figure out what I need to do and still ask a hundred more questions. I do apologize and I appreciate your patience! I will only epoxy the bottom
 
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