1972 starcraft floor replacement

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MERIT6419

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hi all,
I am preparing to replace the floor in my starcraft it is a aluminum hull closed bow I can not afford the marine plywood nor do i have a local supplier for marine plywood. So I had this idea of useing panel insulation that i can get at any big name hardware store it is closed cell it is fairly still stuff but it will not hold a screw so i was going to glue some thin (1/4 to 1/2 inch) plywood that is not pressure treated as i understand the chemicals in pt will react with the aluminum then put vinyl flooring ontop of that. Does this sound like it will work or ???
 
BonairII

BonairII

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Re: 1972 starcraft floor replacement

The blue or pink foam board works great. It's the extruded stuff....not the foil back foam stuff. You can use HD liquid nails etc to fasten the insulation.

You don't need marine plywood, but you do need to seal the ply with some kind of water sealer (i.e. spar varnish).
 
jigngrub

jigngrub

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Re: 1972 starcraft floor replacement

MERIT6419 said:
hi all,
I am preparing to replace the floor in my starcraft it is a aluminum hull closed bow I can not afford the marine plywood nor do i have a local supplier for marine plywood. So I had this idea of useing panel insulation that i can get at any big name hardware store it is closed cell it is fairly still stuff but it will not hold a screw so i was going to glue some thin (1/4 to 1/2 inch) plywood that is not pressure treated as i understand the chemicals in pt will react with the aluminum then put vinyl flooring ontop of that. Does this sound like it will work or ???
Click to expand...

No, it doesn't sound like it will work.

You can't deck a boat with sheet foam insulation, you have to use plywood.
 
jigngrub

jigngrub

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Re: 1972 starcraft floor replacement

GA_Boater said:
You don't need marine ply, but you do need ply with exterior glue. We want you to get started on the right foot.
Click to expand...

Yep, even cheap ol' 1/2" CDX will work if you have to go the cheapest route.
 
BonairII

BonairII

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Re: 1972 starcraft floor replacement

If you do 1/2"....add some supports under floor to stiffen it up a bit.

Is the foam under the floor wet or dry? Don't replace your floor unless your foam is dry....or you're going to replace the foam.

Post a few pics of your boat
 
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MERIT6419

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Re: 1972 starcraft floor replacement

Thanks for all the replys. I understand that there has to be floatation foam under the floor. The sheets i am talking about are about two inches thick so they are pretty stiff. But i do see i will have to go with 1/2 ply on top of that. I was planning on glueing the foam to the two supports that run front to back. This is after rr the floatation foam. So if im counting right I have 1 yes for foam and 3 no's. Not what I was hopeing for but I rather here it now than have to do this next year again
 
jbcurt00

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Re: 1972 starcraft floor replacement

I think Bonair was 'yes'ing the use of the Blue/green/pink insulation sheets for flotation. Not for use as the deck.......

If you are talking about the 2 supports that run fore & aft and are attached to the ribs running left (port) to right (starboard) those are stringers. The deck should rest on top of them, the foam is cut to fit between them... You'd be raising the deck an amount equal to the thickness of the foam sheets. Raising the center of gravity of the boat, and reducing the amount of gunwale height between the top edge of the gunwale & the deck. Neither is ideal..........

If memory serves, the foam is @ $20-25/sheet & exterior plywood is similar. Add a gallon of Spar Varnish for $30-35.

Besides w/ a closed bow, you don't want to decrease the amount of vertical leg room between the deck & the bottom of the dash...

Scan the threads that GA posted: http://forums.iboats.com/starcraft-b...re-494143.html
 
GA_Boater

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Re: 1972 starcraft floor replacement

Actually you have all nos. Bonair is talking about 1/2 ply with some stiffening.

I have to ask the question - why do you want to raise the floor? Have you looked at the resto threads? What you are proposing will result in a loose floor because the foam will compress. You say you can't afford marine ply and we told you it isn't needed.

What model SC do you have? 1/2 " works perfectly in some models, 5/8" in others and 3/4" for the rest. You plan on sandwiching the 2" foam between the stringers an 1/2" ply if I read your first post correctly. Disaster in the making.
 
jigngrub

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Re: 1972 starcraft floor replacement

GA_Boater said:
You plan on sandwiching the 2" foam between the stringers an 1/2" ply if I read your first post correctly. Disaster in the making.
Click to expand...

Actually I believe he was talking about using firring strips made of plywood to hold the foam to the stringers. The firring strips would only be 1 or 1-1/2" wide with the majority of the foam left exposed until being covered with vinyl flooring...

Which brings us to another bad point of this design, the Home Depot/Lowes vinyl flooring is too slick for the inside of a boat when it gets wet. You'll probably slip on it and end up taking an unplanned swim.

Put your foam under the deck, use plywood for the deck, and you can buy a gallon of no-slip garage floor paint for about $30 and you'll be good to go on a cheapie repair/build.

... but I gotta ask, how are you going to be able to afford to put gas in your boat if you can't afford to fix it up decently?
 
BonairII

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Re: 1972 starcraft floor replacement

1/2" ply and garage floor paint will work just fine if the OP is just concerned about making the boat functional.

Don't buy 1/2" just to save $30 bucks over 3/4" ply, though. Make sure to put in enough foam to float the boat. Not enough foam is no better than having no foam at all.
 
GA_Boater

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Re: 1972 starcraft floor replacement

Until he comes back, we're not sure what his plans are. I read gluing the foam on top of the stringers, raising the floor 2". We need some pics, at least ID which model SC Merit has.
 
jigngrub

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Re: 1972 starcraft floor replacement

GA_Boater said:
Until he comes back, we're not sure what his plans are. I read gluing the foam on top of the stringers, raising the floor 2". We need some pics, at least ID which model SC Merit has.
Click to expand...

I don't think the OP has considered what raising the deck 2" will do and the adversities he'll encounter due to it. There will also be the drawbacks of not being able to mount anything to the foam decking like seat bases and other accessories.
 
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MERIT6419

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Re: 1972 starcraft floor replacement

Wow you guys are awesome with the replys. let me start over I have a 1972 SC holiday 21 foot. My budget is 600 Its clear to me that the foam is not going to work. btw The idea of the foam was basically a foam core floor with plywood laminated/glued to foam top and bottom or just top. i did not factor in that the foam would compress. I also did not factor in that raising the floor 2 inches would cause issues other than shortening the distance to the gunwale. So that idea is killed. I would still like to use the foam sheeting to replace the floatation foam and then 3/4 plywood that is not pt then the vinyl floor which is the silver gray from cab...s the vinyl is going to set me back 200 without glue so I am down to 400 for the rest.
 
jigngrub

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Re: 1972 starcraft floor replacement

MERIT6419 said:
Wow you guys are awesome with the replys. let me start over I have a 1972 SC holiday 21 foot. My budget is 600 Its clear to me that the foam is not going to work. btw The idea of the foam was basically a foam core floor with plywood laminated/glued to foam top and bottom or just top. i did not factor in that the foam would compress. I also did not factor in that raising the floor 2 inches would cause issues other than shortening the distance to the gunwale. So that idea is killed. I would still like to use the foam sheeting to replace the floatation foam and then 3/4 plywood that is not pt then the vinyl floor which is the silver gray from cab...s the vinyl is going to set me back 200 without glue so I am down to 400 for the rest.
Click to expand...

Now that souns like a plan! The sheet foam will work well for floatation below deck in the bilge, many boats are built that way on this forum.

You can get a better deal on the vinyl here:
Marine Nautolex on Sale

Use Weldwood contact cement to glue the vinyl down with, it's cheaper and works better than the latex indoor/outdoor and the nautolex 88.

You should also seriously consider sealing your 3/4" plywood with epoxy resin before installing the vinyl $50 worth will do it and it's the strongest sealer you can buy. You can buy it here:
Epoxy :?Epoxy Resins and Hardeners

The vinyl and epoxy resin are the same materials I used on my deck job:
http://forums.iboats.com/boat-resto...ir/97-tracker-pro-deep-v-facelift-509163.html
 
BonairII

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Re: 1972 starcraft floor replacement

Not to open a huge can of worms, but epoxy resin is a bit of overkill IMO...at least for the OP and his budget. I can't imagine the floor will be in contact with much moisture since it will be covered with vinyl and adhesive.
 
GA_Boater

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Re: 1972 starcraft floor replacement

Now yer talkin', Merit. A much better plan. $600 is doable with some careful shopping, Throw up some pics of that bad girl.
 
jigngrub

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Re: 1972 starcraft floor replacement

BonairII said:
Not to open a huge can of worms, but epoxy resin is a bit of overkill IMO...at least for the OP and his budget. I can't imagine the floor will be in contact with much moisture since it will be covered with vinyl and adhesive.
Click to expand...

I found the epoxy resin well worth the $50, it's like a sheet of glass between my raw decking and the vinyl adhesive:

Even though my decking is kiln dried CCA plywood and will never rot it still suffered checking (cracking) from water intrusion, that's a thing of the past now.
 
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MERIT6419

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Re: 1972 starcraft floor replacement

jigngrub thanks for that vinyl tip that is alot less. I was thinking of going with water sealer that bonairll mentioned to seal the plywood that epoxy looks very sharp though. where do you get the woodweld contact cement
 
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