Was plywood a good choice for floor repair???

I bought an older 1978 Arrowglas 19' Bowrider. The previous owner said the original floor had a soft spot so he covered the entire floor with 3/4" pressure treated plywood and installed carpet. It's holding up well, but my main concern is weight. I'm tempted to rip the floor up and use an alternative, but I'm afaid I might get into a real can of worms. I think the added weight is an issue. I'm running a Johnson 115 O/B and can only get about 27MPH at best. According to the scales at the truck stop, the boat's weighing in at about 3200 lbs., including trailer. Seems heavy for a fiberglass boat. Any suggestions/input?

Re: Was plywood a good choice for floor repair???

the new floor may have done nothing more than cover up more serious problems. Floors usually rot from the bottom up due to water below. If your foam is saturated, the added weight could account for your performance issues. Also you could have severe stringer rot.<br /><br />A possible can of worms? Yes, but ignoring the likely possibilities would not be wise.

Re: Was plywood a good choice for floor repair???

Ditto Boomyal. I prefer to know what is going on with the boat, tho I may not fix it until later.

Re: Was plywood a good choice for floor repair???

Sounds like the weight of the extra plywood may be the least of the extra weight , the old floor may be saturated .. talk about worms.. stringers..transom.. lots extra ,water ..er I mean weight.

Re: Was plywood a good choice for floor repair???

Click my link, view the horror. That is what the end result of someone having just covered the problem with plywood looks like. You'll see what I did to fix it, and that is about the only way to do it and know it is worry free. Good luck...

Re: Was plywood a good choice for floor repair???

3200# is not out of line weight wise, for that type of boat.<br /><br />Hopwever, I agree with Jason, the so called "fix" was just a cover up.

Re: Was plywood a good choice for floor repair???

jasonJ;<br />That's about the nastiest boat pic I've seen! I think I'll leave the plywood alone. If I pull it up and find a mess like you had, I might just break out the sledge and put her out of her misery! 27 MPH doesn't seem so bad afterall. I'll wait until I fall through the floor, then I know it's time for a new boat, or maybe use the hole for a live bait well

Re: Was plywood a good choice for floor repair???

The 3/4" pt ply is about 65lbs per sheet. Wet foam can be another 300lbs (based on similar projects I've seen who weighed saturated foam). So you could be carrying around 400lbs ballpark in excess weight. <br /><br />Ply over old is ok for a temp fix (been there with the t-shirt and got 4 yrs out of it). The old floor will continue to rot and eventually take away any support to the stringers and newer pt ply floor. I'd install an inspection port and watch progress until it gets too bad. Adding antifreeze in the bilge (I didn't but would use it now) is supposed to inhibit rot growth and may buy you some time too.

Re: Was plywood a good choice for floor repair???

Not to scare you more but attached is a link to my photos. I was hitting waves when I felt the floor rise under my foot. I checked it out and found PT plywood over the floor. I pulled it up, cut an inspection hole and found mush under the floor. The hull was cracked along the keel and three holes through the hull. I didn't want to keep boating with that underneath so out of the water she came and now a hull-up repair is in process.<br />Without the proper support to the hull your boat can suffer more damage, lack proper control and ultimately leave you stranded. It's like driving with four almost flat tires.<br />Floor Repair Photos

Re: Was plywood a good choice for floor repair???

classicboater, looks like you have made some great progress! I have a 16ft glass boat that I am planning to fix up this winter (new floor). I hope you continue to take photos, and show rookies like me how-to tips.

Re: Was plywood a good choice for floor repair???

Classicboater. That motor is a gem - I always wanted one of theese. You will end up having a great boat. Be carefull when you sand that ugly bottom. The antifouling paint dust is poison, wear a suitable mask. You will probably save 250 lbs of weight and gain a lot of speed. Were there no stringers int the boat, only those bulkheads cross ?? I have a boat similar, 7 cross-reinforcements, but no stringers, thought is was wrong ?

Re: Was plywood a good choice for floor repair???

AMD Rules, I'll keep adding photos. It's hard to keep at it with fall approaching and other things to do. Rookies teaching rookies. You're only an hour away from me in Lakeside. Maybe you want to come over for some on the job training (experience)?<br />G Dane, The existing (I won't say original) under floor support consisted of one plywood center stringer with about five lumber cross braces (as I call them). You can see the center stringer in the inspection hole photo. I'm planning to install seven or eight cross braces on a new plywood center stringer and pour foam in the voids. I removed the original balsa core lamination, so that's why I'm adding more cross braces and foam. When I pulled the floor off I could see that this was a replacement floor. I could swat the person who did the last repair. They put expanded and extruded polystyrene insulation boards under the floor. It was heavier than the rotted wood.<br />This boat has been an emotional rollercoaster with highs after I got the motor running right then lows when it took on water and slowly began to sink. If nothing else, I've learned about $5000 worth of boat buying wisdom. So far it's only cost be about a $1,000. Not bad for boat, motor and trailer.<br />Enough about my project, how's erau85 doing? Are you going to tackle the job or hope it doesn't get any worse? Old boats make nice landscaping features with river rock around them and tall grasses. Just a thought.

Re: Was plywood a good choice for floor repair???

I'll probably cross my fingers and hope for the best. I don't think the boat's worth all that much to gut and redo. Besides, wifey would throw a total hissey fit if I dumped all that time and cash into this boat. It's my first boat, I only paid $3k for it. It's my "learning boat" before I get serious. This is my first season with my boat and it already sank once, but that's another story! Bottom line...I'll wait it out, get what I can from the boat and move on. Fiberglass makes me itchy anyway

Re: Was plywood a good choice for floor repair???

$3K is a bit high for that boat, but if the motor<br />is tight u won't lose too much. if u don't want<br />to worry about rot, buy and old AL hull for cheap<br />with no motor/trailer and hang yur jhonny on her.<br />old boats are easy to find and cheap... a good<br />running 115hp ain't.<br />just don't be jumping any waves in her. she might<br />break apart below u if stringers are mush!<br />safe boating,<br />M.Y.

Re: Was plywood a good choice for floor repair???

Just to offer a different stance on redoing the boat, as opposed to letting it get worse and getting rid of it. I redid a $500 15-foot Starcraft a few years ago and loved the experience. I installed new stringers, floor, seats, etc. and spent about $1100. BUT, when I was done, I had essentially a brand new boat. In the restoration process, I installed new steering helm, new wiring, new light fixtures, etc. Everything that could possibly break, fall off or wear through had been replaced. Try finding a brand new 15-foot runabout with trailer for the total of $1600! It ain't gonna happen.<br /><br />The only downside of the first project was that I can do all sorts of glass work, as long as you can't actually see the results, and the boat had some external cosmetic issues that I wasn't ready to deal with - so I bought another, cosmetically cleaner project boat to redo for this winter! I plan on taking some of my experience from the first go-round and improving the new boat in the process. The boats are literally BETTER than new (structurally speaking), as I am using West System where they originally used poly resin to bond glass to wooden stringers, etc. The boat will be stiffer, lighter and faster than original! I'll be using modern closed-cell foam for flotation, replacing the older, saturation prone foam. I'll be using better materials all around and the boat will be set-up the way I want it when I'm done. <br /><br />Bottom line is that redoing a boat isn't for everyone, but if you have the space and can afford the time, it can be well worth the effort.<br /><br />- Scott<br /> http://www.pfs-ware.com/smith