Deck encapsulation and tabbing question

[jim_s]

So, somewhere, somebody of some authority on one of the forums (here, or elsewhere, I can't recall), stated that with epoxy, a single layer of 6oz glass cloth would be sufficient to tab the floor to the hull - Darned if I can find it again, though. I PB'd the floor (covered w/ 1 layer of 6oz glass on the bottom, and 2 layers of 6oz glass on the top) to the stringers, bulkheads and along the floor bottom/edges where the floor meets the hull. Where the floor was seamed across the width of the boat (2 pieces of ply were needed for the floor), as well as where the floor sits on bulkheads and meets the original floor at the very front and rear edges, I put a piece of sealed 1/2" ply spanning between the stringers (sitting on top of bulkheads at those locations), to support those butt edges. I also cabosil-PB'd the 1/2" - 1" gap that remained between the side edges of the floor and the hull - I can't imagine that the floor is ever going to come out w/o cutting tools. So, going by the advice I can no longer seem to find a reference to, I tabbed the seams/edges with a single layer of 6" 6oz tape, and 3 coats of epoxy (one layer that I set it down in, one layer to fully saturate the tape, and one layer on top of that, after the saturation layer had gelled a bit.

Before I put the floor covering down, I just want a sanity check that this is sufficient. (Once the floor covering is down, I don't anticipate ever seeing the wood/glass floor again!

 

[jim_s]

No Title

Got the boat back in the water today! No pics of the new interior as of yet (we were too excited to be getting back out on the water! , but we did snap this one of the new storage compartment, and it also shows a bit of the Hydroturf floor. We've only had one outing on it so far, but at this early stage, its a definite improvement over carpet! (That's a 2-person tube, a booster ball, air pump and associated ropes in the bag - all fits nicely under the deck now, in addition to ski ropes/handles that you can't see in the picture.)

 

[Baylinerchuck]

Looks nice. Chomping st the bit to see the rest. Is that a rubber floor?

 

[jim_s]

I'll get a few more pics this week. Not a whole lot to see at this point, though - all of the hard work is buried under that floor! (We're very enamored of the used eBay hatch, though - its a tiny little boat, and we're usually climbing over stuff in the boat - being able to stow things under that hatch, in the fairly roomy space below (42" x 30", by about 12" deep average (its obv deeper in the middle, shallower along the edges), has made a huge difference!) I ended up a little bit shorter on under-deck foam as a result of the storage area (the entire area wasn't originally foamed, but I lost about 4 cubic feet of foam volume net), so I've now got 6 absurdly-large pool noodles stuffed up under the gunnels in the bow - it should be floatier than it was originally. (Plus, all of the new foam is dry - the old stuff was soaked through...)

I used Hydro-Turf foam sheets. I paid the extra for the 3M self-adhesive backing, and am very happy to have done so - it goes down very easily, with a minimum of fuss. About 1" of one edge on each sheet doesn't have the adhesive, so I had to use contact cement where those edges were, and it was a bit of a pain to work fast enough to not have the contact cement dry too much - even just for the one narrow edge. I can't imagine having had to contact-cement the entire areas (floor and foam) for the whole sheets. Additionally, you get one shot w/ the contact cement - if the surfaces as much as just brush together, its pretty much a done deal - the self-adhesive allows a little bit of positioning before you press the sheet into place. (not once pressed at all, but for initial alignment, minor manipulation to get seams tight against each other, etc, it was a real plus)

It feels a little plusher than carpet (at least the relatively inexpensive carpet I'd been looking at), and doesn't soak up water - the interior was dry with just a few hours of air drying time - this after kids coming in/out of the boat all afternoon, getting caught in a rain storm, etc

Time will tell how it holds up (and I'm very curious to see how tight the seams stay, over time), but so far, I'm very satisfied!

 

[jim_s]

Well, 6 outings since the boat has been back in the water, and so far, so good! (Still haven't taken the time for pics - we've been too busy using it when we're down at the lake - where the boat is once again living full-time! Was remarking to a friend today that the pull-up on the slalom ski is noticeably faster, and that my main ski partner and I have both had to back down the RPM setpoint on the speed controller about 200 RPM lower than what it used to be, to ski at our respective preferred speeds. (28mph for him, 32mph for me). I'd sort of chalked it up to the boat perhaps coming out a bit lighter (no more water-soaked wood, no waterlogged flotation foam, etc), but he also pointed out that the boat is likely stiffer now than it used to be, and that might be having some non-trivial effect, too. Interestingly, the top speed of the boat isn't noticeably faster (maybe a teeny bit - 1mph or less, but I've never precisely monitored to the top speed), but the response in the operating range is noticeably improved (easier to quantify, w/ the comparison between RPM setpoints for the same boat speeds before/after.)

So, pretty happy overall! (and the hydroturf foam floor covering is definitely easier on bare feet - especially compared to the old worn-out carpet that had been in there! , and we LOVE LOVE LOVE the new under-floor storage compartment!! I think I'm going to splurge for a little bit more of the hydroturf, once the wife's sticker shock at the repair price has eased a bit, and cover the little rear-corner 'swim platforms' (that is way kinder of a reference to these little perches than they really deserve on this tiny boat... ;-) in foam, too - will be easier on the appendages when entering/exiting the boat from the water, and will look nicer, too!

 

[jim_s]

No Title

LoL - still no (intentional) interior pics - just never think to take any when we're out on the boat, but we did accidentally catch this one via an unplanned photo snap. The boat has been in pretty regular use all summer and thus far into the fall (1-2x/week), and the floor has thus far held up wonderfully. Couldn't be happier w/ the Hydroturf, and in fact, I ordered another sheet, and put some back on the little swim platform and step areas at the back of the boat - really helps in terms of both padding on feet, knees, etc, as well as makes it nice and grippy when getting in/out of the boat!

I have yet to pull off the cover and find a wet boat this year - the Hydroturf dries very quickly, and doesn't hold water, funk, cookie crumbs (kids!), etc, like the old carpet did.

 

[kcon]

That mat looks great, I've been looking for quality carpet for my build, but maybe I'll put those hydroturf mats in. I love seadek, but the value of my boat wouldn't quite warrant the cost of that stuff.