1988 sea ray seville

[trobin0406]

Hey all, I had purchased a 88 sea ray Seville a few years ago and this forum was a great help in getting it up and running. We had a few good years towing family and friends around on tubes. Late last year on one of the last boating trips, i noticed the center panel that is storage was very squishy. There was alot of deflection and i figured i would repair it over the winter. I didn't get around to it until now and noticed someone just nailed OSB plywood to the underside to help with its thickness as well as did the same thing on the sides of the gas tank to help hold it in place.... WELL all of it is rotten. I have been removing the rotten OSB plywood and realized there was more wood rotten because of this. I need to replace a small patch of my deck flooring on both sides of the tank and am unsure which wood would be best. I called around and looked at marine plywood but its between 75-100 dollars depending on thickness. I want to ensure i do the job right and at the same time make sure its safe for my family but dont want to sink alot of money in this boat since its not something i would ever see my return on.

Any help or suggestions would be great!!


Thanks!

 

[Panoguy]

Hey trobin0406;
It sounds like you may have some wet stringers also - if your Seville is like mine (19' CC), then material surrounding the fuel tank is actually stringers - if the floor is wet, then the stringers are likely also wet.

I did a complete re-string of my Seville, using non-marine grade plywood (because, as you said, it's pricey), but I totally encapsulated mine in resin & cloth. To be sure, I'm still not finished with my project boat, but I think that the non-marine grade plywood will be just fine.

Best of luck!!

 

[JASinIL2006]

Yeah, if only the deck is rotten and the stringers/bulkheads are dry and sound, you should run out and buy a lottery ticket, because you would be one lucky fellow...

Marine plywood is not necessary. Any good exterior plywood will do the trick. It needs to be exterior rated so the glue between the plies doesn't come loose if it gets wet.

It sounds like you need to drill some core samples from your stringers and transom to make sure that wood is sound before you bother patching the deck.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Yeah, if only the deck is rotten and the stringers/bulkheads are dry and sound, you should run out and buy a lottery ticket, because you would be one lucky fellow...

you would be the only one.

if the deck is wet and rotten, the transom and stringers long since passed.

 

[trobin0406]

Thanks for all the helpful comments... I will post some pictures and further dive into it this weekend.

How do i need to drill core holes into the stringers to identify rot? If i drill through a stringer, doesnt it weaken it?

So i can just get some pressure treated plywood from say lowes or home depot and apply glass and resin to all sides and encapsulate it? Do i need to let the pressure treated wood dry out first?


Thanks again!

 

[JASinIL2006]

Thanks for all the helpful comments... I will post some pictures and further dive into it this weekend.

How do i need to drill core holes into the stringers to identify rot? If i drill through a stringer, doesnt it weaken it?

So i can just get some pressure treated plywood from say lowes or home depot and apply glass and resin to all sides and encapsulate it? Do i need to let the pressure treated wood dry out first?


Thanks again!

If you use a 1/4" drill to check for rot, you won't weaken your stringers (unless you drill a couple hundred holes!). Just drill into the stringer about 1 or 2 inches from the hull. If the shavings are dry and light, you're golden! If they aren't.... well, then you have a bit more work ahead of you. If the shavings are dry, fill the holes with something like 3M 5200 Marine Sealant and you're done.

You don't need to use pressure treated plywood; in fact, there are reasons to NOT use it. Chief among those reasons is that it often is wet and must be thoroughly dried. Some claim that resin/glass won't stick as well, but I'm not sure that's entirely true. I do know that PT plywood is much more expensive than a good quality exterior plywood, which will be more than adequate. Exterior plywood, especially when encapsulated with fiberglass is just fine and is what most of used for out decks. Just make sure that any holes drilled into the new deck get sealed with 5200 or something similar, or you will just create a new path for water infiltration and a possible source of future rot.

First, though, make sure the structure is sound. No point in working on the deck if your stringers are mush.

 

[trobin0406]

Sorry for the delay. I didn't make it over to the shop to work on the boat this weekend. I hope to be over there either tonight or tomorrow to take some pictures as well as drill core holes to check

Where would be a good place to buy exterior, non pressure treated plywood. I have looked at lowes/Home depot but the searches seem to only show up pressure treated. I did find some plywood that i believe was out of birch, looked really nice and i didn't see any noticeable voids in the laminating, but hard to tell if it was exterior glue or not.

 

[Panoguy]

Where would be a good place to buy exterior, non pressure treated plywood. I have looked at lowes/Home depot but the searches seem to only show up pressure treated. I did find some plywood that i believe was out of birch, looked really nice and i didn't see any noticeable voids in the laminating, but hard to tell if it was exterior glue or not.

Our local Lowes sells it, here's a link to a sample: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Plytanium-...lywood-Sheathing-Application-as-4-x-8/3010129
You may get a better product however, if you visit your local lumber/home building supplier.

 

[JASinIL2006]

Look for ACX plywood. They should have it.

 

[trobin0406]

Thanks for the lowes link. It atleast gives me an idea of what to look for.

I didnt have much time this weekend to work on the boat, but i did go ahead and drill 2 holes in one of the stringers by the gas tank. Towards the bottom, closest to the hull of the boat, it was dry shavings but about 2-3 inches from the top of the stringer right below the deck, it was soggy and wet.

Does this mean i need to remove the stringers? Or just remove the deck and get the top of the stringer to dry out?

Thanks!

 

[JASinIL2006]

Sorry, but that means you need to replace the stringers.

 

[kcassells]

Hey welcome aboard!
The stringers, bulkheads, transom are shot. They'll all need to be replaced. Sorry for the bad news. Good news is that there are alot of guys here to walk you thru it. PICS required.
Stringers when dried out from wet are useless.

 

[SDSeville]

Welcome to dry dock! As mentioned above, be sure to address the transom as well as the stringers and deck. I restored a similar boat (1986 Seville) and did it bass ackwards. I wound up having to go back in to do transom after I thought I was done.