Flooring Questions

[pleasantman]

We have a Cobia Odyssey that we have pulled up the floor and foam of. The floor was rotted out and foam was wet for sitting for years out in the weather. We found a leek in the gas tank also but that has been replaced. We are getting ready to put flooring and foam back down. We are only going to be on fresh water lakes doing recreational boating, fishing and tubing. With people getting in and out of the boat wet what will be our best flooring option? We appreciate any help.

 

[garbageguy]

I'm sure others will be along on this, but have you verified the stringers and transom are sound? Photos of what you're working on?

 

[pleasantman]

Pics are attached of what we are working with. As far as we can tell everything is sound.

 

[ACon977]

You're gonna have a slew of people telling you to gut and rebuild.

But the best way to check the status of your stringers is take a drill and drill holes into the stringers at multiple spots, through the top, at the base near the hull, and check your transom as well. If it pulls out dry wood shavings you are good to go. If its black rotten mush, then you're in dry dock for a while.


Regarding flooring, lots of options. many people do carpet, this is pretty easy to do and covers up any ugly joints or whoops that are gonna happen when putting in your floor. Personally I think that carpet will trap moisture and mold quickly.
There are a lot of people that put down a skid layer, like you do on sailboats, they paint a layer, then spread what is kind of a sand on top, then paint over it.
Or there is a foam that a lot of people are putting down now. SeaDek is popular, GatorTrek is as well. This is what I will be doing in my boat.

 

[Pumba11]

Check out Kiwigrip. Latex, single stage product. Leaves a nice textured floor that is not hard on bare feet and very durable. I was not going to put carpet back in the boat on my rebuild, and let it rot my floor again. The rebuild was too much work. Plus it can be tinted if you want a special color. Mine was tinted a darker gray then their standard gray color. Great customer support also.

http://www.pyiinc.com/KiwiGrip/

 

[Woodonglass]

Uhmmmm yeah!!! Sorry but it's a very good bet you're gunna a need a whole lot more than just a new deck. Wet floor and foam and a boat setting exposed for years is a KILLER for all the wood components. You should core sample the stringers and transom and be prepared to discover they're wet and rotting too! The boat will not be SAFE it they are not 100% sound. Keep us posted on what you find.

 

[ACon977]

Uhmmmm yeah!!! Sorry but it's a very good bet you're gunna a need a whole lot more than just a new deck. Wet floor and foam and a boat setting exposed for years is a KILLER for all the wood components. You should core sample the stringers and transom and be prepared to discover they're wet and rotting too! The boat will not be SAFE it they are not 100% sound. Keep us posted on what you find.

I second this statement, there are a few unicorns on here, but for the most part, when things are that wet, you should look deeper before diving in.

I had the same hope on mine, but once I cut the stringers out and 1/4 of them were mush, I knew I made the right call. Now that its going back together I feel confident that it is a SAFE boat. and will last a very, very long time.